Neal hat-trick seals Penguins’ win

Sidney Crosby scored the decisive goal in the third quarter as the Pittsburgh Penguins overcame the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3.

Crosby also assissted on Chris Kunitz’s power-play goal two minutes later to add gloss to the victory.

James Neal registered a hat-trick for Pittsburgh (29-11-1) in a game that was close before Crosby took over and netted his 22nd goal of the season.

The Blue Jackets (17-18-4) saw their season-best three-game winning streak end.

Elsewhere, Blake Wheeler scored with two seconds left in overtime for the Winnipeg Jets as they beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1.

Goalie Al Montoya stopped 32 shots and left winger Andrew Ladd also scored for the Jets (18-18-5), who stopped a two-game road losing streak as Colorado (23-11-4) dropped their fourth game straight overall.

Mats Zuccarello had a goal and two assists, and the New York Rangers scored three power-play goals to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3.

Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves for New York (19-19-2) who assumed control against the Lightning (23-12-4) with a high-energy, two-goal second period.

Backup goaltender Eddie Lack stopped all 18 shots he faced in place of injured Roberto Luongo (lower-body) to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-0 win against the Calgary Flames.

Right-winger Jannik Hansen and centre Mike Santorelli provided the goals for the Canucks (22-11-6) as the Flames (14-18-6) were shutout for the second straight game.

Game-winner in overtime

Kevin Shattenkirk scored the game-winner with 10 seconds remaining in overtime to emerge the hero for St. Louis Blues for the second straight day with a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars (19-12-7).

Kyle Okposo scored twice in the third period as the New York Islanders rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4.

The Islanders (12-21-7) trailed by three goals midway through the game but had forged a 3-3 tie less than seven minutes into the final period and got their final two goals from Okposo to hand Minnesota (20-16-5) a fifth straight defeat.

Goaltender Ryan Miller made 49 saves and stopped all six shooters in the shootout to lead the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals.

Buffalo captain Steve Ott scored the game-winning goal in the sixth round of the shootout while Drew Stafford scored in regulation for the Sabres (11-24-4).

Florida backup goaltender Scott Clemmensen stopped 21 of 22 shots in his third straight start and the Florida Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak, beating the Montreal Canadiens 4-1.

Phil Kessel scored two goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2.

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier stopped 41 shots for the Maple Leafs (20-16-5), who won their second game in a row while the Hurricanes (14-16-9) lost their fifth in a row.

San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi stopped 30 of 31 shots and San Jose halted the Anaheim Ducks’ franchise-record 10-game winning streak in a 3-1 win.