The Chicago Blackhawks remained the only NHL team without a loss in regulation time as they beat the Phoenix Coyotes 6-2 on Thursday, with Patrick Kane having two goals and an assist.
The Blackhawks opened a seven-point lead in the Central Division — a pronounced advantage given the shortened season — while Phoenix missed a chance to move up to third in the Pacific.
Elsewhere, New Jersey won their third straight by downing slumping Tampa Bay, Carolina rallied for an overtime win at Ottawa, Vancouver defeated Minnesota to make it four straight wins, Detroit had a comfortable win over St Louis and Buffalo downed Montreal in a shootout.
Photo: AFP
Chicago’s Viktor Stalberg, Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell each had a goal and an assist as the Blackhawks improved to 9-0-2. Dave Bolland also scored for Chicago.
Martin Hanzal and Raffi Torres scored for the Coyotes.
New Jersey’s Ilya Kovalchuk broke a tie with a short-handed goal late in the second period as the Devils went on to a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Andy Greene and Patrik Elias sealed the result with power-play goals 14 seconds apart with less than five minutes to play as the Devils sent the Lightning to their third consecutive loss.
Carolina’s Cam Ward made 45 saves and Jay Harrison scored 2:19 into overtime to rally the Hurricanes to a 3-2 win at the Ottawa Senators.
Harrison’s winner came off a scramble in front as he banged a loose puck past Senators goalie Craig Anderson.
Vanouver goalie Cory Schneider made 22 saves and Mason Raymond had a power-play goal and an assist in the second period to lead the Canucks to a 4-1 win over a sputtering Minnesota Wild.
Goalie Niklas Backstrom gave up two scores in each of the first two periods for the Wild, and was pulled for replacement Josh Harding for the final frame.
Detroit’s Petr Mrazek made 26 saves on his NHL debut as the Red Wings beat the St Louis Blues 5-1.
The Blues have lost three successive games in regulation for the first time since the 2010-2011 season.
Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek scored twice in regulation — including the tying goal with two seconds left — and then again in the shootout as the Sabres edged the Montreal Canadiens 5-4.
Jason Pominville also scored in the shootout and Ryan Miller clinched the victory by making a left-pad save to stop Brian Gionta on Montreal’s final opportunity.
Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby extended his points streak to six games with a goal and two assists as the Penguins pounded the lifeless Washington Capitals 5-2.
Evgeni Malkin also added a goal and two assists, while Pascal Dupuis, James Neal and Matt Cooke scored for the Penguins, who have won five straight, while the Capitals have lost five of six.
The Nashville Predators notched their fourth straight win, defeating the Los Angeles Kings 3-0, as Pekka Rinne made 32 saves in his first shutout of the season and Colin Wilson scored twice.
Gabriel Bourque opened the scoring 2:54 into the opening period and Wilson added his goals in the second period.
Toronto’s Phil Kessel scored his first goal of the season late in the last period to lift the Maple Leafs to a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
Tyler Bozak scored short-handed and Matt Frattin added a goal for the Leafs.
In the all-New York clash, the Rangers beat the Islanders 4-1, with teenage rookie J.T. Miller scoring twice in just his second game.
Miller gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead just 1:29 in and then pushed their advantage to 3-1 in the second period with a rare power-play goal for the club.
The Florida Panthers prevailed after a shootout, downing the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2, with Jonathon Huberdeau and Peter Mueller both scoring in the decider.
Florida’s Stephen Weiss had tied the game 2-2 midway through the third period with his first goal of the season, while Jack Skille also scored for the Panthers.
Calgary’s Alex Tanguay scored on a one-timer in overtime to lead the Flames to a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in a meeting of Western Conference cellar-dwellers.
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