Gameday 51 (Sun, 10 Mar) - Results

NY Rangers v Washington 4-1 - Martin Biron made the most of a rare start and Brian Boyle took a step toward getting out of his coach's doghouse as the New York Rangers got back on the right track with a 4-1 win Sunday afternoon over the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center. Biron stopped 28 shots and Boyle scored the first of two New York goals in a 37-second span of the middle period as the Rangers avenged a home loss Friday to Ottawa and won for the fifth time in six games. Rookie defenseman Steve Oleksy scored his first National Hockey League goal for the Capitals, who dropped their second game in as many days after a 5-2 loss to the Islanders on Saturday. Boyle put New York in front midway through the second on a play in which Alex Ovechkin committed two separate penalties against Ryan Callahan (tripping) and Ryan McDonagh (holding). Boyle, who was scratched from Friday's loss and subsequently challenged to play better by Rangers coach John Tortorella, ended the sequence by beating Braden Holtby for his first goal of the season at 10:53. Since Ovechkin was whistled for two infractions on the same play, the Rangers still went on the power play even after Boyle's goal. Callahan put them up 3-1 by redirecting a shot the red-hot Rick Nash took from the right circle. Nash's five-game goal streak ended, but he collected a pair of assists and now has 11 points in six games since returning from injury. Holtby was replaced following Callahan's goal by Michal Neuvirth, who made his first appearance since Feb. 7. Biron made just his fourth start of the season as Henrik Lundqvist got the day off. He came up big at the end of the second, making several key saves after Boyle took a holding penalty and Darroll Powe was later called for tripping, giving the Capitals a 5-on-3 for 31 seconds. Brad Richards capped the scoring, beating Neuvirth with 1:12 left in the third. The Capitals blitzed the Rangers from the game's opening faceoff, as they kept the puck in the New York zone for about half a minute and put pressure on Biron. They broke through for the opening goal at 2:16 when Oleksy scored in his fourth career game. Jason Chimera worked the puck back to the right point and Oleksy's shot found its way over Biron's right shoulder. Derek Stepan evened the score at the 11:31 mark. Skating down the left wing, Stepan cruised behind the net and released a shot from behind the goal line that banked off Holtby's skate and into the net. That got the Rangers going, and they finished the period outshooting the Capitals, 12-8.

Columbus v Detroit 3-2 - Columbus won its fifth consecutive game and completed a weekend sweep of the Detroit Red Wings with a 3-2 shootout victory at Joe Louis Arena on Sunday. Ryan Johansen and Matt Calvert beat Jimmy Howard with backhand dekes after Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk opened the tiebreaker by beating Sergei Bobrovsky through the five-hole. Bobrovsky stopped Damien Brunner with his glove and then ended the game by getting an arm on Henrik Zetterberg's snap shot. Bobrovsky made 21 saves through 65 minutes to improve to 6-1-1 in his last eight decisions. The Blue Jackets are now 10-12-4, including 5-0-2 in their last seven, and with 24 points are just three out of eighth place in the Western Conference. The Blue Jackets, who beat Detroit 3-0 in Columbus on Saturday, have points in seven straight games for the first time since Feb. 7-19, 2009. They went 4-0-1 against Detroit this season, the first time they've won the season series against the Red Wings since entering the National Hockey League in 2000. Howard made 19 saves for the Red Wings, who head to Western Canada for three games this week. Johan Franzen tied the game by scoring a 5-on-3 power-play goal 25 seconds into the third period. The Red Wings got the two-man advantage when Ryan Johansen was called for slashing with 24 seconds remaining in the second period and R.J. Umberger was sent off for delay of game on the ensuing faceoff. After a scoreless first period, the teams combined for three goals in a 1:15 span early in the second. Brassard opened the scoring at 3:10 of the second period when his blast from near the top of the right circle went through a screen and past Howard for his fourth of the season. The Wings tied it 30 seconds later on a goal by rookie Jakub Kindl, who beat Bobrovsky with a slapper from the high slot, but Umberger capitalized on a turnover by Zetterberg and beat Howard from the top of the right circle at 4:25 for his fifth of the season.

