Blackhawks Edge Penguins, Panthers Record 10th Straight

The Chicago Blackhawks earned the extra point. The Pittsburgh Penguins earned the needed confidence boost. And for nearly four glorious minutes on Tuesday night, the rest of the NHL earned a glimpse of the way the new 3-on-3 overtime format is meant to be played: fearlessly.

Artemi Panarin ended the chaos with a wrist shot over Marc-Andre Fleury 3:47 into the extra session to lift the Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night as Chicago survived a late Pittsburgh rally to win its fourth straight.

"I thought the overtime was great for the sport," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Both teams had A++ chances and the right guys were getting them and the goaltending display was fun to watch."

Panarin finished with two goals, including the winner off a feed from Patrick Kane as Chicago fended off the resilient Penguins, who erased a 2-0 deficit in the third period behind goals from Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.

It set the stage for a dazzling back-and-forth overtime, with two of the league's most skilled teams taking advantage of the wide swathes of open ice available when there are six skaters on the surface instead of 10. They traded opportunities -- with Fleury making a doorstep stop on Marian Hossa on one end and Corey Crawford denying Phil Kessel twice at the other -- before Kane set up Panarin for his 13th of the year.

Jonathan Toews got his 14th goal of the season for Chicago. Kane finished with two assists to boost his point total to an NHL-best 59. Crawford made 34 saves for the Blackhawks and was helped by a handful of Pittsburgh shots that clanged off the posts and out of harm's way.

Panthers Claim Franchise-record 10th Straight

Jonathan Huberdeau set up Florida's first goal and then put an exclamation point on the Panthers' franchise-record 10th straight win with a fantastic breakaway goal.

Jaromir Jagr scored his team-leading 14th goal, and Derek MacKenzie, Brandon Pirri and Corban Knight also scored as Florida beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 Tuesday night.

Roberto Luongo made 31 saves to improve his career record against Buffalo to 18-7.

Sprung behind the defense by Aleksander Barkov's cutting pass, Hubeardeau's initial deke moved Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark well out of position before tucking the puck into the open net with 3:54 to go. The stretched Florida's lead to 4-1.

"We're just having fun right now," Huberdeau said. "I ran a breakaway, tried a move and it worked."

Pirri added an empty-net goal with 1:21 remaining to round out the scoring.

Tuesday, January 5 Scoreboard

Washington 3, Boston 2

Florida 5, Buffalo 1

NY Rangers 6, Dallas 2

Chicago 3, Pittsburgh 2 (OT)

Minnesota 4, Columbus 2

Philadelphia 4, Montreal 3

Winnipeg 4, Nashville 1    

Calgary 3, Tampa Bay 1

Wednesday, January 6 Schedule (All Times Central)

New Jersey at Montreal, 6 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Chicago, 7 p.m.

St. Louis at Colorado, 9 p.m.

Carolina at Vancouver, 9 p.m.

Toronto at Anaheim, 9 p.m.