Sid joins 1,000 point club
PITTSBURGH Sidney Crosby is the newest member of the NHL’s 1,000-point club.
The Pittsburgh Penguins star became the 86th player in league history to reach 1,000 career points when he assisted on Chris Kunitz’s goal 6:28 into the first period on Thursday night against Winnipeg.
Crosby’s helper gave him 632 assists to go with 368 goals. Crosby reached the milestone in 757 games, making him the 12th fastest to the mark.
The sellout crowd at PPG Paints Arena erupted when Crosby outworked Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler to get to a loose puck in the left circle then slid it over to Kunitz in the slot. Kunitz powered it into the wide open net to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead, and Crosby saluted the crowd during the next stoppage in play. Crosby is the third Penguin to reach 1,000 points with the franchise, joining Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr.
BLUES 4, CANUCKS 3
ST. LOUIS — Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen scored third-period power play goals to lift the streaking St. Louis Blues to a win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
Magnus Paajarvi and Jori Lehtera also scored, and Kevin Shattenkirk had three assists for the Blues, who won their sixth straight game. Jake Allen made 18 saves.
St. Louis improved to 7-1 since Mike Yeo took over as coach, which is the best start for a coach in Blues history.
SENATORS 3, DEVILS 0
NEWARK, N.J. — Mike Condon made 21 saves in recording his fifth shutout of the season, Dion Phaneuf scored on a power play and the Ottawa Senators beat the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night.
Erik Karlsson scored on a point shot that crawled into the net and Kyle Turris shot into an empty net in the final four minutes to give the Senators their third win in four games.
SABRES 2, AVALANCHE 0
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane scored, Robin Lehner made 23 saves and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.
The Sabres moved within three points of Toronto for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. They have won consecutive games for the first time since a three-game winning streak from Jan. 20-24.
Lehner got his fifth career shutout and second of the season.
ISLANDERS 4, RANGERS 2
NEW YORK — Andrew Ladd scored twice to lead the New York Islanders to a 4-2 victory over the crosstown-rival Rangers on Thursday night.
Anders Lee and Nikolay Kulemin also scored, and Thomas Greiss stopped 25 shots to help the Islanders improve to 8-0-2 in their last 10 at home. John Tavares had two assists for his 12th multipoint game of the season.