Montreal v Florida 5-2 - Led by Michael Ryder's two power-play goals and one assist, the Canadiens completed their first-ever season sweep of the Florida Panthers while wrapping up a 4-1-0 road trip with a 5-2 victory at BB&T Center. The first goal was the 100th in a Montreal uniform for Ryder, but his first in seven games since the Canadiens brought him back in a trade with the Dallas Stars on Feb. 26. The only setback on the road trip, which began with a 4-3 victory against the Boston Bruins on March 3, was a 6-3 loss against the New York Islanders Tuesday, Montreal's only regulation loss in its last 15 games (11-1-3). The trip ended with victories on consecutive nights after Montreal rallied for three third-period goals to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 Saturday night. Before scoring into his own net, Bouillon had scored his first goal of the season to give Montreal a 4-0 lead late in the second period. Gionta had a goal an assist, and David Desharnais had the other Montreal goal. P.K. Subban had three assists. Montreal led 4-0 after two periods before Florida got goals from Tomas Kopecky (who got credit when Bouillon scored in his own net) and Shawn Matthias. The Canadiens outshot the Panthers 38-16. Canadiens goalie Peter Budaj made 14 saves and lost his bid for his second shutout of the season, and Montreal's second in a row at BB&T Center, with 12:01 left in the game. The Canadiens beat Florida 1-0 in overtime on Feb. 14 with Carey Price in net. The Canadiens also beat the Panthers 4-1 at Bell Centre Jan. 22. The sweep comes one year after Florida took all four meetings with the Canadiens. With the victory, Montreal maintained its one-point lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins atop the Eastern Conference and extended their margin in the Northeast Division over the Boston Bruins to three points, although Boston does have four games in hand. The Canadiens scored at least three goals for a seventh consecutive game. They last scored fewer than three on Feb. 25 in a 2-1 overtime loss against the Ottawa Senators. Florida, which has the worst record in the National Hockey League, lost for the sixth time in seven games and the 13th time in 16. Jacob Markstrom made his fourth consecutive start in net since being recalled from the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League and stopped 33 shots. Markstrom gave up a goal in the first 2:35 for the third consecutive game, but his goaltending kept the Panthers in the game until late in the second period. Kopecky's goal was the 10th of the season, matching his total from 2011-12. Matthias' goal was his fourth in six games. Playing in front of a pro-Canadiens crowd, Montreal opened the scoring just 1:46 into the game on a nice individual effort by Desharnais. After getting the puck just inside the Montreal blue line, he carried into the Florida zone, made a quick move to his left to avoid defenseman Tyson Strachan, then fired a wrist shot from just inside the left circle that beat Markstrom high to the glove side. The reaction from the crowd made it sound like Montreal was the home team. Ryder made it 2-0 at 11:18 with 13 seconds left in a Montreal power play when he tipped in Subban's wrist shot from the point. Ryder's second goal at 15:57 of the third also came in the third period, also on a tip of a Subban shot. The Canadiens scored twice in a span of 2:12 late in the second to put the game away and make Bouillon's boo-boo simply joking material.

