UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Frans Nielsen’s first NHL goal turned out to be the game winner and the New York Islanders defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Saturday.

Jeff Tambellini and Jason Blake also scored for New York, now 4-1-0 during a seven-game homestand. Rick DiPietro, starting his 11th straight game, stopped 20 shots.

Sheldon Souray and Christopher Higgins scored for Montreal.

Rookie goalie Jaroslav Halak lost his first game in net after starting with three straight wins.

Halak turned aside 28 shots.

Panthers 7, Bruins 2

SUNRISE, Fla. – Chris Gratton scored two goals and Ed Belfour again dominated Boston in goal to help the Florida Panthers beat the Bruins 7-2 on Saturday night.

Belfour made 25 saves to run his career record against Boston to 19-7-3.

He has two wins against the Bruins this season.

Ville Peltonen, Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, Olli Jokinen and Martin Gelinas also scored for the Panthers, and Juraj Kolnik had three assists. Florida is 4-1-2 in its last seven games.

Florida has beaten Boston six straight times, including all four meetings this season by a combined 24-10 score.

The Panthers also snapped the Bruins’ four-game winning streak.

Marc Savard and Brad Boyes scored for Boston, which ended its road trip 4-2. Boston’s Hannu Toivonen replaced Tim Thomas before the second period.

Thomas, who won at Tampa Bay on Friday night, allowed three first-period goals on 19 shots.

Toivonen stopped 28 shots.

Capitals 4, Devils 2

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Alexander Semin had a goal and an assist and Brent Johnson made 29 saves Saturday as the Washington Capitals ended a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils.

Milan Jurcina, Matt Pettinger and Tomas Fleischmann also scored for the Capitals, who had dropped six straight to the Devils.

Blue Jackets 3, Rangers 2

NEW YORK – Jason Chimera and Rick Nash scored short-handed goals in the second period Saturday night to lift the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 victory over the Rangers that put another crimp in New York’s fading playoff hopes.

Columbus, the NHL’s third-worst team (24-32-6), shook off an early 2-0 deficit and snapped its three-game losing streak by taking advantage of the Rangers when they were in position to take control of a crucial contest.

Maple Leafs 5, Flyers 2

PHILADELPHIA – Alex Steen and Jeff O’Neill each had a goal and an assist to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs past the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 on Saturday night.

Chad Kilger, Mats Sundin and John Pohl also scored, and Bryan McCabe added three assists for the Maple Leafs. Toronto had dropped five of seven.

Sami Kapanen and Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers, who lost their fourth straight and fifth in six games.

Andrew Raycroft made his 23rd consecutive start in goal for Toronto.