Los Angeles Kings @ Chicago Blackhawks 0-1 - 12/30

The Chicago Blackhawks are preparing for the return of starting goaltender Corey Crawford, but rookie Antti Raanta showed Monday night why his absence hasn't exactly been disastrous. Raanta made 26 saves to earn his first NHL shutout and lead the Blackhawks to a 1-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings in a tight-checking game at United Center. He is 10-1-3.

"There were a couple times in the last three minutes [of the third] I was like, 'Oh, my God, it's like the last time we played against L.A., and they're going to score in the last two minutes,'" Raanta said, referring to Alec Martinez's late goal Dec. 15 to spoil his shutout bid in Chicago's 3-1 win. "But the guys were playing really nice in front of me. They were blocking shots all the time. I think I got three or four saves in the last period, so they made my job pretty easy."

The Kings got five shots on goal in the third, and Raanta stopped all of them. He also got some help with 5:23 left on a hustle play by defenseman Duncan Keith, who raced back to break up Kyle Clifford's breakaway chance right in front of the crease. The play was indicative of the Blackhawks' improved defensive effort coming off a 6-5 shootout loss Saturday night at the St. Louis Blues.

"[There were] great saves by Antti when we needed him to make those saves, but we know what type of team L.A. is," said Keith, who had an assist and blocked two shots. "They're a hard-working team, and they're physical. Overall, we talked about it coming in here, about how we wanted to tighten up things. We talked about how we could be a little better defensively, and we were tonight."

Chicago (28-7-7) earned five points out of a possible six in a tough stretch of three games in four days against the Colorado Avalanche, Blues and Kings. The Blackhawks moved back on top of the overall standings with 63 points, two more than the Anaheim Ducks. Los Angeles (25-11-4) lost three straight games for the first time this season. On Monday, the Kings controlled the tempo for long stretches and made the Blackhawks pay a physical toll whenever they got the puck. They just weren't able to solve Raanta or Chicago's defense, which made Brandon Saad's first-period goal, his 14th, stand up for the win.

"It was a pretty tight game both ways," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "Not a lot of scoring opportunities, not a lot of room. Both teams were checking and taking away the rush game and opportunities around the net."

Patrick Kane's career-high 14-game point streak ended. He finished with five of the Blackhawks' 30 shots, but couldn't solve Kings rookie goalie Martin Jones, who made 29 saves. The Kings wasted no time setting the tone. They came out looking to be the more physical team and accomplished the task, racking up 19 of their 45 hits in the first period. That included a check by former Blackhawks center Colin Fraser that drove Chicago defenseman Michal Rozsival over the boards between the teams' benches 10 minutes into the game. Saad's highlight-worthy goal at 7:05 of the first capped a 2-on-1 with Bryan Bickell. Matt Greene initially broke up Bickell's cross-ice pass with his stick, but Saad didn't give up, scooping the puck away from Mike Richards' stick in the low slot and whipping a hard wrister into the upper right corner for his second goal in as many games.

"[Bickell] had a play on the wall, we had a 2-on-1, and he made a pass that tipped off their stick and sat there for me," Saad said. "I had some time and put it glove side."

Greene was disappointed by his play leading to the game's only goal.

"[I] just didn't get enough of it," he said. "It was a 2-on-1 and I have to get a better stick on that puck, and that's it. [It] gave them a second opportunity, and they scored."

Keith picked up the second assist on the play, giving him 36, one shy of San Jose Sharks center Joe Thornton for the NHL lead. Quenneville feels Keith is playing even better than the Blackhawks' top defenseman did when he won the Norris Trophy in 2010.

"He's been excellent," Quenneville said. "He had a real good year, a great start in his Norris year, and a big year [last year] as well. I see a real big improvement off of those levels this year, where he's been controlling the play at both ends of the rink."

The Kings controlled much of the play Monday night. The second period saw more physicality but no goals. Los Angeles hammered out 19 more hits in the second. The Kings outshot the Blackhawks 15-11 to take a 21-17 advantage through 40 minutes. Raanta's biggest save came with 6:38 left in the second, when Dustin Brown split Keith and Brent Seabrook and was hooked, earning a penalty shot. Raanta stopped Brown's wrister with the blocker to keep Chicago in front.

"It was good that it came inside the game, because I didn't have too much time to think about it," Raanta said. "I didn't have much time to [think about] what the guy was going to do, so I just tried to stop the puck and luckily it hit the blocker, and we got the shutout from [there]."

Jones kept the King close when he stopped back-to-back shots early in the third with a pair of quick pad saves. Andrew Shaw's apparent power-play goal near the midway point of the third period was waved off when the officials ruled he deflected Patrick Sharp's slapper past Jones with a high stick. The Blackhawks will play their next two on the road against the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. Los Angeles has two more games on its road trip, at the Dallas Stars and Blues, before a six-game homestand. After losing to Chicago last spring in a five-game Western Conference Final, the Kings have dropped the first two of three regular-season games against the Blackhawks. They only have one more opportunity, on Feb. 3 at Staples Center, to strike back before potentially facing them again in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"We have to be better," Greene said. "That's it. We have to beat these guys if we want to get out of our conference, so we've got to start doing it right now."

Results - Mon, Dec 30, 2013

Washington @ Ottawa 1-3 - Mika Zibanejad drew Ottawa even at 13:49 of the first period with his first goal in 13 games. Turris scored his third goal in the past five games at 3:14 of the second to give the Senators a 2-1 lead. Anderson, who got a glove on Eric Fehr's shot from the slot with a little more than two minutes left in regulation to preserve Ottawa's lead, made several big stops during an offensive push by Washington late in the second period, beginning with a save on Mikhail Grabovski's shot on a 2-on-1 and capped moments later when he denied Alex Ovechkin's backhander as the Capitals captain drove the net. Joel Ward scored his 12th goal 2:11 into the game to put Washington ahead 1-0. Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer made 35 saves in his fourth straight start. The 22-year-old German rookie, who is 1-2-1 over that stretch, stopped 16 of 17 shots and five of six shootout attempts in a 2-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Senators forward Chris Neil left the game after receiving some of his own medicine, he attempted to injure Ovechkin midway through the first period and came off worse himself. Neil, who was favoring his left leg as he skated off the ice, sustained a lower-body injury and did not return.

"It doesn't appear like it's going to be day-to-day," Senators coach Paul MacLean said. "It could be longer than that, but we're going to re-evaluate it and see what it is."

Neil, who leads Ottawa with 99 penalty minutes, has five goals and one assist in 42 games. Ovechkin was understandably upset about the hit.

"I saw him; I thought he was going to hit me shoulder-to-shoulder and I was ready, but he hit me right in the head, right at the chin," Ovechkin said. "I asked the referee why he didn't see it, and he said, 'Ah, I didn't see it.'"

Zibanejad, who has moved to center in Jason Spezza's absence, took a return pass from Cory Conacher on a 2-on-1 and steered the puck into a wide-open net for his ninth goal; it was his first since Dec. 1. Senators right wing Eric Condra fired a shot off the right post in the opening minute of the second period. Bobby Ryan, who scored his team-leading 18th goal Saturday, got his 18th assist on Turris' 10th goal at 3:14. Referee Jean Hebert put his right arm up to signal a delayed penalty on Capitals defenseman Mike Green, who hooked Turris as the Ottawa center drove the slot after receiving a pass from Ryan. Turris made the call a moot point when he deked around Grubauer to stuff a shot into a gaping net. Ward scored with his back to the net to give Washington the early lead. The Capitals forward's backhand along the ice from the slot found its way into the net inside the left post. Anderson had a scare before his flurry of saves later in the second when he left his net to play Washington defenseman Karl Alzner's dump-in along the glass. The puck struck a stanchion and hit the outside edge of the wide-open net.

Detroit @ Nashville 4-6 - Mike Fisher had a Gordie Howe hat trick, a first-period assist, a second-period fight and a goal and an assist in the third period, and Wilson scored twice to lead the Nashville Predators past the Red Wings 6-4 at Bridgestone Arena in Detroit's final game before the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. Howard, who hadn't played for nearly three weeks after being injured Dec. 10, was beaten by two of the first five shots he faced. Wilson and Craig Smith scored before the game was 10 minutes old, Nick Spaling added a goal early in the second period, and Fisher, Wilson and Roman Josi scored in the third to help the Predators end 2013 with back-to-back victories at home. Wilson gave the Predators the early lead by scoring on Nashville's first shot against Howard. He raced down the middle into the Detroit zone, was given room to shoot and let go a wrist shot that appeared to hit a defenseman's stick before sailing past Howard for his sixth goal of the season. Fisher got the second assist. The lead lasted all of 66 seconds. Abdelkader bulled his way out of the left corner with the puck and lifted a short backhander that beat Mazanec at 3:00 of the first. Abdelkader's fourth of the season came on Detroit's second shot. Nashville iced the puck as the first period neared the halfway mark, and Detroit coach Mike Babcock loaded up his forward line by putting Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg together. Nashville's Paul Gaustad won the draw in his own zone and got the puck to Smith, who went coast-to-coast before beating Howard from the left circle for his team-high 11th of the season at 9:50. Spaling gave the Predators a two-goal lead 4:24 into the second period when he called his own number on a 2-on-1 break and beat Howard from the right circle for his seventh of the season. The Red Wings stepped up their game at the start of the third period and made it a one-goal game 35 seconds after the opening faceoff. Nashville captain Shea Weber made a bad clearing attempt that was picked off by Niklas Kronwall at the left point. The defenseman's diagonal pass found Datsyuk near the right faceoff dot for a one-timer past Mazanec. It was Datsyuk's 15th goal of the season and his 799th NHL point. But Fisher, who fought Abdelkader late in the second period, made it 4-2 at 5:50 when he swept home a feed from Wilson, who had started the play with a takeaway in the Detroit zone. It was Fisher's third goal in two games. He scored twice in the final 3:18 on Saturday to give Nashville a 3-2 win against the Los Angeles Kings. Miller shoved home a loose puck at 11:30 to cut the margin to 4-3, but Wilson restored Nashville's two-goal lead 37 seconds later when he took a pass from Seth Jones, cut around the defense and found himself alone in front before lifting a backhander over Howard. Fisher, who started the play, earned his second assist of the night. That turned out to be the winner when Eaves scored his first of the season on a power-play one-timer with 5:08 remaining to make it 5-4. Josi hit the empty net with 18.6 seconds remaining.

