LOS ANGELES – Patrice Brisebois triggered a three-goal second period for Montreal, Jaroslav Halak made 35 saves in his first start of the season, and the Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings 5-2 on Saturday to regain first place in the Eastern Conference.

Andrei Kostitsyn and Guillaume Latendresse also scored and captain Saku Koivu connected on a power play for the Canadiens, 9-3 since a season-worst three-game losing streak. Tom Kostopoulos scored into an empty net with 1:53 to play.

Halak made his first NHL start since April 5, 2007, when he was pulled after two periods in a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers. He served as the backup in Montreal’s previous 22 games.

Devils 2, Maple Leafs 1

TORONTO – Martin Brodeur made 40 saves, and Zach Parise scored with 48.3 seconds left to give the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Parise had both goals for New Jersey.

Flyers 4, Islanders 1

PHILADELPHIA – Scott Hartnell two of Philadelphia’s four power-play goals, leading the Flyers to a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday night. Danny Briere and Jeff Carter had goals, and Kimmo Timonen got three assists for the Flyers, who are 5-1-1 since losing 10 straight.

Freddy Meyer scored the lone goal for the Islanders, who are 2-6 since winning six in a row and quickly falling out of the Eastern Conference playoff race. New York trails eighth-place Philly by seven points with 12 games remaining.

Avalanche 3, Stars 1

DENVER – Peter Forsberg posted his first two points since rejoining the Avalanche, Andrew Brunette had a goal and an assist, and Colorado won its sixth straight by beating the stumbling Dallas Stars 3-1 on Saturday.

Jose Theodore stopped 25 shots for his sixth consecutive win, his longest run since late in the 2002 season when he won the Hart Trophy.

The Stars have dropped three in a row after winning four straight. The teams will play again Sunday night in Dallas.

Panthers 3, Thrashers 2

SUNRISE, Fla. – Nathan Horton scored a power-play goal 4:36 into overtime, giving the Florida Panthers a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night.

Brett McLean added two power-play goals for Florida, which matched a season high with its fourth straight win.

Both of McLean’s goals bounced in off Atlanta players. Bryan Little and Ilya Kovalchuk scored power-play goals for Atlanta, which snapped a nine-game losing streak Friday with a shootout victory over Minnesota.

Senators 4, Coyotes 2

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Mike Fisher had two goals and the Ottawa Senators snapped a three-game winless streak Saturday night, adding to Phoenix’s home woes with a 4-2 victory over the fading Coyotes.

The Coyotes blew a 2-1 second-period lead and lost 4-2 for the second game in a row. They dropped their third straight at home and remained five points behind Colorado and Nashville for the final playoff spots in the Western Conference with 13 games left.

Hurricanes 4, Sabres 3

RALEIGH, N.C. – Scott Walker deflected in a shot from Eric Staal in overtime and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 Saturday night to take a seven-point lead in the Southeast Division.

Sergei Samsonov, Keith Aucoin and Tim Gleason also scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the seventh time in eight games to pull away from division-rival Washington. Earlier on Saturday, the Capitals gave up two power-play goals in the final 5 minutes to lose 2-1 at Boston.

Walker’s goal made Carolina 1-for-8 with the man-advantage, but that hardly mattered. With 11 games left, the 2006 Stanley Cup champions appear to be headed back to the playoffs after missing out last season.

Buffalo tied the game midway through the third period while on the power play. A scrum in front of the net caused Carolina goalie Cam Ward to lose his stick, and defenseman Toni Lydman skated in from the blue line to take advantage, poking in a rebound that made it 3-3.

The Hurricanes had two opportunities with the man-advantage in the final 5 minutes, but the Sabres held on to force overtime, mostly because of goalie Ryan Miller. He swallowed up a handful of chances, keeping Carolina 0-for-7 on the power play in regulation.

Then came OT, and Walker came through.

The ninth-place Sabres dropped four points behind Philadelphia and the postseason cutoff in the Eastern Conference with 13 games remaining.

AP-ES-03-08-08 2214EST