Blues 5 at Blue Jackets
Patrik Berglund had a goal and two assists and the St. Louis Blues moved a step closer to a playoff spot with victory over the Blue Jackets.
T.J. Oshie and David Perron each had a goal and an assist, Brad Boyes and David Backes also scored, and Chris Mason gave up two shaky goals but stopped the other 26 shots he faced. The Blues, 4-3 winners in a shootout over the Blue Jackets on Saturday night in St. Louis. have won five in a row and earned points in seven of eight.
Rick Nash had a goal and an assist, and Fedor Tyutin added a goal for Columbus, which had taken points in its last five games and nine of the 10. Rookie goalie Steve Mason, no relation to his counterpart, made 22 saves.
The game pitted two of the hottest teams in the NHL — the Blue Jackets were 7-1-2 over their last 10 games, the Blues 7-2-1 — in a game that both desperately needed to win. Columbus is sixth in the West with 86 points, two points ahead of Nashville and three in front of St. Louis. Edmonton, which began the day in a virtual tie with the Blues for the last of the eight playoff spots, faced Minnesota later Sunday.
Avalanche 1 at Ducks 4
Bobby Ryan scored twice to help the Ducks remain in the thick of the fight for a playoff spot and send Colorado its seventh consecutive defeat.
The losing streak is the franchise’s longest since they were the Quebec Nordiques and dropped eight in a row in 1992.
Corey Perry and Drew Miller also scored, and Jonas Hiller made 26 saves for Anaheim, allowing only John-Michael Liles’s goal.
Predators 4 at Red Wings 3
Ryan Suter broke a tie on a power play with 4:36 left, and Pekka Rinne made 33 saves to help Nashville win its third straight game.
Steve Sullivan, Joel Ward, Jerred Smithson also scored for the Predators, seventh in the Western Conference playoff race.
Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson and Johan Franzen scored for Detroit, which lost is second straight and third in four games. Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom each had two assists, and Chris Osgood stopped 22 shots.
Canucks 4 at Blackhawks 0
Roberto Luongo made 26 saves to match his career high with seven shutouts, and Daniel Sedin had two goals and an assist for Vancouver.
Alex Burrows had a goal and two assists, Ryan Kesler also scored, and Henrik Sedin had three assists to help the Canucks end Chicago’s three-game winning streak and move into a fourth-place tie with the Blackhawks in the Western Conference.
Vancouver also closed within a point of first-place Calgary in the Northwest Division. The Canucks are 7-2-0 in their last nine and 11-3-1 in their last 15.
Senators 3 at Lightning 0
Brian Elliott made 20 saves for his first NHL shutout, and Dany Heatley, Ryan Shannon and Jason Spezza scored for Ottawa. Ottawa, 11th in the Eastern Conference, is 10-3-0 in its last 13 games, while Tampa Bay has lost three straight and 10 of its last 12.
Bruins 4 at Flyers 3
At Philadelphia, Tim Thomas made 45 saves for his career-high 32nd win, Milan Lucic scored two goals in Boston’s third straight victory.
Dennis Wideman and Mark Recchi also scored, David Krejci added three assists, and Zdeno Chara had two assists for the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins.
Claude Giroux, Mike Richards, and Simon Gagne scored for Philadelphia.