Philadelphia @ Vancouver 4-3 SO - Brayden Schenn picked up brother Luke by tying the game in the final minute of regulation, and Vincent Lecavalier completed the comeback with the only goal in the shootout, lifting the Flyers to a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night. After Luke Schenn accidentally knocked a rebound into his own net to put the Canucks ahead with 2:48 left in regulation, younger brother Brayden scored his first goal in 17 games with 46.8 seconds remaining and Mason pulled for the extra attacker. After a scoreless overtime, Lecavalier beat Eddie Lack with a nice deke and forehand shot over the blocker in the first round of the shootout, and Mason stopped Mike Santorelli, Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin to preserve the comeback as the Flyers improved to 6-1-1 in their past eight games. It was fitting that the younger Schenn got the Flyers even after older brother Luke accidentally knocked a rebound from a long Daniel Sedin shot off Mason's blocker, up over the goalie and into the net. The lead lasted just over two minutes. After Sean Couturier won a draw in the Vancouver end, Scott Hartnell won a battle atop the Canucks' crease and fed across Brayden Schenn for a tap-in. Fourth-line wing Tom Sestito, who was claimed off waivers from the Flyers in March, and Jannik Hansen scored second-period goals to put the Canucks ahead, but Flyers captain Claude Giroux scored on a partial break with 68 seconds left in the period to tie it 2-2. Defenseman Mark Streit opened the scoring the Flyers, who had lost five straight road games before winning the first two of a six-game trip that continues Tuesday against the Calgary Flames. The Flyers have scored 30 of them in the past eight games, led by a top line of Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and rookie Michael Raffl, who had two assists against the Canucks. Voracek had his nine-game point streak snapped, but the trio has 40 points in the past 10 games. Giroux tied it two minutes later after Raffl sent him in on a partial break, holding off the check of Hamhuis and drawing a penalty before slipping the bouncing puck between the legs of Lack. Already down to their ninth defenseman with the loss of Andrew Alberts on Sunday and the Monday morning recall of Frank Corrado from the American Hockey League, the Canucks got another scare when Kevin Bieksa was hit in the face by a clearing attempt with seven minutes left in the first period. Bieksa left clutching a towel to his face and the Flyers scored while he was in the locker room, but he was back before the period ended.

Anaheim Sucks @ San Jose Sharks 1-3 - 12/29

Bracken Kearns had never scored an NHL goal before Sunday night, when he gave the San Jose Sharks a commanding three-goal lead midway through the second period against the Anaheim Ducks at SAP Center. Sharks center Logan Couture felt like he had gone a lifetime without a goal before snapping an 11-game drought with his 100th career goal midway through the first period. San Jose used those milestone goals, along with Brent Burns' goal 77 seconds after the puck dropped, to beat Anaheim 3-1 and snap the Ducks' franchise record 10-game winning streak. The Sharks extended their own winning streak to four games. The victory was San Jose's fourth straight against the Ducks overall and the second this season; the teams complete their home-and-home series Tuesday night at Anaheim, where the Ducks are 14-0-2 this season.

"A huge two games," Sharks captain Joe Thornton said. "We kind of spoke about that before the game. These four points are huge. They're kind of running away with our division right now and tonight we kind of grabbed them and brought them back a little bit. Tuesday's going to be another huge game against them so we'll be ready. But to get this one at home is huge."

Anaheim leads the Pacific Division with 61 points, but second-place San Jose closed the gap to five points and has two games in hand. The Ducks lost for the first time since Dec. 3, when they fell 3-2 in a shootout against the Los Angeles Kings.

"It's pretty special," Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler said of the streak. "It's something that doesn't happen often. You're playing against the best players in the world, so to be able to do that as a group, you should be proud of. You're going to lose eventually. It can't go on forever, but we can't be satisfied with that. And losing this one, this was a big game for us. I think we came out a little bit flat, which is unfortunate. You're happy with the streak, but now we've lost one in a row so it's time to kind of take a reality check and get ready for the next one."

Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made 30 saves to earn his 21st win. He lost his shutout bid when Patrick Maroon scored his third goal of the season with 8:28 left in regulation. Ducks rookie Frederik Andersen, making his first career start against San Jose, stopped 20 shots. The Ducks played the second of back-to-back games Sunday, just as they did Nov. 30 when they lost 4-3 in a shootout at SAP Center. This time, San Jose snapped Anaheim's six-game road winning streak and seven-game road point streak. Both streaks ended one game shy of tying franchise records. Burns put the Sharks ahead 1:17 into the game when he wristed a shot from the slot past Andersen for his 12th goal. Andersen had stopped a blast by Joe Pavelski from the circle, but he couldn't control the rebound, and Burns made him pay.

"Jump on them early," Couture said. "They were coming off a game last night where they went to overtime to win. We knew they usually start quick, but we start quick in this building and we wanted to jump on them early and we were able to do that."

Couture made it 2-0 at 10:07 with a highlight-reel goal. He took a long pass in the neutral zone from Burns, turned on the jets to blow past Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin, then faked left, cut right and flipped a backhander shot over Andersen's left shoulder.

"It's about time," Couture said. "I was happy to score. Forgot what it felt like.".

Couture hadn't scored since hitting an empty net Dec. 3 at the Toronto Maple Leafs and had three goals in his previous 25 games. He reached 100 career goals in 271 games, the second-fastest in team history to Jonathan Cheechoo's 246 games.

"It's special," Couture said of his 100th goal. "It's a big number. I was stuck on 99 for a while. But it's definitely special and one I'll remember."

Kearns increased San Jose's lead to 3-0 at 9:16 of the second period. The son of former NHL defenseman Dennis Kearns, who was called up Saturday from Worcester of the American Hockey League, became the oldest player in franchise history to score his first goal, at 32 years and 231 days.

"It was amazing, absolutely amazing," Kearns said. "It felt so good."

Kearns has played just eight regular-season NHL games, but he was in the lineup for all seven games last season in the Sharks' Western Conference Semifinal series against the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"I owe it to this organization," Kearns said. "They gave me an opportunity. I don't know how many organizations out there would give a 32-year-old an opportunity like they gave me last year in the playoffs. You just keep working at it and setting your goals high. I've dreamt about scoring in the NHL since I was a kid so it's an amazing feeling."

Andersen made a save on Andrew Desjardins' wraparound shot, but the puck trickled into the slot, and a hard-charging Kearns scored on a wrist shot. Andersen was more concerned about the two quick goals San Jose scored in the first period.

"We knew they would come fast in the first period, but we weren't prepared for that I guess," Andersen said. "That's all on us. We're got to be ready from the start to beat them in their rink."

The Ducks appeared to jam the puck past Niemi with 14:54 left to play, but after a review, video officials ruled it was not a goal. Maroon got the Ducks on the board when he took a pass in the left circle from Corey Perry and ripped a shot high and to the far side past Niemi. Sharks forward Tommy Wingels was hurt less than two minutes into in the game during a collision with Ducks defenseman Mark Fistric that sent him awkwardly into the boards. Wingels struggled to get off the ice, went immediately to the dressing room and did not return to the game. He played 51 seconds over two shifts. Sharks coach Todd McLellan said he hadn't received a medical report on Wingels' condition other than he suffered an upper-body injury. Fistric appeared to be shaken up as well, but he returned to the ice with about 15 minutes left in the first period. Ducks forward Daniel Winnik, who played 21 games with the Sharks in 2011-12, went to the dressing room with 7:50 left in the second period after a battle with San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Winnik was bleeding profusely from the bridge of his nose and appeared to be furious with Vlasic, but returned for the start of the third period.

"He got elbowed or butt-ended, one of the two," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "They said [Vlasic] was in the act of shooting." Anaheim did not retaliate, but Boudreau said the Ducks "maybe should have done something" after Winnik was hurt. "We've got to address some things tomorrow."

