Keith, Blackhawks deal Blues a big blow
ST LOUIS: Duncan Keith scored a powerplay goal with 8.5 seconds left and the Chicago Blackhawks beat St Louis 4-3 on Wednesday night, hurting the Blues’ playoff hopes.
Andreas Martinsen, Blake Hillman and Alex DeBrincat also scored, and Jean-Francois Berube made 30 saves. The Blackhawks beat the Blues for the first time in three meetings this season.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Brayden Schenn each had a goal and an assist for the Blues. They have lost four straight to fall a point behind idle Colorado for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Robert Bortuzzo also scored for the Blues, and Jake Allen made 22 saves.
Ondrej Kase scored the tiebreaking goal on a rebound with 3:56 minutes to play, and hosts Anaheim clinched their sixth consecutive play-off berth with a 3-1 victory over Minnesota.
Kase secured his first 20-goal season by
jumping on a long rebound of Josh Manson’s shot, and Andrew Cogliano added an empty-net goal with 2:13 minutes left. Ryan Miller made 26 saves in his first start since March 9 for the Ducks, who have won
eight of 10 in their usual late-season surge to the play-offs.
Nick Ritchie also scored, and Manson had two assists as the Ducks officially extended the NHL’s second-longest streak of consecutive postseason berths. Anaheim also leapfrogged arch-rival Los Angeles into third place in the Pacific Division, leading by one point with two games to play for both clubs.
Matt Dumba scored a powerplay goal and Devan Dubnyk stopped 28 shots for the Wild, who took their fifth loss in seven games during what turned out to be a meaningless contest for the play-offbound club.
Matt Duchene scored his team-leading 27th goal in Ottawa’s 4-2 win, helping assure Buffalo will finish last in the NHL standings.
Max McCormick, Ryan Dzingel and Alexander Burrows, with an empty-netter, also scored for the Senators, and Craig Anderson stopped 32 shots.
Ryan O’Reilly and Kyle Okposo scored for the Sabres. Buffalo had already extended their franchise-worst play-off drought to a seventh season and will finish last for the third time in five years.