Messier’s Goal Keeps Avalanche in Second

Eric Messier scored with 8:58 left as the Colorado Avalanche woke from their offensive slump just in time to hang on to second place in the Western Conference Thursday night with a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks at San Jose.

The Avalanche ended a three-game losing streak by dominating the third period against San Jose, which blew a chance to move past Colorado in the conference standings.

Brad Larsen scored his first NHL goal and Chris Drury also scored for Colorado, which won in its fifth consecutive game in San Jose.

Mike Ricci and Scott Thornton scored for San Jose, which lost for the fourth time in six games.

The Sharks’ Pacific Division lead over the Kings is one point, while Colorado’s lead over Edmonton in the Northwest Division grew to seven points.

Carolina 4, Philadelphia 1--Sean Hill had a goal and two assists and Arturs Irbe matched the franchise record with his 115th victory in goal as the Hurricanes won at Raleigh, N.C.

Irbe tied the franchise mark of Mike Liut, who won his 115 games for the former Hartford Whalers from 1985-90.

Vancouver 4, Columbus 3--Andrew Cassels scored with 39.4 seconds left in overtime at Vancouver, as the Canucks rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Blue Jackets.

Dallas 2, Calgary 2--Rob DiMaio and Pierre Turgeon scored goals 66 seconds apart in the third period as the Stars rallied to tie at Calgary.

Montreal 2, Tampa Bay 1--Yanic Perreault had a goal and an assist, and Jose Theodore made 32 saves at Montreal to lead the Canadiens, who took over sole possession of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

St. Louis 4, Buffalo 1--Keith Tkachuk, returning from a one-game suspension, scored two goals to lead the Blues at St. Louis.

New York Islanders 5, Toronto 4--Mark Parrish scored the tying and go-ahead goals and Alexei Yashin had three assists as the Islanders rallied at Toronto.

Detroit 3, Nashville 3--The Red Wings rallied from a two-goal deficit in the final 3:39 of regulation to tie the Predators at Detroit and clinch the Presidents’ Trophy, awarded to the team with the NHL’s best record (50-14-8-2).

Florida 4, Ottawa 3--Kristian Huselius knocked in a rebound with 13.5 seconds left as the Panthers rallied to defeat the Senators at Ottawa.

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New York Ranger defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre is expected to be sidelined for two weeks after tearing a ligament in his left knee Wednesday against Philadelphia.... Defenseman Eric Cairns of the New York Islanders was suspended for two games without pay after punching Ottawa’s Radek Bonk in a game on Wednesday.... Peter Forsberg, who was expected to be out for four months after surgery to repair tendons in his left foot on Jan. 10, returned to the ice ahead of schedule, skating with injured teammate Dan Hinote at Colorado’s practice facility in Englewood, Colo.