Winnipeg Jets @ Colorado Avalanche 2-1 OT - 12/29

It took a little more than a month and nearly the entire five-minute overtime Sunday for the Winnipeg Jets to register back-to-back victories. Blake Wheeler made it happen when he scored with 1.7 seconds left in OT to give the Jets a 2-1 victory against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center.

"I had no idea of the time left," said Wheeler, who also set up Andrew Ladd's third-period goal that gave the Jets a brief 1-0 lead. "I knew it was toward the end of it. We were at the end of our shift, too. We knew this was the last gasp. We wanted to get one more crack at it and we were able to find a hole there."

The Jets, who defeated the Minnesota Wild 6-4 at home on Friday, hadn't won back-to-back games since Nov. 25-27 when they beat the New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders.

"We're playing more consistent, but our season isn't built on two games," Jets coach Claude Noel said. "But we'll certainly take the positives out of the two games."

The winning play began after Jets goalie Al Montoya, who made 33 saves, stopped Ryan O'Reilly's shot from point-blank range with a few seconds remaining. The Jets took possession and raced into the Avalanche end. Dustin Byfuglien shot the puck off the end boards, Mark Scheifele got to the puck and passed to Wheeler in the slot for a redirection between goalie Semyon Varlamov's pads. Varlamov, who made 35 saves, got a piece of the puck, but it leaked through and crossed the goal line just before the buzzer that would have sent the game to a shootout.

"Mark has good hockey sense," Wheeler said. "That's the best part of his game. He was looking shot the whole way, but I could see out of the corner of his eye he was motioning to me to see if anyone was coming. I was able to get by my guy and just called for it at the last second. All I had to do was redirect it at the net and was able to find a hole."

The Avalanche have lost four games in a row (0-1-3), but they gained a point and are third in the Central Division, five points ahead of the Dallas Stars and the Wild.

"I'm not happy because we need those two points; it's all about the points," Varlamov said. "I can't lose that game, not like that. We got one point, that's a positive thing. I think we played a good game. We had so many chances to score and we just didn't score, but I think offensively we played very well, created so many chances in front of the net."

Ladd snapped a scoreless tie at 11:42 of the third period with a one-timer from between the circles off a pass from Wheeler, but the Avalanche tied the game 29 seconds later on a goal by Nathan MacKinnon, whose shot from the right wing deflected into the net off a Jets defenseman's skate.

"We tried to tell our guys, don't look for perfect plays," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "We're looking for perfect plays all the time. Just put it on net. You never know what could happen, and it's exactly how we scored. You don't have to make pretty plays all the time. You just need to put the puck at the net and go to the net. That's the part I thought we were missing in our game tonight."

Said Montoya: "It was an unfortunate bounce. We had just scored. They grabbed a little bit of momentum back. At the same time, we stuck with our game plan. It shows a lot about this team. You don't get frustrated. You keep doing what we were doing and stuck with it and got the win."

Neither team could generate much in the way of quality scoring chances until the third period and overtime. The Avalanche had 12 shots in the third and five in the overtime. The Jets had 11 in the third and four in OT. The Avalanche also lost right wing PA Parenteau to a knee injury at 16:20 of the second period when he and Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba clipped skates at center ice. Parenteau needed help into the trainer's room. Roy said he would know more about Parenteau's status on Monday. Parenteau, who has nine goals and 15 assists, was skating on a line with Gabriel Landeskog and Paul Stastny. His absence forced Roy to shuffle his lines for the remainder of the game.

St Louis Blues @ Dallas Stars 3-2 OT - 12/29

Kevin Shattenkirk's power-play goal with 11 seconds remaining in overtime gave the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. Shattenkirk's goal, which came off a one-timer from the left circle, rang off the left post and the far post before going in. T.J. Oshie had a goal and an assist, and Vladimir Sobotka had two assists for the Blues; Brian Elliott made 28 saves. St. Louis went on the power play late in OT when Stars rookie defenseman Kevin Connauton was called for tripping Derek Roy at 4:24, and the Blues converted 25 seconds later. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock was clearly pleased to see his team win for the fourth time in five games, and he gave much of the credit for the deciding goal to Sobotka, who assisted on the first and final goals.

"Yeah, [Sobotka] did a lot of work on that," Hitchcock said. "He did a lot of work creating the penalty and did a great job obviously on the goal."

Jamie Benn and Ryan Garbutt scored for the Stars. Hitchcock said he felt line changes he made after the second period helped the Blues regroup in the final 20 minutes of regulation and gave them momentum heading into overtime. "I felt like we had to regroup. They were coming at us pretty good in the second. We got caught on some changes and we looked tired. Then, for whatever reason, we made a couple changes in the lines and they got a little bit more energy and then we started to play again. I was happy with the third period. We did a lot of good things in the third period."

Dallas appeared to grab momentum early with a goal by Cody Eakin 23 seconds into the game. It was nullified after Garbutt was ruled to have made contact with Elliott in the crease, denying the goalie a chance to make a play on Eakin's shot.

"I thought we did our best to try to avoid contact," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's a tough call. It's a call they make a decision on the ice, and it's made."

Thirty seconds later, Garbutt was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, and the Blues capitalized at 2:41 when Jaden Schwartz scored his 13th of the season. Sobotka, who missed the Blues' win Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks with an upper-body injury, delivered a pinpoint pass from the left circle to Schwartz, who was alone at the right post and easily scored with a quick snap. Sunday marked the first game back in Dallas for St. Louis forward Brenden Morrow, who played 835 games for the Stars and served as captain from 2006 through 2013 before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins late last season. A video tribute to Morrow was played in the arena during the first period.

"[I was] trying not to tear up [watching the video]; it's a lot of good memories here," Morrow said. "I grew up with these fans. So it was a nice little tribute. I just wanted to make sure I got through it, didn't tear up and acknowledged everyone."

Early in the second period, Dallas peppered Elliott, but St. Louis went ahead 2-0 at 5:12 when Oshie beat Kari Lehtonen to the short side with a wrister from the left circle. The unassisted goal, which came on St. Louis' first shot of the period, resulted from Connauton misplaying the puck just outside the left circle, a miscue Oshie collected and finished perfectly. Dallas made it 2-1 when Benn beat Elliott with a one-timer at 8:13 with the Stars on the power play. Ray Whitney got the primary assist, feeding Benn from the right corner, and the captain finished with a well-placed wrister for his 13th of the season. The Stars tied it at 11:31 of the second when Garbutt redirected an Aaron Rome wrister past Elliott for his seventh of the season. Rome's shot from near the blue line was into heavy traffic, and Garbutt made contact inside the left circle. Oshie was called for slashing Benn 1:11 into overtime after he knocked Benn's stick out of his hand. Dallas was unable to convert on the 4-on-3 power play.

"It was a well-played game, a hard game," Ruff said. "You get those few opportunities. We took advantage of our couple, and we just missed out in overtime, which hurts. But it was an important point to come back and get. You have to give our guys a lot of credit for battling back. We got a point out of it."

Lehtonen stopped 19 of 22 shots for Dallas. St. Louis, which defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 6-5 in a shootout Saturday night, wound up with a sweep of a tough back-to-back.

"I think we're happy with getting four points out of four," Schwartz said. "Pretty gutsy wins by us, a nice comeback win last night and kind of a character win for us tonight. So it's definitely nice getting that extra point both nights."

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 - 12/29

James Neal is making up for lost time in a hurry. After missing half of the Pittsburgh Penguins' first 40 games due to injury (15) and suspension (five), Neal's career-high five points, including three goals, led the Penguins to a 5-3 victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena on Sunday. Neal has 10 points (four goals) in five games since returning from a five-game suspension for kneeing Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand on Dec. 7. The five-point game pushed his season total to 30 (14 goals, 16 assists) in 21 games.

"[Columbus] had some good zone time, but it felt like we created enough good chances," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "The way Nealer was shooting the puck tonight, it makes everyone look good."

Crosby and linemate Chris Kunitz each had a goal and two assists for the Penguins, who have won nine of their past 10 games and 14 of 16. The difference Sunday was the power play; Pittsburgh went 3-for-6 and Columbus was scoreless in three tries.

"Special teams is going to win you games," Neal said. "You saw that tonight. We got hemmed in our zone a little bit more than we would have liked, but our PP came up big."

Pittsburgh broke a 2-2 tie with third-period goals from Crosby, Kunitz and Neal, the latter two with the man advantage.

"It doesn't matter how good your penalty kill is," Columbus forward Corey Tropp said. "You put them on the power play that many times in a row and they're going to get their opportunities."

Columbus coach Todd Richards said the Penguins' skill led to many of his team's infractions.

"Most were with the stick. They were reaching penalties," he said.