Winnipeg v New Jersey 2-3 - Patrik Elias is proving to be quite the shootout specialist of late for the New Jersey Devils. For the second time in three games, Elias deposited the decisive goal in the third round of the tiebreaker to lift the Devils to a 3-2 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday before 17,625 at Prudential Center. When Elias skated through the crease, Pavelec opened up and the 36-year-old veteran slid it between the pads to the delight of the hometown faithful. The winner off the stick of Elias was only made possible by the superb goaltending of New Jersey's Johan Hedberg, who finished with 23 saves. Hedberg denied Blake Wheeler, Evander Kane and Andrew Ladd to win his fourth of the season and second straight home game via shootout, the Devils rallied to beat Buffalo on Thursday. Pavelec, Hedberg's former teammate in Atlanta, finished with 25 saves. Hedberg was called upon to make five saves in the overtime, including a cannon slap shot from the left point by Zach Bogosian at 2:46. Kane also got loose with 5.8 seconds left and took a wicked wrist shot from the top of the right circle that deflected off defenseman Bryce Salvador before reaching Hedberg, who snared the puck with his left glove. Peter Harrold and David Clarkson each had good opportunities on Pavelec in the overtime on shots from the right circle, but were denied each time. The victory was the second in three games for the Devils, who now prepare for a home-and-home set with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Devils, who remain in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings with 29 points, play host to the Flyers on Wednesday and travel to Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Friday. The Jets closed out their four-game road trip with a 2-1-1 record. Winnipeg, ninth in the East with 26 points, will now play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday and New York Rangers on Thursday. Kane pulled the Jets into a 2-2 tie 17:19 into the second with his 10th goal of the season. The fourth-year forward skated down his left wing on a 2-on-1 against Devils defenseman Andy Greene before unleashing a picturesque wrist shot from the left circle that beat Hedberg high to the long side. The goal came less than a minute after Pavelec had made a series of stops at the other end, including a diving blocker save on Steve Bernier. With the momentum clearly on their side, the Jets continued to press late in the period, and Kyle Wellwood's blast with just seconds left rang off the goal post. The Jets somehow managed to escape the opening 20 minutes trailing by only one goal despite being outplayed and outshot 11-5. The Devils opened a 2-0 lead on goals by Ryan Carter and Stephen Gionta in the first. Anton Volchenkov helped begin the scoring 8:47 into the first when his dump-in from the left point took an odd bounce off the glass behind the cage and caromed in front to Travis Zajac. Pavelec made the initial save, but Zajac slid the rebound back to Carter, who lofted a shot over the goalie off a spin-o-rama backhand attempt. The goal snapped a streak of nine straight games in which the Devils had allowed the first goal. Gionta's third goal of the season 1:25 later came off a great individual effort. He skated hard down his left wing before breaking in towards Pavelec and beating the goalie between the pads. Winnipeg pulled within 2-1 at 16:17 when Mark Stuart took a harmless-looking snap shot from the left wing half-boards that deflected off the blade of Greene in front of the net and went up and over Hedberg. The Devils barely missed at regaining a two-goal lead in the final 30 seconds when Adam Henrique's blistering wrist shot rang off the right post with his team on the power play. Instead, the Jets finished off their 22nd straight penalty kill, including all 12 on this four-game road swing. Clarkson received a scare on his first shift of the game when he was hit above the left eye by a deflected puck. After receiving some medical treatment on the bench, however, he was back on the ice.

