Rested Blues down Wild

NEW YORK — A little extra rest seemed to boost the St. Louis Blues Sunday. Playing for the first time after an extended break, the Blues were full of energy and devoid of rust, building an early lead and beating the Minnesota Wild 4-2. Jori Lehtera, Ryan Reaves and Patrik Berglund scored goals and goalie Jake Allen had 30 saves, as the Blues won their third in a row and kept pace with the Chicago Blackhawks in the race for the Central Division crown. The Blues (38-20-9) currently trail hicago by two points, and host the Blackhawks Wednesday. Robby Fabbri scored into an empty net with 91 seconds remaining for the Blues. Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 1: Patrick Kane scored 21 seconds into the first period, and the Chicago Blackhawks pulled away for a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Duncan Keith, Artem Anisimov and Jonathan Toews also scored for the Blackhawks. Chicago (41-21-5) earned its third win in the past four games. Gustav Nyquist scored the Red Wings’ lone goal. Detroit (32-22-11) lost to the Blackhawks for the second time in the past five days. Penguins 6, Devils 1: Evgeni Malkin scored his 26th and 27th goals as the Pittsburgh Penguins easily dispatched the New Jersey Devils 6-1. The win pushed the Penguins into the first wild-card spot in the East and five points ahead of the ninth-place Philadelphia Flyers. Matt Cullen and Nick Bonino also scored for the Penguins, who received 17 saves from goaltender Matthew Murray. Stars 2, Senators 1: Antoine Roussel scored with 2:14 left in the third period to lift the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Roussel was in the slot when fired in a pass from Ales Hemsky as the Senators scrambled in their own zone. Islanders 6, Rangers 4: Cal Clutterbuck scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:28 left in regulation to lead the New York Islanders to a wild 6-4 win over the New York Rangers. Johnny Boychuk scored twice, and Brock Nelson, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen each added goals for the Islanders, who won their three straight. Boychuk, Okposo, Nielsen and Nick Leddy each finished with two points as the Islanders (36-20-7) improved to 3-0 against the Rangers this season. The teams will meet once more in the regular season, April 7 at Madison Square Garden. Oilers 2, Jets 1: The game between the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers on Sunday did not have the dozen or so goals that contests between the two teams regularly had in the 1980s, but it was no less entertaining. On a day when the NHL announced the Jets will host the Heritage Classic outdoor game against the Oilers on Oct. 23 at Investors Group Field, the home of the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Connor McDavid-lead Oilers defeated the Jets 2-1. — Reuters