Mike Rupp shook off a leg injury in the third period, snapped a tie with his second goal of the night, and then completed his first NHL hat trick to help the Pittsburgh Penguins break a long losing streak at Madison Square Garden and sweep a home-and-home series from the New York Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Monday night.
Rupp's first goal gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead in the second period and his second made it 3-2 with 8:46 remaining. Rupp left the ice for the dressing room about 51/2 minutes earlier after he banged his left leg against the boards when he was hit from behind by defenseman Dan Girardi.
Rupp scored into an empty net with 1:40 remaining to give him a career-high eight goals.
Pittsburgh snapped an eight-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden, dating to March 19, 2007.
Also Monday
Red Wings 4, Stars 1: Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist, and Jimmy Howard made 29 saves for host Detroit.
Flames 5, Predators 0: Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 22 shots for his second shutout in a row for host Calgary.
Sabres 3, Maple Leafs 0: Ryan Miller stopped all 38 shots he faced to earn his third shutout of the season for host Buffalo.
Blue Jackets 5, Blues 2: R.J. Umberger scored three goals for his second career hat trick to help host Columbus end a five-game losing skid.
Thrashers 4, Panthers 3: Maxim Afinogenov scored with six seconds remaining in the third period to give host Atlanta its fourth consecutive victory and send Florida to a fifth straight loss.
Avalanche 3, Lightning 0: Matt Duchene had two goals and Craig Anderson made 33 saves for visiting Colorado.
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Sharks 4, Canucks 2: Dan Boyle scored the go-ahead goal on a power play 6:15 into the second period, and Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves to lead visiting San Jose.
Notes
Panthers' goalie hurt: Florida Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun was taken off the ice on a stretcher after he was accidentally hit in the head by the stick of teammate Keith Ballard in the opening period of Monday night's game against the Atlanta Thrashers.
Vokoun had a cut on an ear but was alert when he was placed in an ambulance and taken to a local hospital, a Panthers spokesman said.
"Vakoun is going to be fine," Florida coach Peter DeBoer said.
Vokoun will meet the team at the airport and fly home with them, DeBoer said.
The incident occurred after Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk scored a goal at 8:54 of the first period. In apparent frustration, Ballard swung his stick at the net, inadvertently striking Vokoun in the head.
Columbus' Klesla injured: Blue Jackets defenseman Rostislav Klesla was injured in a mid-ice collision with the Blues' Barret Jackman on Monday night.
Klesla lay on the ice for five minutes and was attended to by trainers before a doctor was led across the ice to examine him. Klesla was face down on the ice before being helped off, not putting any weight on his left leg.
Coach Ken Hitchcock did not disclose the nature of the injury after the game.
"He's getting a MRI in the morning," Hitchcock said.