NY Islanders v Pittsburgh 1-6 - Playing without reigning National Hockey League scoring champion Evgeni Malkin on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins pledged to not change their game. Of course not. Recently, the Penguins' game involves scoring plenty of goals, and winning. Chris Kunitz's second hat trick of the season led Pittsburgh to a 6-1 win against the New York Islanders, extending the Penguins' winning streak to five. Pittsburgh has its second winning streak of that long since Jan. 31. Even without reigning NHL scoring champion Malkin, out for the next 1-2 weeks because of an upper-body injury, the Penguins scored at least three goals for the 12th time in their past 13 and 17th time in their past 20. Crosby extended the National Hockey League's longest-active point streak to eight games with five assists, Kris Letang had two assists to match his career-high with a five-game assist streak and James Neal and Pascal Dupuis each scored to extend personal goal streaks to four and three games, respectively. Crosby matched a career high for assists set Dec. 13, 2006, in posting his ninth game of three-or-more points in his past 17 played. The effort, though, was his first of at least four points in almost a year (March 30, 2012). His most recent five-point game was in the 2009-10 season finale on Long Island. Truth is, both Kunitz and Crosby are right. Each is among the League's best players right now, with Crosby (45 points) holding an eight-point lead on Steven Stamkos in the NHL scoring race and Kunitz one point behind Stamkos in third place. Kunitz lifted his season goal total to 17, tied with Neal and the Los Angeles Kings' Jeff Carter for second in the League. Dupuis posted his second two-goal game in the past 22 days and backup goalie Tomas Vokoun made 23 saves to win for the second time in the past four days for the Penguins (18-8), who lead the Atlantic Division by nine points and trail only the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference standings. Brad Boyes scored to give him six points in the past five games for New York, which was playing on the road for the first time in 15 days and was coming off a seven-game homestand. Since being stifled by the New Jersey Devils Feb. 9-10 (one goal in each of a home-and-home), the Penguins are averaging 4.2 goals per game. The League leader in goals, Pittsburgh has scored 26 times during its current winning streak. Crosby assisted on each of the goals by linemates Kunitz and Dupuis. Kunitz set up each of Dupuis' tallies, and Letang had the primary assist when both Kunitz and Neal scored 16 seconds apart late in the second to give Pittsburgh a 5-1 lead. Kunitz's first two goals came during first-period power plays, both tap-ins off passes from Neal. His goal at 13:34 of the second elicited hundreds of sock monkeys to be thrown from the seats onto the ice, the 265th consecutive Penguins sellout crowd eschewing the traditional hat toss because the puppets were a promotional giveaway to all fans. Kunitz has never topped 26 goals in a season. He needed 82 games to reach that mark in 2011-12, but is on pace for 31 in this 48-game campaign. His .654 goals per game would lead to 54 goals in a regular 82-game schedule. Aided by three first-period power plays that helped them gain momentum, the Penguins dominated the opening period. Pittsburgh, which had lost to the Islanders 4-1 at home in January, out-shot New York, 12-4, while building a 3-0 lead at the first intermission. The Islanders had only four shots over the first 28 minutes of the game, a mere two in the final 26 minutes of that stretch, until Boyes took advantage of Penguins defenseman Simon Despres loosing his footing to score for the sixth time this season. The Penguins' was much better. Kunitz finished off his hat trick when he slammed home the rebound of a Letang shot five minutes after Boyes' goal, all but assuring that there would be no close finish Sunday. The previous four wins of Pittsburgh's streak all had come by one goal.

Edmonton v Chicago 6-5 - The Chicago Blackhawks have gone from a 24-game points streak to a two-game losing streak. The Edmonton Oilers got a win they badly needed on Sunday night at United Center by racing out to a 4-0 lead and holding off Chicago for a 6-5 victory, snapping their five-game losing streak. It was the second regulation loss in three nights for Chicago, which went 21-0-3 before losing 6-2 at Colorado on Friday. They nearly overcame a four-goal deficit to earn a point, but came up short after Patrick Kane's power-play goal 7:08 into the third period got them within a goal. Chicago (21-2-3) had multiple scoring chances during a power play that began with 7:45 left in the third period. The Blackhawks also put a strong push on Edmonton goalie Yann Danis down the stretch despite having to kill off a late Oilers power play. After coming in for injured starting goalie Devan Dubnyk in the second period, Danis made 21 saves, just enough stops to preserve the Oilers' second win in eight games on a nine-game trip that ends in Colorado on Tuesday. Sam Gagner, a noted thorn in the Blackhawks’ side, led the way offensively for Edmonton (9-11-5) by scoring two goals, both of which came in that first-period outburst. Taylor Hall scored the eventual game-winner late in the second and added an assist on Ryan Whitney’s tally that made it 3-0 just 9:19 into the game. In that