Columbus, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, got a first-period goal from Brandon Dubinsky, a spectacular goal by Tropp in the second to tie the game at 2-2, and a late goal by Nikita Nikitin to close out the scoring. Tropp electrified Nationwide Arena with an individual effort that ended with his second goal at 13:42 of the second period. After gathering a pass from Boone Jenner, Tropp undressed Olli Maatta by dragging the puck between the rookie defenseman's skates, then went backhand to forehand before putting the puck between goalie Jeff Zatkoff's outstretched pad and the right post. The Penguins fans in attendance littered the ice with hats following Neal's third goal, which made it 5-2 with 2:27 left in the third. Earlier in the period, Crosby broke a 2-2 tie with his 22nd goal at 10:51. Crosby took a touch pass near the right post and fired on Curtis McElhinney. The Columbus goalie got a piece of the puck, which was pushed across the goal line by Columbus defenseman Fedor Tyutin. The goal was upheld by video review.

"It was kind of tucked under [McElhinney's] armpit, and he ended up falling into the net," Crosby said.

Crosby then assisted on Kunitz's 21st goal, which came on the power play, at 12:58. McElhinney and Zatkoff each made 25 saves. Zatkoff earned his first NHL victory against Columbus on Nov. 2 on the Penguins' most-recent trip to Columbus. He was barely tested in the earlier game, making 19 saves for 3-0 victory. It was a different story this time. He made two saves on Dubinsky while Columbus was shorthanded in a 1-1 game in the first period, but saved his best sequence for five minutes into the middle period, with the score still deadlocked, when he made point-blank stops on Blake Comeau and the rebound try by Ryan Johansen. The Penguins' dominance over Columbus continues. They have won all four games this season, five straight in the series and are 8-1-1 in the past 10. Pittsburgh has also won four straight in Nationwide Arena and hasn't lost a game in regulation in Columbus since a 6-1 loss on Jan. 11, 2006.

"It's still a road game," Crosby said in reference to the thousands of Penguins fans in attendance. "It gets pretty loud in here. [The Blue Jackets] fed off their crowd when they put a few of those shifts together. It's always nice to see so many fans on the road. It's a good rivalry."

Despite more than 230 man-games missed due to injuries and suspensions, the Penguins have won 14 of 16 games to assume the points lead in the Eastern Conference over the Boston Bruins. Pittsburgh got some good news on the injury front when defenseman Rob Scuderi (broken ankle) played for the first time in 30 games. He had not played since Oct. 26 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Scuderi played 18:01 and took 21 shifts. The Blue Jackets continue to struggle against the top two teams in the conference; they lost all three games in the season series to Boston. But the loss to Pittsburgh was particularly galling since Columbus (17-18-4) had climbed back to .500 for the first time since being 5-5-0. The only time the Blue Jackets had been a game above .500 was after winning two of the first three games. Richards said the Blue Jackets were in good position to finally beat the Penguins.

"It was about cracking, and we cracked first," he said.

Playing Pittsburgh tight for most of the game was of little consolation to the Blue Jackets.

"We did a lot of good things out there," Dubinsky said. "But we're at the point of the season where moral victories and small victories aren't good enough."

Results - Sun, Dec 29, 2013

Washington @ Buffalo 1-2 SO - Ryan Miller made 49 saves and Steve Ott scored in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Buffalo Sabres a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals at First Niagara Center on Sunday. Ott beat Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer with a wrist shot over the shoulder to help the Sabres improve to 5-0-1 in their past six games at home. He was the only participant to score. Miller stopped all six shots he faced in the shootout, including saves on Capitals forwards Alex Ovechkin and Mikhail Grabovski. Grabovski attempted a spin-o-rama against Miller but shot the puck off the side of the net. Drew Stafford gave the Sabres a 1-0 lead at 18:18 of the second period. He tipped a Christian Ehrhoff shot from the half-boards past Grubauer. It was Stafford's fourth goal of the season. Capitals forward Troy Brouwer tied the game 5:34 into the third period when he put a slap shot past Miller for his eighth goal of the season. Grabovski set up Brouwer's goal after forcing a turnover by Ott. The Sabres came close to ending the game in overtime when Ehrhoff drove the net and put a shot on Grubauer that popped loose through the crease, but the puck rolled away untouched.

Montreal @ Florida 1-4 - Dimitry Kulikov opened the scoring with his second goal of the season 6:10 into the game. With the teams at even strength, Panthers forward Tomas Fleischmann made a nice move around Markov at center ice and cruised into the Montreal zone before feeding a streaking Kulikov in the slot, where he one-timed Fleischmann's feed from the left circle past Budaj. Prust tied it at 2:56 of the second period. Prust, who had gone eight straight games without a point, parked himself in front of the net, collected Raphael Diaz's shot from the right point that didn't get through, then turned around and wristed a shot past Clemmensen to make it 1-1. But the Panthers regained the lead 1:55 later on Campbell's fifth goal of the season. The defenseman carried the puck into the Canadiens' zone and fired a shot from the slot that was stopped by Budaj, but the rebound landed in the crease and trickled over the goal line. The Canadiens had a goal disallowed for the second time in the game with 12:37 left. Danny Briere swept a loose puck into the net, but it was ruled that Alex Galchenyuk prevented Clemmensen from playing his position before the shot. Montreal also appeared to score with 6:34 remaining in the first, but the goal was waved off because Brian Gionta was called for knocking the puck down with a high stick at the blue line. Barkov scored made it 3-1 at 14:29. Brad Boyes made a nice move around Ryan White along the left-wing boards and sent a pass into the slot for Tom Gilbert. He wristed a shot that Barkov redirected past Budaj. Barkov has seven points in his past six games. Bergenheim iced the win with an empty-net goal at 19:43 of the third. It was his fifth goal in the past six games and eighth of the season.

Carolina @ Toronto 2-5 - Tyler Bozak, who hadn't played since Dec. 3 due to a lower-body injury, matched his career-high for assists in a game. The Hurricanes came out strong and had the Maple Leafs on their heels for the first half of the first period. Carolina took the game's first eight shots on goal before Joffrey Lupul tested Ward at 11:29 during Toronto's first power play. But Bernier stopped all 12 shots the Hurricanes threw at him in the opening period. His best was a pad save on Jeff Skinner's backhander just after the eight-minute mark. Kessel opened the scoring at 16:56 on a play that left Ward shaking his head. Kessel was behind the goal line to the right of Ward when he flung a backhand toward the net that hit the goaltender's back and deflected into the net for a 1-0 lead. The Hurricanes got even 1:36 into the second period. Alexander Semin outfought Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner for the puck in the left corner and zipped a pass to an unchecked Gerbe in the lower left circle. Gerbe's one-timer beat Bernier cleanly for his ninth goal of the season. Ward kept the game tied 4 1/2 minutes later when he robbed Kessel with a glove stop on a 2-on-1 break, then got a lucky bounce when the rebound hopped over a couple of sticks and the Hurricanes cleared the zone. Ward wasn't as fortunate at 13:42, when James van Riemsdyk fed Kessel on another 2-on-1 break. Kessel's shot from the right circle hit Carolina defenseman Ron Hainsey and caromed past Ward, giving Kessel his second goal of the night and 20th of the season. Kulemin, who has struggled to score for much of the season, beat Ward at 14:58 with a shot from the left circle. Carolina's Tim Gleason tried to clear the puck up the left wall, but his attempt hit a skate and caromed into the center of the Hurricanes zone, where an unchecked Kulemin picked it up and scored his fifth of the season. Carolina got one back at 17:43 during a 4-on-3 power play. Faulk set up in the left circle and one-timed Skinner's pass off the stick of Toronto defenseman Cody Franson past Bernier for his third of the season. Ranger restored Toronto's two-goal lead 4:58 into the third period when his straightaway slapper from just inside the blue line went through traffic and past Ward. Phaneuf hit the empty net with 7.1 seconds to play.

NY Rangers @ Tampa Bay 4-3 - Mats Zuccarello had a goal and two assists and the New York Rangers converted on all three power plays en route to a 4-3 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Tampa Bay Times Forum on Sunday night. Rick Nash, Chris Kreider and Benoit Pouliot also scored for the Rangers (19-19-2), who broke a 2-2 tie with two goals in the second period. When Tampa Bay began to surge in the third (the Lightning outshot New York 16-6), Henrik Lundqvist stood tall and finished with 37 saves. Filppula tipped Teddy Purcell's shot past Lundqvist at 8:14 of the third period to cut the lead to one goal, but the Lightning couldn't find the equalizer. A combination of careless passing and poor penalty-killing cost the Lightning two goals in the second period. With defenseman Dmitry Korobov in the box for holding, Krieder took a pass from Zuccarello and beat Lindback at 4:35. Pouliot gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead at 7:51 when he forced the puck into the Lightning net from just outside the crease. It was New York's third power-play goal in as many opportunities. The Rangers opened the scoring 4:30 into the game. Derek Stepan intercepted a Radko Gudas clearing pass at the Lightning blue line and sent a cross-ice pass to Nash, who beat Lindback for his seventh goal of the season. Johnson answered for the Lightning when he flipped a feed from Purcell past Lundqvist. The score came with J.T. Miller in the penalty box for hooking and was Johnson's 10th goal of the season. Palat put the Lightning up briefly when he collected the rebound of a Gudas shot from inside the blue line and wristed the puck into a wide-open net to Lundqvist's right at 16:05. Zuccarello made it 2-2 at 18:25 when his pass from behind the goal line deflected off Gudas in front of the net and bounced in. The power-play goal was Zuccarello's ninth of the season. Korobov recorded an assist on Filppula's third-period goal for his first NHL point in his third game. He was reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League after the game.

