Colliton gets first win, Blackhawks stop slide

The game puck for his first NHL win meant something to Jeremy Colliton.

The relief for his players meant a lot more.

Colliton got his first victory as an NHL coach when Corey Crawford made 28 saves to help the Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues 1-0 on Wednesday night, stopping an eight-game losing streak.

“This group needed some good things to happen,” Colliton said. “They needed it. They need some reinforcement that the sun’s coming up on this.”

Chicago’s slide began with a 7-3 loss at St. Louis on Oct. 27, and the 33-yearold Colliton took over after Joel Quenneville was fired on Nov. 6. The Blackhawks then dropped his first three games behind the bench before shutting down the Blues in the opener of a three-game homestand.

The Blackhawks celebrated by presenting Colliton with a game puck in honor of his milestone win, and then looked forward to adding to his total.

“It’s been fun to play for him so far and we know he’s going to have a lot more coming,” captain Jonathan Toews said.

St. Louis lost its second straight game after winning four of five. The Blues also dropped to 1-3-0 against the Blackhawks with one game left in the season series on April 3.

Blues goalie Jake Allen finished with 18 saves in the opener of a three-game trip. St. Louis center Ryan O’Reilly lost a 10-game point streak.

Defenseman Colton Parayko had the best scoring opportunity for the Blues, banging a shot off the inside of the left post in the second.

JETS 3, CAPITALS 1 >> Ben Chiarot scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:09 left in the third period to lead Winnipeg past Washington.

Mark Scheifele had a power-play score for Winnipeg, and Kyle Connor added an empty-netter to seal the victory.

PENGUINS >> GM Jim Rutherford signed a contract extension that will keep him with the club through the 2021-22 season. He quickly dealt forward Carl Hagelin to the Los Angeles Kings for forward Tanner Pearson.