first period, the Oilers did exactly what they vowed to do the day before in a players-only meeting held to address their recent losing skid, which included back-to-back shutout losses at Detroit on Thursday and Nashville on Friday. Also scoring for Edmonton were Mike Brown and Shawn Horcoff, who played for the first time since a hand injury sidelined him for 15 games. In addition to Kane's pair, Chicago got goals from Marian Hossa, Sheldon Brookbank and Brent Seabrook. If there is such a thing as "post-streak hangover," the Blackhawks came out looking like they had a bad case of it. Chicago got outskated and outplayed for almost every minute of the first period and went to the locker room down 4-0 at the first intermission. The Oilers started out by putting on a road re-enactment of two blowout losses they handed the Blackhawks at Rexall Place a year ago. Edmonton had a 2-0 lead just three minutes into the game, before the sellout crowd could even get comfortable in their seats following the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner. It started with Brown’s simple flip of the puck from the high slot that eluded Ray Emery for a 1-0 Oilers’ lead just 2:24 into the game. Gagner then scored his first of the night just 36 seconds later. Magnus Paajarvi found him open 13 feet away and slightly to the left of Emery, who didn’t have a chance to stop a snap shot that beat him short side. Whitney made it 3-0 about six minutes later by one-timing a cross-ice feed by Hall past Emery, who was then pulled for Corey Crawford. But the Oilers weren’t done. Gagner added his second goal of the period and ninth of the season at 12:22 to make it 4-0, and that’s how it stayed until the second, which turned out to be a wild 20 minutes. Kane, Hossa, Brookbank and Seabrook all scored for the Blackhawks, while Horcoff and Hall had power-play goals for Edmonton, which also lost Dubnyk at 9:45 after a collision in the crease with teammate Teemu Hartikainen. Kane scored his second of the game 7:06 into the third by roofing a wrister from the right circle to cap a power play, which pulled the Blackhawks within one and set up the frantic finish. The Blackhawks are off until Thursday, when they begin a four-game road trip in Columbus.

Buffalo v Philadelphia 2-3 - Philadelphia Flyers did their best to cut into the deficit in regard to their place in the Eastern Conference standings on Sunday, getting goals from Simon Gagne, Maxime Talbot and Claude Giroux, and hung on for a 3-2 victory against the visiting Buffalo Sabres. Brian Flynn and Jochen Hecht scored for the Sabres, and Ryan Miller made 25 saves as Buffalo saw its winless skid hit four games (0-2-2). The Sabres also lost forward Tyler Ennis to an upper-body injury when he was hit hard into the boards by the Flyers' Wayne Simmonds with 4:06 left in the first period. Giroux's power-play goal 17 seconds into the second period turned out to be the game-winner, and it stayed that way thanks to four blocked shots, two solid penalty kills and one game-saving swipe of the puck off the goal line by Brayden Schenn in the third period. Just over a minute Hecht's shorthanded goal at 4:32 of the third made it a one-goal game, the Sabres rushed the puck into the Philadelphia zone. Cody Hodgson ripped a shot from the right side that Bryzgalov appeared to stop, but the puck squirmed between his pads and trickled toward the goal line. A backchecking Schenn was able to pull the puck from behind the goalie to preserve the Flyers' one-goal lead. Bryzgalov made 20 saves to pick up his 12th win while starting his National Hockey League-high 25th game of the season, including 10 straight. His best save came with 2:17 left in the second and the Flyers leading 3-1, when he stopped Christian Ehrhoff from a sharp angle to his right, then was able to push across and do the splits to get his left pad on Hodgson's one-timer on the rebound from the slot. The Sabres had chances to tie the game beyond the fantastic saves by Bryzgalov and Schenn. They had two third-period power plays, but their extra-man unit, which entered the game 30th in the League, went 0-for-3 with just one shot. The Flyers dominated the first half of the first period holding the Sabres without a shot for the first 11:42, but Buffalo's first shot led to their first goal, as Flynn scored off the rebound of Kevin Porter's shot at 11:43. By then, though, they were down 2-0. Gagne scored on the power play after his shot from the left side squeezed between Miller's pads. At 8:47, Talbot finished a 2-on-1 shorthanded rush started after a turnover by the Sabres' Steve Ott at the Philadelphia blue line. The Sabres took penalties in the final minute of the first and second periods, with a high-sticking penalty on Hecht with 58.4 seconds left in the first leading to Giroux's extra-man goal in the first minute of the second, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the fourth time he's scored in the first 60 seconds of a period. Giroux took a drop pass from Kimmo Timonen, entered the Buffalo zone with speed, split a pair of defenders, and as Robyn Regehr gave ground, fired a shot from the right circle that beat Miller to the short side, over his glove. The Flyers enter a two-day break before a home-and-home set with the New Jersey Devils starting Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center in a good mood, and focused on the next step up the standings.

