PITTSBURGH – James Neal had a goal and two assists, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat Boston 5-2 on Sunday for their ninth straight victory.

Chris Kunitz, Arron Asham, Pascal Dupis and Matt Niskanen also scored for Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin had three assists to move into the NHL points lead with 84, two ahead of Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos.

Malkin became the 17th Russian-born player to top 500 career points, though he was hardly concerned with the milestone.

“I not think about my points now,” Malkin said. “The season continues and playoffs come soon.”

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 34 shots to run his personal winning streak to eight as the Penguins jumped on the Bruins early then held on.

David Krejci scored twice for the Bruins, but the Penguins chased Tim Thomas after the first period to keep the pressure on the Eastern Conference-leading New York Rangers.

Thomas was replaced by Marty Turco, who signed last week as a free agent to replace injured backup Tuukka Rask.

“It was good to get in there,” Turco said. “Every minute I felt a little better and more comfortable.”

Pittsburgh’s winning streak is the second-longest in the league this season behind a 10-game run the Bruins put together in November.

DEVILS 4, FLYERS 1: Martin Brodeur made 18 saves for his 650th career victory and Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists to help New Jersey beat visiting Philadelphia.

BLUES 2, BLUE JACKETS 1: David Perron broke a tie early in the third period, and Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves to help visiting St. Louis to its fifth straight win.

CAPITALS 2, MAPLE LEAFS 0: Michal Neuvirth made 23 saves and Brooks Laich and Matthieu Perreault scored as host Washington won its third straight.

PANTHERS 2, HURRICANES 0: Jose Theodore made 34 saves for his third shutout of the season and Florida won at home to maintain the Southwest Division lead.

Tomas Fleischmann scored in the second period, and Marcel Goc added an empty-net goal.

FLAMES 4, WILD 3: Jarome Iginla scored early and set up Curtis Glencross’ go-ahead goal late with a botched shot that became a pass, and visiting Calgary won its third straight.

RANGERS 4, ISLANDERS 3: Marian Gaborik scored the Rangers’ third power-play goal in the dying seconds of overtime to help host New York snap its season-worst, three-game regulation losing streak.

Brad Richards scored twice on the power play to reach 20 goals for the ninth time, and helped set up Gaborik’s winner for the Rangers, who hold a four-point lead over Pittsburgh in the races for the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference with 14 games remaining.

KINGS 3, BLACKHAWKS 2: Mike Richards scored the lone goal in a six-round shutout to give Los Angeles a win at Chicago.

Richards beat Ray Emery with a quick wrist shot after Emery stopped the Kings’ first five shooters.