Blackhawks stun Blues late
Duncan Keith scored a power-play goal with 8.5 seconds left and the visiting Chicago Blackhawks beat St. Louis, 4-3, last night to hurt the Blues’ playoff hopes.
Andreas Martinsen, Blake Hillman and Alex DeBrincat also scored, and JeanFrancois 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, who had a 3-1 lead in the second period. 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 in his 14th straight loss.
Hillman scored a shorthanded goal, his first in the NHL, midway through the second to cut the Blues’ lead to 3-2. DeBrincat tied it at 3 at 8:30 of the third with an unassisted goal.
Senators 4, Sabres 2 — Matt Duchene scored his team-leading 27th goal as Ottawa locked host Buffalo into last place in the NHL standings.
Max McCormick, Ryan Dzingel and Alexander Burrows, with an empty-netter, also scored for the Senators in a matchup between two of the NHL’s worst teams in the final week of the season. Craig Anderson stopped 32 shots, and Ottawa improved to 2-8 in its past 10.
The win upped the 30thplace Senators’ total to 67 points, five ahead of the Sabres, who have just two games left.
Ryan O’Reilly and Kyle Okposo scored for the Sabres in closing Buffalo’s home record at 11-25-5. Chad Johnson stopped 30 shots as Buffalo will finish last for the third time in five years.
Senators forward Bobby Ryan did not return after sustaining a lower body injury in the first period. Captain Erik Karlsson did not play, and coach Guy Boucher said he’s not expecting the defen- seman to join the team for its final two games. Boucher also announced goalie Mike Condon will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a concussion in practice Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the NHL — Minnesota Wild rookie forward Luke Kunin underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL is in left knee. He is expected to return to play in about six to seven months.