Hawks close in on Central title
PITTSBURGH: Artemi Panarin and Richard Panik started a four-goal first period for Chicago, and the Blackhawks moved closer to locking up the Central Division title with a 5-1 victory over the short-handed Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.
Marcus Kruger and Marian Hossa also scored during an explosive first period as the Blackhawks moved nine points clear of second-place Minnesota with five games left in the regular season. Tanner Kero added a breakaway goal in the third. Patrick Kane picked up two assists to move past Sidney Crosby and into second place in the NHL scoring race.
Corey Crawford stopped 31 shots for Chicago, who beat the Penguins in regulation on the road for the first time since 1997.
Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 31 saves but received little help outside of Bryan Rust’s third-period goal. The defending Stanley Cup champions saw their winless streak reach four games, and their chances to catch first-place Washington atop the Metropolitan Division took another hit.
Jarome Iginla scored his 100th gamewinning goal, got an assist and drew blood in a fight during what might have been his Saddledome finale, helping Los Angeles Kings beat hosts Calgary Flames 4-1 in a brutal game.
The animosity stemmed from a game March 19, when Calgary rookie Matthew Tkachuk elbowed Kings defenceman Drew Doughty in the face. Tkachuk, a 19-year-old rookie, was suspended for two games.
Kyle Clifford approached Tkachuk near centre ice before the game, and players from both teams gathered to exchange words. Tkachuk fought Braydon McNabb in the first period and was dropped by an upper cut.
Iginla later fought Deryk Engelland, opening a cut on Engelland’s forehead that left blood all over Iginla’s white jersey.
With a clean sweater, Iginla scored late in the second period to put Los Angeles up 2-1. Trevor Lewis, Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter also scored for the Kings.
Marcus Johansson and Evgeny Kuznetsov each had a goal and an assist, Jay Beagle and John Carlson also scored and Washington kept rolling with a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.
The Capitals have 110 points, five ahead of idle Columbus, and are on track to clinch the President’s Trophy for most points in the league for the second straight season. They’ve won six straight games.
Alex Ovechkin didn’t record a point and remained tied with Alexander Mogilny for second place in scoring among Russianborn players in the NHL. Both have 1,032 points, trailing Sergei Fedorov (1,179).
Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrik Berglund scored, Berglund added an assist and St Louis beat Arizona 3-1.
St Louis’ Carter Hutton stopped 22 shots. Arizona’s Alex Goligoski scored a powerplay goal at 14:37 minutes.
David Perron added an empty-net goal with 19 seconds left.