Blackhawks Top Capitals, Blues Beat Hurricanes

For all the star power with the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks, it was a pretty connection between fourth-line forwards that proved to be the difference.

Richard Panik kicked the puck from behind the net to a streaking Dennis Rasmussen for the rookie's fourth goal at 12:47 of the third, and the new-look Blackhawks topped the NHL-leading Capitals 3-2 on Sunday.

"I thought it was a beautiful pass," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said with a grin, "one of best passes I've seen all year."

Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane also scored as the Blackhawks (39-20-5) won for only the third time in their last eight games. Corey Crawford made 28 saves, helping Chicago leapfrog idle Dallas for the top spot in the Western Conference with 83 points.

The Blackhawks were coming off disappointing losses to Minnesota and Nashville, but the defending Stanley Cup champions got a boost from two of their newest players acquired in a flurry of moves last week. Andrew Ladd got an assist in his return to Chicago after he was reacquired in a trade with Winnipeg on Thursday night, and Tomas Fleischmann had a solid debut after he came over in a trade with Montreal on Friday.

Blues Beat Short-handed Hurricanes

The St. Louis Blues used a balanced scoring effort to beat the short-handed Carolina Hurricanes.

David Backes and Kyle Brodziak scored in the second period to give the Blues the lead on the way to a 5-2 victory over the Hurricanes on Sunday.

Ty Rattie, Robby Fabbri and Alex Pietrangelo also scored as St. Louis snapped a three-game losing streak overall and won for the fifth time in six road games. Jake Allen stopped 32 shots.

"The goals from those guys are a bonus," Backes said. "That's what those guys are there for to give us energy. They were fantastic and the rest of us followed suit and we need efforts like that with the bodies we've got out and we got one tonight. It's a good feeling in here."

Jeff Skinner and Ron Hainsey each had a goal and an assist in the first period for the Hurricanes, who traded captain Eric Staal to the New York Rangers about an hour before the game. Cam Ward finished with 35 saves as Carolina lost its third straight.

Carolina coach Bill Peters said losing Staal will be difficult to overcome and it was a factor in the Hurricanes' loss on Sunday.

"It is going to be a void for sure until we figure a way to fix that," Peters said. "That's a 6-foot-4 guy who plays 20 minutes a night. I think it has to be a factor for sure. That's the reality. It definitely plays a part in it."

Sunday, February 28 Scoreboard

Chicago 3, Washington 2

St. Louis 5, Carolina 2

Minnesota 3, Florida 1

Tampa Bay 4, Boston 1

San Jose 4, Vancouver 1

Anaheim 4, Los Angeles 2

Edmonton 3, NY Islanders 1

Monday, February 29 Schedule (All Times Central)

Columbus at NY Rangers, 6 p.m.

Calgary at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Arizona at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Toronto, 6:30 p.m.

Detroit at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Montreal at San Jose, 9:30 p.m.