ST. PAUL, Minnesota — Jonathan Toews had three goals and two assists as the Chicago Blackhawks beat Minnesota 5-3 Tuesday night for their second win over the Western Conference-leading Wild in less than two weeks.
Toews notched his fourth career hat trick on an empty-netter with 1:02 left to stave off a spirited rally by the Wild, who began a franchise-record eight-game homestand on Feb. 8 with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Blackhawks. Toews had a goal and two assists in that one and has 37 points in 35 career games against Minnesota.
Chicago’s captain has been chewing up almost everyone else, too, with 20 points in his last 12 games. Toews’ wing men Nick Schmaltz and Richard Panik had the other goals, giving the Blackhawks 34 goals in their last eight games. Their first line totaled nine points.
Mikael Granlund’s second power-play goal for the Wild brought them within 4-3, before Ryan Suter hit the crossbar with a shot that nearly tied it.
Canadiens 3, Rangers 2, SO: Paul Byron scored in the fifth round of the shootout and Montreal gave coach Claude Julien his first win in his second stint with the Canadiens.
Carey Price made 28 saves for Montreal. Price stopped Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller twice in the OT, including a diving save in the closing seconds of the extra period.
Shea Weber had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Andrew Shaw also scored for Montreal.
The Rangers’ Mats Zuccarello opened the shootout with a goal and Montreal’s Alexander Radulov tied it in the third round.
Rick Nash and Oscar Lindberg scored in regulation for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves as New York snapped its five-game home win streak.
Penguins 3, Hurricanes 1: Sidney Crosby scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection in the second period, and Pittsburgh beat Carolina.
Evgeni Malkin and Scott Wilson also scored to help the reigning Stanley Cup champions bounce back from their only loss since the All-Star break. Pittsburgh moved three points behind East-leading Washington and is 7-1-3 since the break.
Jeff Skinner scored for the last-place Hurricanes, who have their second five-game losing streak in the past five weeks. They have been outscored 19-4 during the current slide.
Matt Murray made 29 saves for the Penguins while Cam Ward stopped 19 shots for Carolina.
Flames 6, Predators 5, OT: Mark Giordano scored 43 seconds into overtime, and Calgary edged Nashville in a crucial game between teams holding the Western Conference’s wild cards.
The Flames have won two of their last three games. They pulled within a point of Nashville, though the Predators have a game in hand.
Mikael Backlund tied it at 5 at 10:50 of the third with his second goal of the game and 17th this season with a wrister.
Micheal Ferlund also had two goals, Dougie Hamilton added a goal and Johnny Gaudreau had four assists.
Filip Forsberg had a hat trick in the second period, and Colin Wilson and P.K. Subban each had a goal and an assist for Nashville.
Giordano’s game-winner appeared to go off Forsberg’s skate past goalie Juuse Saros.
Senators 2, Devils 1: Craig Anderson made 29 saves and Ottawa beat New Jersey despite playing without three of its top forwards
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Ottawa was without Mark Stone (22 goals), Mike Hoffman (19 goals) and Bobby Ryan (12 goals) after all three were injured over the weekend. Ryan will miss 4-to-6 weeks with a broken finger, while Stone (neck) and Hoffman (groin) are day to day.
Kyle Turris and Erik Karlsson scored for Ottawa, which swept the three-game season series with the Devils while allowing only two goals.
Travis Zajac scored for New Jersey and Cory Schneider made 21 saves.
Kings 2, Avalanche 1: Trevor Lewis scored the go-ahead goal with a slick move in the second period, Peter Budaj stopped 24 shots and Darryl Sutter moved into a tie for most wins as coach of Los Angeles.
Maple Leafs 5, Jets 4, OT: Jake Gardiner scored at 2:29 of overtime to lift Toronto over Winnipeg.
Islanders 3, Red Wings 1: Calvin de Haan was credited with a go-ahead goal that caromed off an opponent late in the second period and New York beat Detroit.
Lightning 4, Oilers 1: Ondrej Palat scored twice and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists to lead Tampa Bay over Edmonton. — AP
