The St Louis Blues handed the Nashville Predators their first regulation loss of the NHL season with a 3-0 win on Thursday that tightened up a very competitive Central Division.
St Louis goaltender Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season and 11th overall, as the gap between first and last in the division was cut to two points.
Alexander Steen, Patrik Berglund and Matt D’Agostini scored for the Blues.
Photo: REUTERS
Nashville have lost four straight at home, dropping the first three in overtime.
Kings 5, Stars 2
In Dallas, Texas, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Wayne Simmonds scored nine seconds apart in the second period to help Los Angeles defeat Dallas.
Dustin Brown added a power-play goal for the Kings, Willie Mitchell scored short-handed, Jack Johnson had three assists and goalie Jonathan Quick made 30 saves.
Justin Williams added a late empty-netter for Los Angeles, which has won four straight in Texas.
Brad Richards and Brandon Segal scored for Dallas.
The crowd was the smallest since the Stars moved to Dallas in 1993, with many fans staying home to watch the Texas Rangers in baseball’s World Series.
Avalanche 6, Flames 5
In Calgary, Alberta, Chris Stewart scored three goals for his second NHL hat-trick as Colorado took a thriller over Calgary.
Stewart has eight goals in 10 games this season. He also had three goals last March against St Louis.
Daniel Winnik broke the 5-5 tie with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left.
Brandon Yip and T.J. Galiardi also scored for Colorado.
Niklas Hagman, Tim Jackman, Matt Stajan, Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay scored for Calgary.
Wild 2, Capitals 1
In St Paul, Minnesota, the Wild slowed down speedy Washington in a victory over the suddenly punchless Capitals.
Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom stopped 21 shots, Chuck Kobasew got his first goal of the season and Mikko Koivu scored for Minnesota’s league-leading power play.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin scored late, snapping a five-game scoreless streak, but the Capitals were held to a season-low 22 shots on goal.
Bruins 2, Maple Leafs 0
In Boston, Tim Thomas remained unbeaten this season, stopping 20 shots to earn his second shutout, as Boston beat Toronto.
Thomas improved to 5-0 with a 0.60 goals-against average; Tuukka Rask was in goal for the Bruins’ only two losses.
Rookie Tyler Seguin scored his first goal in front of the Boston crowd and Patrice Bergeron scored his first of the season for the Bruins.
Seguin was selected second in the NHL draft with a pick the Bruins acquired from Toronto for Phil Kessel, who has not scored in seven games against his former team and was booed throughout.
Coyotes 4, Red Wings 2
In Detroit, Michigan, Ilya Bryzgalov made 43 saves to help preserve Phoenix’s win over Detroit.
Lauri Korpikoski scored twice, while Radim Vrbata and Keith Yandle also netted for the Coyotes.
Johan Franzen and Swede Tomas Holmstrom scored for Detroit.
Blue Jackets 3, Oilers 2, SO
In Columbus, Ohio, Nikita Filatov and Rick Nash scored in the shootout to lift Columbus over Edmonton.
Samuel Pahlsson and Kyle Wilson scored in regulation for the Blue Jackets.
Edmonton’s Taylor Hall, the acclaimed No. 1 pick in the June draft, scored his first NHL goal, tying the game in the the third period. Shawn Horcoff opened Edmonton’s account.
The Oilers have lost six in a row and have won only twice in regulation in their past 28 road games.
Senators 5, Panthers 3
In Ottawa, the home side claimed consecutive games for the first time this season, downing Florida.
Czech Milan Michalek, Mike Fisher and Swede Daniel Alfredsson each had a goal and an assist, while Zack Smith and Russian Alex Kovalev also scored for the Senators.
Florida’s goals came from Bryan McCabe, Chris Higgins and Mike Santorelli.
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Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
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