Vancouver @ Calgary 2-0 - Jannik Hansen scored late in the first period and Lack made the goal stand up until Mike Santorelli added some insurance with 2:16 left in regulation. Due to a quirk in the schedule, the Canucks had a full week between games sandwiched around the Christmas break. It didn't take them long to return to form and win for the 10th time in 12 games. And though he missed most of warm-ups receiving "five or six" stitches after a puck off the post hit him in the ear, Henrik Sedin didn't miss Hansen behind the Flames' defense to help Vancouver open the scoring. After Giordano's shot was blocked before it got to Lack, Sedin corralled the puck and found Hansen streaking through the neutral zone with a saucer pass he bobbled before ripping a shot by the blocker of Reto Berra with 39.7 seconds left before intermission. The goal came on the Canucks' 13th and final shot of the period. Calgary managed just two and failed to put a puck on Lack until Mike Cammalleri's opportunity from the faceoff dot at 13:02. The lopsided total was aided by Vancouver's five-minute power play after Calgary forward Brian McGrattan was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct for elbowing defenseman Andrew Alberts 2:43 into the game. Alberts didn't return. Just 1:41 in, Mikael Backlund took a drop pass in the slot from Cammalleri and wired a puck into Lack's chest. Joe Colborne also tested the Canucks goaltender, bursting by Jason Garrison down his off wing before driving to the net. Lack's goal line stand kept Colborne and the Flames at bay through 40 minutes. Facing another 11 pucks, Berra frustrated the Canucks while Calgary slowly started to find their legs. His best stop came off Daniel Sedin with 6:41 remaining; he denied Daniel's three whacks to push the puck past his pad and over the goal line. Lack stopped 10 shots in the third period. He got his paddle on TJ Galiardi's spinning backhander from the slot at 5:32 and headed away another Galiardi chance 2 1/2 minutes later. The saves paved the way for Santorelli's ninth of the season, a quick shot past Berra after a feed by Ryan Kesler on a 2-on-1 break.

NY Islanders @ Minnesota 5-4 - Kyle Okposo came up big in his hometown. The St. Paul native scored twice in the third period, including the game-winner with 5:48 left in regulation, to help the New York Islanders overcome a three-goal deficit and beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 on Sunday night. New York, scored twice in the second period and three times in the third to win after trailing by three goals for the first time since March 22, 1994, against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Okposo put the Islanders ahead for the first time at 12:13 of the third period when he blasted a slap shot from the right circle past Josh Harding. Justin Fontaine banged in a rebound at 13:45 to tie the game at 4-4, but Okposo put the Islanders ahead to stay 27 seconds later with a wrist shot from just outside the crease.

The Islanders began their comeback on a goal by captain John Tavares, who missed New York's 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday with a lower-body injury. Thomas Vanek wheeled around the Wild net and flipped the puck in front. It deflected off Wild defenders into the top of the crease, where Tavares tapped it in for his 14th of the season. Minnesota killed off a holding penalty against Mikael Granlund at 15:49, but could not clear the puck. After several blocked shots and failed clearing attempts, the puck came free at the point to Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey, who wristed a shot toward the net that was deflected by former Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck and went past Harding. Hickey, who had a goal and two assists, tied the game at 3-3 on a pretty redirection in the slot at 6:30 of the third. The Wild completely dominated the first period and grabbed the lead when Ryan Suter scored his first goal of the season 3:22 into the game. Minnesota's domination continued into the second period. Jonas Brodin's seventh goal of the season 39 seconds after the opening faceoff came a little more than two minutes before Nino Niederreiter, acquired in the offseason trade that sent Clutterbuck to the Islanders, made it 3-0 on a wrist shot from the slot. Niederreiter also had an assist on Brodin's goal.

NHL Outdoor Games 2014

Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic January 1, 2014 1pm ET - Toronto v Detroit
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Coors Light Stadium Series: LA January 25, 2014 9:30ET Anaheim v Los Angeles Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California

Coors Light Stadium Series: NY January 26, 2014 NY Rangers v New Jersey 12:30ET, January 29, 2014 NY Rangers v NY Islanders 7ET Yankee Stadium, NY

Coors Light Stadium Series: Chicago March 1, 2014 Pittsburgh v Chicago 8ET Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

NHL Heritage Classic March 2, 2014 Ottawa v Vancouver
BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia

Phoenix Coyotes @ Anaheim Sucks 2-3 OT - 12/28

High-scoring games, low-scoring games, come-from-behind wins. The Anaheim Ducks' winning streak has taken on all forms, and the latest had Saku Koivu's veteran skill all over it. Koivu's goal 51 seconds into overtime gave Anaheim a 3-2 win against the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Ducks extended a franchise record with their 10th consecutive win, the NHL's longest streak since the Pittsburgh Penguins won 15 in a row last March. The Ducks remained the only team without a regulation loss at home (14-0-2). Koivu tipped a shot by Ben Lovejoy, who took a pass from Cam Fowler at the top of the slot and snapped it on net. Koivu won a faceoff to start the possession that led to his second goal of the game, giving him 251 in his NHL career.

"Those tips there, they're more luck than anything else," Koivu said. "You try to get open and try to get your stick in there and try to get in front of the goaltender, and we got lucky on that one."

Anaheim, which trailed 2-0 in its previous game against the Washington Capitals on Monday, took the opposite route to this win. Phoenix erased a 2-0 deficit with 4:34 left in regulation on goals by Martin Hanzal and Mike Ribeiro. The Ducks regrouped and rode Koivu's line and goaltender Jonas Hiller, who tied a Ducks record with his eighth straight win, matching the mark set by Viktor Fasth from Jan. 26-Feb. 16, 2013. Anaheim's last regulation loss was 6-3 to the Dallas Stars on Nov. 26, and coach Bruce Boudreau didn't downplay the significance of the streak.

"I think it's neat," Boudreau said. "Anytime you can get to be part of something that nobody else has done, I think it's a special occasion. I don't make light of it. I think No. 10 is magic when you get into streaks, because it doesn't happen very often."

Hiller made 23 saves, and the goals he allowed were forgivable. The Coyotes pulled goalie Thomas Greiss for an extra attacker, and Ribeiro got his stick on Keith Yandle's slap shot from the right side that made it through traffic at 19:16 to stun the announced standing-room crowd of 17,442. It has to be said from TV pictures the arena looked no way near full to capacity. That came after Hanzal put a rolling puck into an open net after an odd dump-in carom at 4:34. Hiller came out to play the puck and got back to get the paddle of his stick on the shot but could not stop it. The goal was upheld after a video review. Greiss, starting in place of Mike Smith, made 38 saves against one of the League's best offensive teams. The bulk of his work came with 29 saves through two periods. He helped the Coyotes withstand two effective Ducks power plays in a 16-shot second by Anaheim because of roughing and tripping penalties by Yandle and Radim Vrbata, respectively.

"He saw a lot of shots and he made a lot of saves," Yandle said of Greiss. "If you look at all their goals, it was tough saves. Not a lot of guys would have that. He did his job. We have to find a way to help him out a little more."

So much of Anaheim's streak has been about its top line, but on this night the Ducks needed Koivu's shutdown line to alleviate the scoring pressure. Andrew Cogliano made a deft redirection to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead 5:04 into the third period. Daniel Winnik's pass might have deflected off a Coyotes player before a streaking Cogliano got his stick on it; Greiss had little chance on the play. Koivu's first goal came shorthanded to finish off a sharp first period by Anaheim, which showed no rust from a four-day break. Koivu cut across to the left circle and, unpressured, took a short backswing and fired near the wall to beat Greiss to the stick side at 17:08. Koivu said he's in a good place after he missed 15 games this season with a concussion.

"I think [250 is] a good number, but when you play with guys like Teemu [Selanne] on your team, and he has almost 700 goals, you kind of forget that. But it's nice. I guess I'm not known for scoring goals, and it's a fairly good number, and I'll take it. After the concussion, there were a few games that kind of took me to get, not so much physically, but just the mental part of the game, to feel comfortable, and now I'm starting to get some results, and it's a good sign."

Phoenix is 3-3-4 without captain Shane Doan, out with Rocky Mountain fever. The Coyotes went past regulation for the fifth straight game and were coming off a 4-3 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks on Friday.

"It was a real tough turnaround with days off and then playing two games in less than 24 hours, so I give our guys credit for hanging in there, and we managed to salvage a point," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "That's five games in a row in overtime [and] we have only got one extra point, so that's a little disappointing."

Anaheim's power play fell to 0-for-20 over seven games after it came up empty on three tries, although it had good puck movement and scoring chances. Its next chance will come Sunday at San Jose, but the Ducks allowed themselves to recognize 10 straight wins.

"The League is so competitive … we've been able to find ways to win games," Koivu said. "There's been a few that we've been down by a few goals but found ways to win the games and get the goals that we needed. Even though we know there's a lot of good things, we've got to find a bit more consistency when things are going well to push it a little more, but 10 wins is not easy and it's something that we can build on."

