Blackhawks extend win streak to 9
Caps beat Ducks; Islanders top Rangers
MONTREAL — Jonathan Toews scored, Corey Crawford made 39 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to nine games and move Joel Quenneville into sole possession of second place in career coaching victories.
Quenneville has 783 wins, one more than Al Arbour but still well behind leader Scotty Bowman’s 1,244.
The Blackhawks haven’t lost since Dec. 27 against Carolina and will try to make it 10 straight tonight in Toronto. Ryan Garbutt also scored in the first period.
Paul Byron scored but Montreal fell to 5-14 since Dec. 1 despite a spirited effort against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
CAPITALS 4, CANUCKS 1: In Washington, Evgeny Kuznetsov had two goals and an assist and Washington beat Vancouver for its fifth straight victory.
Kuznetsov scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season and set up Tom Wilson on a night the Capitals got a rare goal from defenseman Karl Alzner and 29 saves from Braden Holtby.
ISLANDERS 3, RANGERS 1: In New York, Brock Nelson and Nick Leddy scored 2:24 apart early in the third period to rally the Islanders to a victory over the crosstown-rival Rangers.
Jaroslav Halak stopped 34 shots to beat Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist for the eighth straight time, including five wins with the Islanders. Kyle Okposo added an emptynetter with less than 2 seconds left.
HURRICANES 4, BLUES 1: In St. Louis, Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 on Thursday night to extend their seasonhigh winning streak to four games.
Brett Pesce, Brock McGinn and Riley Nash also scored and Eddie Lack made 23 saves for Carolina.
JETS 5, PREDATORS 4 (OT): In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Blake Wheeler scored 51 seconds into overtime and Winnipeg overcame a three-goal third-period collapse to beat Nashville.
Dustin Byfuglien scored twice in regulation and Bryan Little and Nikolaj Ehlers added goals for Winnipeg. Rookie Connor Hellebuyck stopped 31 shots.
Ryan Johansen cut Nashville’s deficit to 4-2 with 10:59 remaining, and after Eric Nystrom scored, James Neal tied it with 14 seconds left. Kevin Fiala scored in the first period and Pekka Rinne made 19 saves for the Predators.
AVALANCHE 3, DEVILS 0: In Denver, Calvin Pickard stopped 27 shots for his first NHL shutout, Matt Duchene scored 51 seconds in and Colorado beat New Jersey.
Defenseman Tyson Barrie added a short-handed goal and Carl Soderberg an emptynetter to help the Avalanche improve to 9-0-1 in their last 10 games against New Jersey. The Devils haven’t won at the Pepsi Center since March 15, 2008.
Pickard started and gave a breather to regular goalie Semyon Varlamov, who’s allowed 14 goals over his last four games.
The 23-year-old Pickard began the season with San Antonio of the American Hockey League but was recalled last month for a second time this season after backup Reto Berra hurt his ankle. Pickard has made two starts — both wins — and four relief appearances in 2015-16.
RED WINGS 3, COYOTES 2 (OT): In Glendale, Ariz., Danny DeKeyser scored in overtime and Detroit used two third-period power-play goals to rally and beat Arizona.
Rookie Dylan Larkin kept the puck on a rush that ended behind the net, spun around and fed DeKeyser for a wrist shot over Louis Domingue’s shoulder with 2:52 left.
Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist scored in the third to help the Red Wings come back from a 2-0 deficit. Petr Mrazek stopped 27 shots, and Detroit finished with five wins during a six-game trip.