MONTREAL (AP) Montreal’s David Desharnais and Brendan Gallagher scored 1:33 apart in the third period to lift the pace-setting Canadiens to a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Thursday.
The Canadiens improved to 12-2-1 and lead the NHL Atlantic Division by nine points from Ottawa, which kept pace with a shootout win against Winnipeg.
Washington went joint top of the Metropolitan Division by inflicting Boston’s first road loss of the season, while Minnesota lost to Nashville and had injury concerns over star player Zach Parise.
Montreal also got goals from Dale Weise and Tomas Plekanec, and improved to 3-0-1 since Mike Condon replaced injured Carey Price as the starting goaltender.
Kyle Okposo scored the sole goal for the Islanders.
Ottawa’s Mika Zibanejad scored the shootout winner to give the Senators a 3-2 victory over Winnipeg.
Craig Anderson made 38 saves and Cody Ceci and Bobby Ryan scored in regulation for the Senators.
Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien netted for the Jets.
Nashville’s Cody Hodgson scored the late tiebreaking goal to lift the Predators over Central Division rival Minnesota 3-2.
Mike Fisher and Roman Josi also scored for Nashville, who lost Parise early in the game.
Parise, who is Minnesota’s leading goal-scorer this season with seven, was battling for the puck near the right wall in the offensive zone when he was hit from behind by James Neal and went into the boards. No penalty was called.
He returned and played briefly but left for good with about 2 minutes remaining in the first period.
Marco Scandella and Matt Dumba had goals for the Wild, who lost for the first time in six home games.
Washington goalie Braden Holtby stopped 28 shots as the Capitals won 4-1 against Boston.
Holtby notched shutouts in all three games between the teams last season, but a power-play goal by Boston’s Jimmy Hayes in the first period ended that streak.
Alex Ovechkin scored his seventh goal of the season to tie the game. IT was his 482nd NHL goal, putting him one shy of matching Sergei Fodorov’s league record for the most by a Russian-born player.
John Carlson had a goal and an assist while Brooks Laich and Karl Alzner netted for the Capitals, whose 9-3-0 record matches the best start in franchise history.
San Jose’s Patrick Marleau scored a highlight-reel goal as the Shanrks won 5-2 and beat Florida at home for the first time in nearly 10 years.
Brent Burns, Joonas Donskoi, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Chris Tierney also scored for the Sharks, who had lost four straight on home ice against the Panthers.
Vincent Trocheck and Brandon Pirri scored for Florida.
Tampa Bay beat Buffalo for the seventh straight time, with Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov all scoring in the first period to set up a 4-1 win.
Columbus did not have a single shot in the second period yet still won 3-2 at Los Angeles, with Brandon Dubinsky contributing a goal and an assist.
Arizona’s Nicklas Grossmann had two goals and Mike Smith stopped 26 shots as the Coyotes held on to defeat Colorado 4-2.
Calgary’s Mikael Backlund scored 35 seconds into overtime and also had an assist as the Flames beat Philadelphia 2-1.
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