Once again though Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry were acting like whiney brats throughout the game. It is disappointing that two quality players like that feel the need to provoke opponents and deliver cheap shots, only to go run and hide behind the officals when someone stands up to them. Another skirmish occurred later on in the game with Patrick Maroon getting involved with several others.

Chicago Blackhawks @ St Louis Blues 5-6 SO - 12/28

Down by two goals three different times, the St. Louis Blues never quit. Even with a slew of key players sidelined with injuries, the Blues' young guns came through in a come-from-behind win against the defending Stanley Cup-champion Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. Kevin Shattenkirk's goal in the fifth round of the shootout gave the Blues a 6-5 victory against the Blackhawks before a standing room-only crowd of 20,082 at Scottrade Center.

"It's nice when you get out there and you have a chance to win it for your team. It's a completely different situation when you're trying to stay alive," Shattenkirk said. "Literally, when I went out there, I looked at [Chris Stewart] and [T.J. Oshie], and Stewy said, 'Low blocker.' [Stewart] must have seen it, and I just stuck to his word."

The Blues rallied to erase deficits of 3-1 and 5-3 on the way to their third win against Chicago in three tries this season. The game-winning rally came on goals by Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrik Berglund 1:17 apart late in the third period. Oshie and Tarasenko also scored shootout goals for the Blues, who beat Antti Raanta on three of five shots. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp scored shootout goals for Chicago, but the Blackhawks were denied by goalie Brian Elliott in each of their last three attempts. Two of the Blues' three wins against the Blackhawks (27-7-7) have come in shootouts.

"We hung in there and found a way to get two points, which is a heck of a bonus for us," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We got some really good performances, especially from guys like Tarasenko, who was just outstanding. [Jaden Schwartz] was outstanding again and a lot of our younger players really came to play."

The Blues, who fell behind by two early in the game, got a goal and two assists from Tarasenko, a goal and an assist from Berglund, who tied the game at 5-5 with 2:34 left in the third, and goals from Maxim Lapierre, Schwartz and Dmitrij Jaskin. Ian Cole had two assists. Jaskin's goal was the first of his NHL career. The Blues (25-7-5) improved to 11-0-1 against the Central Division this season and 6-1-2 in their past nine games overall. Elliott replaced Jaroslav Halak, who allowed three goals on 13 shots in the first period. Elliott made 17 saves in regulation and overtime before denying Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Brandon Saad in the shootout. Toews had the best chance to end the game in overtime but was denied by Elliott with 1:10 remaining.

"A tough one there," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "We had a couple looks in OT and the shootout, two chances as well. It was a competitive game. They really turned it up in the second period, and we didn't have the great response that we needed, but we're still in pretty good shape. The crowd was into it. Great intensity, good for the sport, tough for us."

The Blues played the game without many of their top players, including Alexander Steen, who is out indefinitely with a concussion. Derek Roy was a late scratch because of the flu, Roman Polak has a lower-body injury, and Vladimir Sobotka, who took part in the morning skate and was declared ready to play by Hitchcock, did not dress after tweaking the same injury.

"We sure do miss some great and important players for us, but we still have to get points, win games," Berglund said. "Obviously, a good start for that today to come back in this game against this team and in this building. It was obviously a great feeling."

Kane extended his NHL-best point streak to 14 games with a goal and two assists. Toews and Duncan Keith each had two assists. Sharp, Andrew Shaw, Brandon Saad and Brent Seabrook also scored for the Blackhawks. Raanta stopped 20 shots for the Blackhawks and fell to 9-1-3 in his first NHL season. The Blackhawks set the tempo in the first period, outshooting the Blues 13-6 and taking a 3-1 lead. Sharp scored his sixth goal in three games, taking Hossa's backhand one-time pass and splitting Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester before beating Halak on a backhand at 7:48 for a 1-0 Chicago lead. Shaw converted on Chicago's first power play of the game when he was able to poke a puck sitting on the right post into the goal at 9:55 to make it 2-0. Kane deflected Keith's point shot through Halak's pads and the puck caromed off the right post, where Shaw was waiting. Lapierre pulled the Blues to 2-1 when he tipped Carlo Colaiacovo's shot from the point past Raanta at 14:04, but Kane used Cole as a screen and snapped off a wrister from the right circle, beating Halak to his stick side at 17:04 to restore the Blackhawks' two-goal lead. Kane now has points in 27 of 28 games (14 goals, 24 assists) and eight goals and 16 assists during the 14-game point streak. The Blues came on strong in the second period and tied the game on goals by Schwartz and Jaskin. Schwartz scored his 12th of the season and notched his 17th point in 16 games (nine goals, eight assists) when he took Tarasenko's feed into the slot and beat Raanta 2:26 into the second to make it a 3-2. Jaskin tied the game 3-3 when he took in Bouwmeester's shot from the left point and fired it into an open side from a sharp angle 7:47 into the second period. But the Blackhawks re-established their lead when Ben Smith's pass into the slot caromed off a stick to Saad, who fired one past Elliott with 2:14 left in the second to make it 4-3. Seabrook was somehow able to beat Elliott with what looked like a harmless wrister from the blue line 1:06 into the third to give the Blackhawks a 5-3 advantage. However, the Blackhawks couldn't close the deal, and if there is one negative point this season for the all-conquering Hawks, its that they are not finishing off teams around them in the standings.

"We knew they weren't going to quit," Kane said. "Of course it's frustrating. We'll try to improve on that and try to make sure it doesn't happen the next time. But with that being said, it's 5-3 with a couple minutes left and they've got all the momentum. We got a point, so I guess that's one positive you can take from it."

The Blues were down two for the second time and battled back to tie by scoring two goals in 1:17 at the end of the period. Tarasenko cut Chicago's lead to 5-4 when he fired a shot from the slot past Raanta with 3:51 remaining, then Berglund slipped a backhand past Raanta with 2:34 remaining after Seabrook failed on two attempts to clear the puck.

"[Shattenkirk] and [Tarasenko] just kept staying on the puck there and I kind of filled in behind," Berglund said. "Vladi came out with the puck and my first thought was just to try and take it to the net. I was lucky it went in. I don't know exactly how it went in or whatever. Obviously, I'll take it."

Results - Sat, Dec 28, 2013

Boston @ Ottawa 3-4 - Bobby Ryan scored an unassisted goal on a breakaway at 15:25 of the third period to give Ottawa a 4-3 win against the Bruins on Saturday. Ryan stole the puck from Boston defenseman Torey Krug at the Senators' blue line and drove down the ice to beat Chad Johnson with a backhand for his team-leading 18th goal. Rookie defenseman David Warsofsky drew the Bruins even at 3-3 with his first NHL goal at 6:36 of the third. Warsofsky, who was recalled from Providence of the American Hockey League on Saturday, drove a slap shot past Anderson from the right side for his first point in four games with Boston. Iginla had a potential go-ahead goal waved off at 9:42 of the third. A video review confirmed the on-ice ruling that he kicked the puck into the net with his left skate. Daniel Paille scored in the first for the Bruins, who trailed 2-1 after the opening period. Patrick Wiercioch, Cory Conacher and Zack Smith scored to give Ottawa a 3-2 lead after two periods. Conacher added an assist for his first multipoint game with the Senators, and Smith's second-period goal was Ottawa's second while shorthanded this season. Smith's goal 29 seconds into the second period put the Senators up 3-1 and chased Boston goalie Tuukka Rask, who stopped nine of 12 shots before he was replaced by Johnson. Rask made 33 saves Friday for his League-leading fourth shutout. Johnson stopped 17 of 18 shots in relief. Boston pressed to tie the game in the final minutes, but fell short with the man advantage after Smith was called for a faceoff violation with 1:51 left in regulation. Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and Senators captain Jason Spezza were late scratches. Chara is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. Spezza has a lower-body injury. Ottawa defenseman Chris Phillips did not play because of a left-foot injury. Senators coach Paul MacLean said both players are day-to-day. Earlier Saturday, Boston announced that defenseman Dennis Seidenberg is out for the rest of the season after suffering torn ligaments in his right knee Friday against the Senators. Bruins center David Krejci went to the dressing room in the first period, but returned moments later. Boston defenseman Adam McQuaid went to the dressing room briefly in the third after blocking a shot by Ottawa's Joe Corvo before returning. Smith's shorthanded goal came 14 seconds after Corvo drew his second straight holding penalty 15 seconds into the second period. It was Ottawa's first shorthanded goal since Nov. 20, when Kyle Turris scored the Senators' first of the season in a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild. Iginla pulled Boston to within 3-2 at 13:51. Milan Lucic took a pass from Krejci and sent a cross-ice feed to Iginla, who was left alone by defensemen Corvo and Jared Cowen for a tap-in from the edge of the crease for his 12th goal. It was Iginla's fourth goal during a three-game goal streak. Wiercioch, who took Phillips' place in the lineup, put the Senators up 1-0 with his third goal at 7:04 of the first period. Paille tied it at 1-1 with an unassisted goal at 12:06. Conacher, who assisted on Wiercioch's goal, restored the Senators' lead at 2-1 with his fourth goal at 14:28. Senators rookie defenseman Cody Ceci assisted on both of Ottawa's first-period goals for his first multipoint game. Bruins defenseman Zach Trotman made his NHL debut after he was recalled on an emergency basis earlier Saturday. Boston returned goalie Niklas Svedberg to Providence.

