NEW YORK — Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and added an assist as the Colorado Avalanche won their eighth consecutive game, a 5-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night in Denver. Colorado last won eight straight games during the 2005-06 season.

Avalanche goalie Jonathan Bernier won his career-best seventh consecutive start with a 45-save performance. However, there were some tense moments as the Avalanche saw a 4-0 lead nearly completely evaporate at the Pepsi Center.

Thanks to MacKinnon, Colorado had just enough offensive punch. The first overall pick in the 2013 draft scored a pair of first-period goals just 58 seconds apart to give his team an early edge. He also had a hand in Mikko Rantanen's goal 94 seconds into the middle frame that gave Colorado a four-goal lead. Rantanen also had a three-point game.

Bruins 5, Islanders 2

Patrice Bergeron recorded his third career hat trick by scoring in each period, and Boston gained at least a point for the 15th straight game by rolling to a victory in New York.

Brad Marchand added an empty-net goal and set up Bergeron's first and third goals. Ryan Spooner had the tiebreaking goal and an assist, and David Krejci had two assists.

Devils 4, Capitals 3 (OT)

Taylor Hall scored 34 seconds into overtime, and New Jersey regrouped after blowing a two-goal lead to claim a win over Washington in Newark, N.J.

Hall netted the winner in dynamic fashion, first chipping the puck past a defender for a breakaway and then lifting a top-corner shot past Washington goaltender Braden Holtby.

Blue Jackets 2, Stars 1 (SO)

Artemi Panarin scored the deciding goal in a shootout as Columbus beat Dallas in Columbus, Ohio, to snap a two-game losing streak.

Panarin was the only one of the six shooters to find the net in the tiebreaker. Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo turned away all three Dallas shots, including the final one by Tyler Seguin to clinch the win.

Jordan Schroeder and Tyler Motte combined for the Blue Jackets' lone goal in regulation, in the first period. Dallas tied the game on an Alexander Radulov goal with 2:05 remaining in the third period.

Rangers 4, Sabres 3

Rick Nash scored a pair of goals and assisted on the winner as host New York edged Buffalo. J.T. Miller also scored for the Rangers. The Sabres took their sixth loss in the past seven games.

Blues 4, Senators 1

Scoring three second-period goals, St. Louis added to host Ottawa's season-long woes. Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex Pietrangelo and Brayden Schenn gave St. Louis all the offense it needed in the middle period as the Blues won their second straight game. Carter Hutton made 20 saves to pick up the victory.

Bobby Ryan cut the Senators' deficit to 3-1 late in the second period, but Alexander Steen's empty-net goal in the final minutes sealed the win.

Golden Knights 4, Lightning 1

David Perron had a goal and an assist and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28 shots to lead Western Conference-leading Vegas past Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay. James Neal, Nate Schmidt and William Karlsson also scored goals for Vegas.

Ondrej Palat ended a 21-game goalless streak with a second-period, power-play tally for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy, the NHL leader in wins (27) and shutouts (six), made 26 saves but has now surrendered 19 goals in his last four games.

Flyers 3, Maple Leafs 2 (OT)

Sean Couturier scored the game-winning goal 18 seconds into overtime as Philadelphia rallied to beat visiting Toronto.

Nolan Patrick and Wayne Simmonds also scored for the Flyers, who honored Hockey Hall of Famer Eric Lindros by retiring his No. 88 jersey in an emotional ceremony before the game.

Flyers backup goaltender Michal Neuvirth made 29 saves in his first start since Jan. 7. Connor Brown and Frederik Gauthier each scored second-period goals for the Maple Leafs, who blew a 2-0 lead.

Predators 3, Coyotes 2 (SO)

Craig Smith's goal in the fourth round of a shootout gave Nashville a win over visiting Arizona. Kyle Turris also scored in the shootout for Nashville, while Nick Cousins tallied for Arizona.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson's attempt in the fourth round was stopped by Pekka Rinne, leading to Smith's game-winner. Nashville forced overtime when Ryan Ellis ripped a slapper past Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta at 17:24 of the third period for his second goal of the season.

Penguins 3, Kings 1

Patric Hornqvist scored twice and goalie Casey DeSmith stopped 28 shots to record the win in his first NHL start as Pittsburgh won at Los Angeles.

DeSmith was in net because No. 1 goalie Matt Murray took a leave due to the death of his father and Tristan Jarry needed a breather after starting the past five games.

Hornqvist opened the scoring on the game's first shot just 43 seconds into the affair with a tally that Kings goalie Jonathan Quick simply flubbed. After the Kings' Adrian Kempe tied the game in the second period, Evgeni Malkin netted the game-winner 26 seconds into the third period. Hornqvist added a power-play tally at 10:21 of the third. — Reuters