Vancouver v Minnesota 2-4 - With his team losing control of a game it owned just a period earlier, Charlie Coyle earned perhaps the hardest-working second assist in the National Hockey League this season. Coyle's sheer determination set up the Minnesota Wild's final goal in a 4-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center, vaulting the Wild into a first-place tie with the Canucks atop the Northwest Division. After watching a 3-0 lead shrink to 3-2 just 62 seconds into the third period, Coyle's herculean shift gave the Wild the boost it needed playing in the final period of a grueling back-to-back set. Coyle fought through a double team and check by Dan Hamhuis, made a diving stop of a puck destined to leave the offensive zone and then won a puck battle in the corner, passing to Ryan Suter at the point. Suter's shot was stopped by Vancouver goaltender Cory Schneider, but the rebound came free to Zach Parise on the doorstep, and the latter jammed it home for his second of the night and a crucial insurance marker. Minnesota grabbed the early lead on a pair of nifty passing plays by Jared Spurgeon and Mikko Koivu. Spurgeon charged into the Vancouver zone along the right wall, dished to Koivu in the slot, who chipped a backhanded pass to Parise at the left dot. His one-timer beat Schneider for his 10th goal of the season just 24 seconds into the game. Another pretty pass, this time by Matt Cullen, set up the Wild's second goal late in the first, as the veteran fed rookie Jason Zucker in front for a tap-in goal at 18:31. Spurgeon added a power-play blast 4:12 into the second to give the Wild a 3-0 lead before the Canucks started to chip away. Less than four minutes later, Vancouver winger Chris Higgins' one-timer from the right corner beat Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom through his five-hole to get the Canucks on the board. When Henrik Sedin screeched to a halt at the right post, deflecting the puck off his blade past Backstrom just 62 seconds into the third, Minnesota's lead had shrunk to just one. But Minnesota got a great shift from its fourth line just before Coyle's effort led to Parise's goal at 6:29. A physical first period resulted in 26 minutes worth of penalties between the two teams. Minnesota finished 1-for-3 on the power play while Vancouver failed to capitalize on any of their three man-advantage chances, dropping to 0-for-19 with the extra attacker over the last eight games. Backstrom made 25 saves to earn his 11th win of the season, snapping a 0-6-1 stretch over his last seven games against Vancouver. The victory also moved Minnesota's mark to 9-2-1 at home this season. Suter, who extended his points streak to seven games on Spurgeon's goal, added a second assist on Parise's third-period goal and now has 17 assists on the season, second most among NHL defensemen. He's also tied for third among blueliners with 18 points. The win gives Minnesota 28 points, tied with Vancouver for best in the division. But the Wild's 13 victories (Vancouver has 11) breaks the tie in the Wild's favor. Both teams have played 24 games, the exact halfway mark of the season.