Montreal @ Tampa Bay 2-1 SO - Carey Price's play in the third period earned the Montreal Canadiens one point. His performance in the shootout got them the second one. Price stopped all 14 shots he faced in the third period and was perfect on the Tampa Bay Lightning's three attempts in the tiebreaker Saturday night, giving the Canadiens a 2-1 victory. Lars Eller, Montreal's first shooter, went backhand to forehand before beating Ben Bishop through the pads. Price stopped all three Tampa Bay shooters, ending the game by denying Teddy Purcell's forehand with his pads. All of the scoring took place in a span of less than 6 1/2 minutes in the second period. Tomas Plekanec gave Montreal the lead when he scored at 5:15. Martin St. Louis got Tampa Bay even with his 17th goal at 11:43. After a scoreless first period in which the Canadiens (23-13-3) outshot the Lightning 7-3, Plekanec put Montreal ahead when he broke in on Bishop, fought off Alex Killorn's check and flipped the puck past Bishop for his 13th of the season. St. Louis tied the game when he one-timed a pass from Tyler Johnson past Price from between the faceoff circles. The Lightning captain has points in six straight games.

Detroit @ Florida 4-3 - Captain Henrik Zetterberg scored in his return to the lineup Saturday, forward Justin Abdelkader also returned, and the Red Wings finally found a way to solve the Florida Panthers. Brendan Smith and Gustav Nyquist scored 38 seconds apart early in the third period to snap a 2-2 tie and the Red Wings held on for a 4-3 victory at BB&T Center. The Panthers lost for the first time in four games against the teams featured in this season's HBO "24/7," the Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Florida won 3-1 at Toronto on Dec. 17. Zetterberg, playing for the first time since Dec. 1 after missing 11 games because of a back injury, and Daniel Alfredsson had power-play goals to give the Red Wings a 2-0 lead in the first period. Pavel Datsyuk had two assists, and Jonas Gustavsson made 30 saves. Smith gave Detroit a 3-2 lead 42 seconds into the third period with his first goal of the season and his second in 78 NHL games. After Clemmensen stopped Zetterberg on a partial breakaway, Detroit defenseman Kyle Quincey held a Florida clearing attempt at the blue line and fed Smith, who beat Clemmensen with a one-timer from the point. Nyquist made it 4-2 at 1:20 after Clemmensen failed to cleanly handle Jakub Kindl's wrist shot from the point and Nyquist put home the rebound. Bergenheim cut the Detroit lead to 4-3 at 4:27 after he got a long rebound in the high slot and beat Gustavsson through the five-hole with a wrist shot. Gustavsson preserved the victory with a pad save on Tomas Kopecky off a scrum in front of the net in the final 30 seconds. Detroit took advantage of special teams to take the lead in the first period, converting on two of three power plays and killing three penalties. The Red Wings finished the game 2-for-5 on the power play; the Panthers were 1-for-6. Alfredsson opened the scoring at 3:47, 12 seconds after Florida's Dmitry Kulikov went to the penalty box for hooking. Alfredsson beat Clemmensen with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle through traffic. Zetterberg made it 2-0 at 14:29 after Datsyuk stopped a Panthers clearing attempt at the blue line. Datsyuk then fired a cross-ice pass to Zetterberg near the right faceoff dot. He took his time before firing a wrist shot that beat Clemmensen high to the short side. Bergenheim got Florida within 2-1 at 12:52 of the second period. Brian Campbell skated the puck into the Detroit zone and moved outside before flipping a saucer pass to Bergenheim, who beat Gustavsson with a quick backhand. Bjugstad tied the score 2-2 at 14:59 with his second highlight-reel goal in the past two games against Detroit. He intercepted Tomas Jurco's pass across the Florida blue line and easily skated past Niklas Kronwall for a breakaway, then beat Gustavsson with a deke to his forehand. Bjugstad scored the game-tying goal in the third period Dec. 10 after beating Datsyuk along the boards, skating to the front of the net and firing a quick shot under the crossbar.

New Jersey @ NY Islanders 2-1 - Locked in a 1-1 tie with the New Jersey Devils in the third period, Marek Zidlicky ripped a slap shot that hit Travis Zajac in the upper left shoulder and went past Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov with 6:57 left in regulation to lift New Jersey to a 2-1 victory at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Zajac went down to the ice in such a manner that it seemed Zidlicky's shot had hit him in the face. He stayed on the ice momentarily before heading to the Devils' bench in pain. It didn't take long to realize how much the Islanders missed their captain, John Tavares. New York didn't get a consistent forecheck going in the offensive zone until the third period, and Brock Nelson and Frans Nielsen took turns centering the top line with Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo. Henrique gave the Devils a 1-0 lead 11:47 into the opening period, finishing off a pretty passing display with Michael Ryder and Reid Boucher. Ryder had the puck along the right-wing boards and chipped it through Andrew MacDonald's legs up to Boucher, who sped past Calvin de Haan and sent it to the slot to Henrique for an easy backhand past Nabokov. It was Henrique's eighth goal of the season. Schneider preserved the lead with 2:42 left in the second period. With the Islanders finally starting to establish a forecheck in the offensive zone, Brian Strait collected a loose puck between the circles and snapped a wrist shot that Schneider managed to gobble up without a rebound. Nabokov prevented New Jersey from doubling its lead about 20 seconds later when he denied Steve Bernier's wrist shot from point-blank range. The Devils were outshot 8-6 in the second period. The Islanders controlled the tempo for much of the third period and finally tied the game on Nielsen's 13th of the season with 9:29 remaining. Vanek intercepted Bryce Salvador's clearing attempt along the right-wing boards and poked it to Okposo, who managed to send it along to Nielsen while falling down. Nielsen gathered Okposo's pass and fired a wrist shot from the slot past Schneider to make it 1-1.

Los Angeles @ Nashville 2-3 - The 17,113 fans who packed Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night went from sadness to euphoria in a span of 10 seconds. Mike Fisher scored his second goal of the game with 26.4 seconds left in the third period to cap a wild finish and give the Nashville Predators a 3-2 victory against the Los Angeles Kings. The Predators looked like they were winners after Fisher broke a 1-1 tie by scoring a power-play goal with 3:18 left in regulation. But L.A.'s Jeff Carter beat Marek Mazanec with 36.7 seconds remaining to stun the full house and tie the game. However, the Predators won the ensuing faceoff and entered the L.A. zone with speed. Colin Wilson fed a pass to Fisher, who fired a shot from the slot that hit goaltender Ben Scrivens glove and barely crossed the goal line. The Predators got on the board first at 14:42 of the first period. Seth Jones' shot from the right point hit a leg in front and caromed to Fisher in the slot. Scrivens stopped Fisher's wrister, but Hornqvist picked up the rebound and backhanded it into the empty side of the net for his eighth of the season. Los Angeles got even 7:05 into the second period. With Nashville's Paul Gaustad off for tripping Slava Voynov, the Kings defenseman slipped a pass to Kopitar in the high slot for a wrister that went past Mazanec's glove and inside the left post. It was Kopitar's 12th of the season and his team-high sixth on the power play. Nashville had a great chance to regain the lead when penalties to Jake Muzzin and Matt Greene gave the Predators 47 seconds of 5-on-3 power-play time. But they did not manage a shot on goal during the two-man advantage and had two that were denied by Scrivens during the 5-on-4 power play. The Predators broke the tie at 16:42 of the final period. With L.A.'s Tyler Toffoli off for holding, Fisher caught the Kings on a bad line change. He picked up the puck near the red line, raced into the Kings zone and ripped a slap shot from the high slot past Scrivens. But with the Kings goaltender on the bench for an extra attacker, Carter took Kopitar's pass from the right boards and zipped his 12th of the season past Mazanec to make it 2-2.

Philadelphia @ Edmonton 4-3 SO - Ilya Bryzgalov made 35 saves and was the main reason the Oilers were able to earn a point in the loss. Michael Raffl scored the shootout winner for the Flyers, who got their other goal in the tiebreaker from Claude Giroux. Bryzgalov stopped Vincent Lecavalier on Philadelphia's first attempt. Jordan Eberle scored in the shootout for the Oilers, while David Perron and Sam Gagner missed. The Flyers bought out Bryzgalov in the offseason, two seasons into a nine-year, $51 million contract. Bryzgalov kept the Oilers in the game on Saturday, particularly in the second period when the Flyers outshot Edmonton 14-3 while battling back from a two-goal deficit. Hall opened the scoring on the first shift of the game, 32 seconds in, intercepting a Braydon Coburn pass in front of the Flyers net and beating goalie Steve Mason from in tight. Mason made 13 saves through 65 minutes and two more in the shootout. Nugent-Hopkins increased the lead at 4:02, beating defenseman Mark Streit on the rush and firing a shot through Mason. Wayne Simmonds scored his first of two power-play goals at 3:37, tipping a Giroux point shot past Bryzgalov. He tied the game with another power-play goal at 12:13, finishing off an exceptional cross-ice pass from Jakub Voracek. The Flyers' right wing had the puck bounce to him at the faceoff circle and spotted Simmonds alone at the side of the net for an easy tap-in. In the third, David Perron gave the Oilers the lead on the power play at 11:52, banking a centering pass into the net off Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossmann. It was Perron's 100th NHL goal. Scott Hartnell tied the game on the power play at 14:28, tipping a Kimmo Timonen point shot past Bryzgalov. Perron had a great chance to put the Oilers back in front on a breakaway with a little more than two minutes left in regulation but was stopped by Mason, who got a piece of a backhand shot and redirected it off the goal post. Both teams were tentative in overtime, with neither generating a clear-cut opportunity.

