Blues Blow Past Avs, Canucks Edge Blackhawks

By ESPN

Jake Allen kept St. Louis in the game while his teammates found their legs. Once they did, they blew past the Colorado Avalanche and finished off an impressive road trip.

Allen made 26 saves, and Magnus Paajarvi and Jaden Schwartz scored in the third period to lift the Blues over the Avalanche 4-2 on Tuesday night.

Patrik Berglund had two goals, including an empty-netter to seal it for the Blues. They tied idle Nashville for third place in the Central Division with 83 points, and St. Louis holds the tiebreaker by virtue of more regulation and overtime wins.

The Blues finished 4-1 on their trip. They've won eight of 11 overall and 14 of their last 20 away from home.

"It's been a great road trip," coach Mike Yeo said. "At a crucial time the guys delivered. We don't have a good start at the end of a road trip -- that was a real character win for us."

David Perron and Zachary Stanford had two assists each for St. Louis, which played most of the game without center Paul Stastny after he was hit on the foot by a shot in the first period.

Yeo said after the game that Stastny wasn't injured on the shot by Vladimir Tarasenko and shouldn't miss any time.

"I don't think it'll be anything serious at all," Yeo said. "It was not the shot. That hurt, but it was not that. It was just a tweak of something and I expect him to be ready for next game."

Allen was ready from the start, stopping 11 shots in the first period, including a save on Matt Nieto when he came in on an early odd-man rush.

"I think we were all a little tired from this whole trip. It's been a long trip," Allen said. "We are all ready to go home, but to find a way to get two points was huge. I wanted to give us a chance to win and I thought I did that. I thought I played well and our guys responded."

John Mitchell had a goal and an assist, Mark Barberio also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for Colorado, which has lost three straight. The Avalanche, last in the NHL with 43 points, fell to 11-23-2 at home. Their 11 home wins are the fewest in the league.

The game was tied 1-all after two periods before Paajarvi deflected Ivan Barbashev's shot past Pickard at 5:05 of the third. Schwartz made it a two-goal lead at 8:44 with his 15th of the season.

Barberio got Colorado within one with his second of the season at 14:50. Pickard came off for an extra skater in the final two minutes and Berglund scored his 21st goal into the empty net at 19:12.

Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon hit the post moments before Berglund scored the clincher.

"It's tough," MacKinnon said. "It's not going in."

Mitchell's first goal in 19 games and third of the season at 5:32 of the first gave Colorado a 1-0 lead. The Avalanche had the first eight shots of the second but it was the Blues who got the only goal of the period when Berglund scored at 16:50.

They continued to carry the play and took over in the third period to win their fifth straight against Colorado.

"This was really a character win," Berglund said. "Like I said, we had a really tough start but we found a way to bounce back."

Canucks 5, Blackhawks 4

Daniel Sedin and the Vancouver Canucks finally found a way to win after surviving a barrage by one of the NHL's best and hottest teams.

Sedin scored a power-play goal 2:12 into overtime and the Canucks -- all but eliminated from playoff contention -- beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Tuesday night to end a six-game skid.

With his twin brother Henrik Sedin screening goalie Scott Darling, Daniel Sedin connected on a high shot from the top of the right circle. The score withstood a video review for goaltender interference and snapped the Blackhawks' five-game winning streak.

"Every guy in here has battled hard and had got nothing to show for it," Daniel Sedin said. "It's nice to get rewarded with a win."

Chicago rookie Ryan Hartman scored his second goal of the game with 1:03 left in the third period to tie it at 4. The Blackhawks rallied with three goals in the third but lost for the fourth time in their last 21 games. Captain Jonathan Toews was serving a penalty for goaltender interference on the winner.

"They just come at you wave after wave," Daniel Sedin said. "It's a really good offensive team. They have a lot of firepower."

Vancouver's Brandon Sutter scored two goals to end a 13-game drought. Sutter, along with Henrik Sedin and Reid Boucher, connected on three of the Canucks' first five shots as Vancouver pounced on Chicago mistakes to build a 4-1 advantage.

Ryan Miller made 40 saves, including some dandies, as the Canucks were outshot 44-15.

"It was tough," Miller said. "They created, they got inside."

Marian Hossa scored his 23rd goal and Richard Panik his 20th in the third period to help Chicago storm back late for a second straight game. Chicago earned a point to reach 100 for the fourth consecutive season.

Chicago All-Star Corey Crawford made just six saves on 10 shots before being relieved by Darling after Sutter scored his second goal -- and 17th of the season -- at 2:15 of the third.

"We hung (Crawford) out to dry a little bit," said Hartman, who has 18 goals. "One some of those goals, there's nothing really he could have done."

The Blackhawks' Central Division lead over Minnesota dropped to six points after the Wild's 3-2 win over San Jose.

The fading Canucks entered having lost four straight in regulation and were 0-4-2 in their last six. Vancouver had been outscored 21-9 in the six-game slide and 15-5 in the last four.

The Canucks scored on three straight shots late in the first and early in the second to take a 3-1 lead.

"We had the puck a lot and they cashed in on their opportunities, which were few," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "Then you're chasing the game."

After slipping to the crease uncovered, Henrik Sedin opened the scoring with 59.5 seconds left in the first. Crawford had no chance on his point-blank backhand deflection of Daniel Sedin's snappy feed from the right boards.

Sutter made it 2-0 just 1:33 into the second after Blackhawks rookie Nick Schmaltz lost the puck just inside the Chicago blue line. Jayson Megna whipped it down low to Sutter, who moved in alone and faked Crawford to the ice.

Hartman cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 3:15, beating Miller with a nifty fake after darting down the slot alone to cap a slick passing play with Hossa and Schmaltz.

Panik came inches from tying it during a power play two minutes later, but his close-in shot clanked off the left post.

Instead, Boucher scored on the Canucks' next shot at 7:45 to make it 3-1. After slipping behind Chicago's defense, he cut toward the crease and tipped in Christopher Tanev's feed.

Sutter made it 4-1 when he completed a 2-on-1 break with Jack Skille.

Hossa's one-timed drive from the right circle at 5:48 cut it to 4-2. Panik narrowed it to 4-3 on a screened shot from the high slot at 2:22 later.

March 21 Scoreboard

Ottawa 3, Boston 2

Pittsburgh 3, Buffalo 1

New Jersey 3, New York Rangers 2 (OT)

Washington 4, Calgary 2

Detroit 2, Montreal 1 (OT)

Arizona 5, Tampa Bay 3

Carolina 4, Florida 3

Winnipeg 3, Philadelphia 2

Minnesota 3, San Jose 2

Vancouver 5, Chicago 4 (OT)

St. Louis 4, Colorado 2

Wednesday, March 22 Schedule (All Times Central)

Toronto at Columbus, 6 p.m.

New York Islanders at New York Rangers, 7 p.m.

Edmonton at Anaheim, 9 p.m.