San Jose v Colorado 2-3 - It's a good thing for the Colorado Avalanche that Matt Duchene didn't waste as much as a nanosecond before knocking the puck into the net in overtime Sunday at the Pepsi Center. Just as the extra session was set to expire, Duchene deposited the puck over San Jose Sharks goalie Antti Niemi's left shoulder with two-tenths of a second remaining to give the Avalanche a 3-2 win. It took a video review to confirm the puck crossed the goal line before the final buzzer went off, so the Avalanche and Sharks had to wait a bit before they could exit the ice. The Avalanche called time with 11.2 seconds left after Niemi made a save against PA Parenteau, setting up a faceoff in the Sharks end. Duchene won the draw against Joe Pavelski, and defenseman Jan Hejda passed to Parenteau for a shot that ricocheted off Pavelski. The Sharks clawed back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game with 3:25 left in the third period when Logan Couture converted a pass from Joe Thornton, who kept Avalanche defenseman Matt Hunwick's clear around the boards from exiting the zone. Couture beat goalie Semyon Varlamov (36 saves) high to the glove side. While the Avalanche were coming off an emotional 6-2 win against Chicago on Friday that handed the Blackhawks their first regulation loss in 25 games this season, the Sharks were trying to rebound from a deflating 4-3 overtime loss at home to St. Louis on Saturday. Niemi was pulled in the third period of that game after the Sharks squandered a 3-1 lead. Ryan O'Reilly gave the Avalanche a 2-0 lead at 6:58 of the second period, but the Sharks answered with 39.1 seconds remaining on a goal by Patrick Marleau, the 400th of his NHL career, after the Avalanche iced the puck two times in a row. O'Reilly scored shortly after the Avalanche killed off a Sharks power play during which Varlamov made seven saves. Aaron Palushaj carried the puck into the Sharks end and passed to O'Reilly cutting to the net. Duchene scored the lone first-period goal on a power play at 6:47. It was the Avalanche's third power-play goal in two games after they went 0-for-12 with the man advantage in the previous five games. Both teams reached the halfway point in the 48-game season. The Sharks are 11-7-6 and the Avalanche are 10-10-4; Colorado hasn't been above .500 since winning two of its first three games.

St Louis v Anaheim 2-4 - Happily for the rest of the Western Conference, the Anaheim Ducks will spend the coming week on the road. The Ducks tied a franchise record with their 11th consecutive home victory by beating the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Sunday. Corey Perry scored the go-ahead goal 5:20 into the third period and added an empty-netter for Anaheim, which hasn't lost at Honda Center since being beaten 5-0 by Vancouver in its home opener. Jonas Hiller made 29 saves. The Ducks showed this time that they can play from behind, they allowed the Blues to take a 2-1 lead early in the period before scoring three times. Perry snapped a 2-2 tie when he deflected Getzlaf's shot from the top of the right circle past Jaroslav Halak for his eighth goal of the season. He skimmed a shot from the red line into the empty net with 40 seconds to play. At 18-3-3, the Ducks are in first place in the Pacific Division and just six points behind Western Conference-leading Chicago. It's the best 24-game start in franchise history. Halak made 18 saves for the Blues, who lost two of three games in a four-day span in California. Their only win was a 4-3 overtime victory at San Jose on Monday. The Blues grabbed a 2-1 lead 1:41 into the third period when Patrik Berglund drove a shot through a screen by David Backes and past Hiller. But the Ducks tied it 90 seconds later when Bobby Ryan, whose penalty led to Berglund's goal, drove to the net and banged in a rebound after Francois Beauchemin's shot hit Getzlaf and landed on his stick. St. Louis opened the scoring 6:09 into the game on a goal by Ryan Reaves. Wade Redden took a shot from the point and Reaves got a piece of it to deflect it past Hiller. Anaheim tied it at 8:24 of the second on a shorthanded breakaway goal by Andrew Cogliano. Seconds after he misfired on a 2-on-1 break, Cogliano picked up a pass from Emerson Etem, went in alone and beat Halak. The Ducks open a three-game road trip with a stop in Minnesota on Tuesday. They hit the road brimming with confidence.