PITTSBURGH — Artemi Panarin and Richard Panik started a four-goal first period for Chicago, and the Blackhawks moved closer to locking up the Central Division title with a 5-1 victory over the short-handed Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday night.
Marcus Kruger and Marian Hossa also scored during an explosive first period as the Blackhawks moved nine points clear of second-place Minnesota with five games left in the regular season. Tanner Kero added a breakaway goal in the third. Patrick Kane picked up two assists to move past Sidney Crosby and into second place in the NHL scoring race.
Corey Crawford stopped 31 shots for Chicago, which beat the Penguins in regulation on the road for the first time since 1997.
Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 31 saves but received little help outside of Bryan Rust’s third-period goal. The defending Stanley Cup champions saw their winless streak reach four games, and their chances to catch first-place Washington atop the Metropolitan Division took another hit.
Kings 4, Flames 1
Jarome Iginla’s “Gordie Howe hat trick” — a goal, assist and a fight — led Los Angeles over Calgary.
Anze Kopitar also had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who kept their slim playoff hopes alive heading into their final six games of the season. Ben Bishop made 25 saves for Los Angeles, while Trevor Lewis and Jeff Carter also scored.
Dougie Hamilton scored for the Flames, who could have clinched a playoff berth with a win. Calgary’s next chance to qualify for postseason play will come Friday when they host the San Jose Sharks.
Capitals 5, Avalanche 3
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Marcus Johansson had a goal and an assist each, and Washington won its sixth straight.
John Carlson, Jay Beagle and Lars Eller also scored, and Philipp Grubauer made 32 saves for Washington, which moved closer to clinching the Metropolitan Division and the Presidents’ Trophy.
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, and Mikko Rantanen and Matt Nieto scored for Colorado, which has lost seven straight.
Blues 3, Coyotes 1
Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Tarasenko and David Perron scored, and St. Louis moved within a point of a playoff berth by beating Arizona for the third time in 12 days.
Carter Hutton made 22 saves for the Blues, who beat Arizona for the 11th straight time. In those 11 games, St. Louis has outscored Arizona 45-14.
Louis Domingue made 40 saves for Arizona but took his first loss in four March starts. — Agencies