San Jose Sharks @ Phoenix Coyotes 4-3 SO - 12/27

After going more than a month without a road win, the San Jose Sharks got one the hard way Friday night. With an early-morning flight to Phoenix following the three-day Christmas break, the Sharks had to overcome a slow first period, rallied twice and gave up a third-period lead. But shootout goals by Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau provided the difference in a 4-3 win against the Phoenix Coyotes. Marleau's goal in the second round of the tiebreaker and goalie Antti Niemi's stop on Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the third gave the Sharks their first road win since beating the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 17. But a 13-1-3 record at home has allowed San Jose to stay with the lead pack in the Western Conference.

"It's a coin-flip when you get in the shootout but it helps when you have a goalie like Nemo and if you get one or two he's going to shut the door," Couture said. "We've been struggling on the road but we found a way to win. Today was a different schedule for us. We're hockey players and we're used to flying the night before. It took us a little while to get going."

Niemi made 34 saves in regulation and overtime and two more in the shootout, stopping Radim Vrbata and Ekman-Larsson after Mikkel Boedker opened the shootout with a goal. The Coyotes fell to 1-3-2 in the past six home games following a 9-0-2 start. The game was played on the 10th birthday of Jobing.com Arena. The Coyotes lost 3-1 to the Nashville Predators on Dec. 27, 2003 and history repeated itself. David Moss had two goals, his fourth and fifth of the season, and Vrbata added his 11th for Phoenix. The Coyotes were outshot 101-53 in two meetings against the Sharks in San Jose this season. They held a 37-31 edge in shots this time, but couldn't hold a pair of leads in regulation. Mike Smith made 28 saves for the Coyotes, who have gone past regulation in four straight games and lost three of them, including a 2-1 loss in Buffalo on Monday.

"It was a very competitive game. We played a much better game than our last one," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. "It was a fast-paced, entertaining game that came down to one shot in a shootout."

Red-hot Joe Pavelski, Marleau and Brent Burns matched those goals for the Sharks, who have collected five of six possible points in three games against Phoenix.

"On the road, sometimes it's easy to have games get away from you. You have to have the will to keep fighting through it and I thought our guys did that," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said after his team improved to 6-5 in shootouts this season. "A month ago we were talking about how poor we were in the shootouts. It comes down to trends, luck and getting a bounce. The same guys who were missing then are now scoring. It's a team game we turn into a skills competition. For me the game is over when the overtime buzzer goes. It's nice to get the extra point but you can't ever hold your team accountable for that."

Phoenix had scored only one goal in four of its past five games and lost all of them (0-2-2). But the Coyotes got an offensive boost early against the Sharks. Moss ran down and intercepted a week outlet pass from San Jose's Matt Nieto. He whirled and, in one motion, put a wrist shot over Niemi's glove at 7:43 of the opening period. From the ensuing face-off Kyle Chipchura was embarassed by Andrew Desjardins in a 'fight' that gave both players major penalties. San Jose outshot Phoenix 12-11 in the period, but the Coyotes had the better scoring chances and left with the lead. The Sharks started the second period with a penalty kill and a great scoring chance. Smith got a lot of Justin Braun shot between the circles but the rebound fell off him and ticked off the near post. Marleau got a swat at the rebound and sent it along the goal line and off the far post, allowing the Coyotes to keep their lead. But the Sharks kept up the pressure, and Pavelski got them even at 9:56. Burns held in an Ekman-Larsson clearing attempt and teammate Joe Thornton set up Pavelski for a shot from the left circle that caught the far corner over Smith's glove. Pavelski has goals in three straight games and seven in the past eight to give him 16 for the season. Moss put Phoenix ahead again at 11:04, deflecting a wobbly David Schlemko shot from the point and skipping it by Niemi. Moss had two goals in two periods after scoring three in the first 36 games of the season, but the lead didn't last long. Derek Morris took a stupid interference penalty on Mike Brown, putting Phoenix on the penalty kill four seconds after Moss' goal and the Shark capitalized. Tommy Wingels carried the puck into the Phoenix zone and found Marleau between two Coyotes in the slot. Marleau whipped the puck between Smith's pads with five seconds left in the power play at 13:13 for his team-best 17th goal to tie the game after two.

"We were up, we were down, we battled back and when you get to the shootout anything can happen," Moss said. "We're playing a lot of close games and you'd like to get the two points, but we're right around it."

Morris took another needless interference penalty, this time on Andrew Desjardins before, the Sharks took their first lead at 10:10 of the third period when Pavelski grabbed a Phoenix turnover behind the net and threaded a pass to the slot. Burns put Phoenix's Antoine Vermette on his back and lifted the puck over Smith for his 11th goal to make it 3-2. But with Keith Yandle forcing Wingels in the box for interference, the Coyotes got a power-play goal of their own. Ribeiro found Vrbata in the left circle and he picked the right corner over Niemi's glove with 6:25 remaining to tie the game for a third time.
 

"It was a tough penalty. We didn't agree with it, but we stuck with it and found a way to win," Couture said. "We didn't want to give them one point, but we got the two so we'll move on."

Shootout
RND	PHX		SJS		TOTAL
1	M. Boedker		L. Couture		1 - 1
2	R. Vrbata		P. Marleau		1 - 2
3	O. Ekman-Larsson				1 - 2

Nashville Predators @ Dallas Stars 1-4 - 12/27

Erik Cole scored twice and Kari Lehtonen stopped 33 shots when the Dallas Stars defeated the Nashville Predators 4-1 Friday at American Airlines Center.

"I think Erik has played well for a good bit of time," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "He's physical. When he's on the puck, he's hard to knock off."

Each of Cole's goals came in the second period. His first was at 7:38 when he put Dallas ahead for good at 2-1, 24 seconds after the Predators tied it on Kevin Klein's first of the season. Cole beat Nashville goaltender Carter Hutton with a wrister from the right circle.

"I didn't see it," Hutton said. "I kind of came off the post because I don't know who passed it to him, walked around, fed it to Cole. They walked in front and I was leaning on my blocker trying to see. I knew he released it, so I just tried to go down and take away the net, and it went over my shoulder and in. He's a pretty good shooter, so that's the way it goes."

Cole's second came at 14:04 when he outfoxed Hutton by stopping just outside the crease, forcing the goalie to the ice. Cole then deftly slipped a backhand between Hutton's left pad and the right post for his eighth of the season.

"They chipped the puck into the neutral zone," Cole said. "I built up speed and got the pass right on the tape. I had a great lane to the net. I just tried to make him think I was going to keep going across. There wasn't as much room as I thought there would be, but there was enough."

Stars captain Jamie Benn scored his 12th of the season 42 seconds into the game, and Dallas got a third-period goal from Ryan Garbutt.

"It was a good win for our team," Benn said. "I thought we played a pretty good group effort. Our goalie was great. The best part is it's two points."

Dallas, which started a five-game homestand, is 4-0-0 this season when Cole has a multipoint game.

"It's very important [to start this homestand off right]," Cole said. "It has been tough to find any rhythm here. We haven't had a lot of home games consecutively. I thought it was a great start when [Benn] made that great play; it set the tone."

Nashville saw its winless streak reach five games.

"We've got to score some timely goals," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We've got to play good defense and we need everybody [to contribute]. Our margin of error has been pretty small lately."

Benn received a pass from Alex Goligoski, who finished with two assists, in the neutral zone, then dashed up the left side of the ice, around the right side of the Nashville net and slipped the puck in to make it 1-0. Stars wing Antoine Roussel was awarded a penalty shot with 3:25 left in the first period after Nashville's Victor Bartley tripped him on a breakaway. Roussel flipped his backhand attempt to the right of the net. That missed penalty shot was one of several opportunities Dallas failed to convert that Ruff addressed postgame.

"We could have been talking about a missed penalty shot, and 3-on-1s and 2-on-1s," Ruff said. "To answer right away [after Nashville's goal] was important."

Hutton stopped 30 of 34 shots.

"Well, we've been giving up a lot of early goals lately and I can't blame the goaltenders tonight," Trotz said. "Carter was pretty decent tonight, but in the last few games, [giving up early goals] has been [an issue]. Our goaltending was adequate tonight but we needed some guys to snipe."