Bruins Hold Off Blackhawks, Blues Pound Predators

By ESPN

Bruins backup Anton Khudobin not only gave No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask a day off, he helped Boston take a big step toward the playoffs.

Khudobin made 41 saves to win his sixth consecutive start, and Boston held off the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Sunday for its season-high fifth straight victory.

Ryan Spooner, Patrice Bergeron and Kevan Miller scored for the Bruins, who jumped over idle Toronto and Ottawa into second place in the Atlantic Division. Boston began the day in wild-card position, four points ahead of Tampa Bay for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Khudobin, who wasn't beaten until the Blackhawks' 25th shot on a fluky play, was at his best in the first period and down the stretch when Chicago pressured to tie it.

"He's in there battling, working to find pucks, working to keep it out of the net, whether he has to use his head, his pads, his body, his legs, whatever it is," said Bruins interim coach Bruce Cassidy, whose team played its final regular-season road game. "You can't say enough. I think the guys respond to that."

Thanks to Khudobin, the Bruins never trailed in this one as Boston closed in on a return to the postseason after missing out the past two years. The Bruins' winning streak comes on the heels of a four-game slide that almost doomed them.

"It was important to establish momentum from the drop of the puck on," Bergeron said. "I thought we were able to do that.

"We stuck with it, and Anton made some really big saves as well. When we needed him, he was absolutely there."

Chicago's Artemi Panarin extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with his 29th. Jordin Tootoo also scored for the Blackhawks, who got 26 saves from Corey Crawford in their final regular-season home game.

The Blackhawks clinched first place in the Central Division and Western Conference on Saturday when Minnesota lost at Nashville. Chicago is assured home-ice advantage through the first three playoff rounds.

"They scored early and you've got to claw your way back," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "I don't think we gave up much today, but we were chasing the game."

Boston led 2-0 after the first period despite being outshot 16-11.

Spooner opened the scoring 6:34 in by deflecting Zdeno Chara's bouncing shot from the left point for his 12th goal.

The Blackhawks turned up the pressure later in the period, but Khudobin made a series of close-in saves -- including dandies on Marian Hossa and Panarin -- to keep Chicago off the board.

Bergeron fired in his 21st goal on a power play from beyond the top of the right circle to make it 2-0. He beat Crawford high to the stick side after taking a pass from Brad Marchand.

Panarin cut it to 2-1 with 1:48 left in the second on the Blackhawks' 25th shot to cap a quirky play that withstood a video review.

Chicago's Brent Seabrook fired from the right point, but the drive went wide and bounded of the back boards. At the same time, Blackhawks forward Richard Panik slid into the net behind Khudobin, who had ranged out for Seabrook's shot.

Panarin fired the loose puck from just left of the net, but the shot struck Panik -- who was curled up in the net -- and bounced out. Panarin then popped in the rebound before Khudobin could recover, with Panik still in the net.

Through a translator, Panarin said he didn't think the goal would be allowed. But it was -- and Panik was awarded an assist on the play.

"It was one of the all-time great passes by Pans," Quenneville quipped.

Miller extended Boston's lead to 3-1 at 9:15 of the third on a nice move and quick shot from the left circle that sailed past Crawford's glove.

Tootoo trimmed it to 3-2 just 25 seconds later when he was left alone in the crease and slid John Hayden's centering pass between Khudobin's pads.

Blues 4, Predators 1

Even though St. Louis has already clinched a playoff spot, Alexander Steen wants the Blues to keep up their intensity.

Steen scored the tiebreaking goal early in the second period, David Perron had a goal and two assists, and the Blues beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 Sunday.

"We were really emotionally invested in the game today," Steen said. "We're pushing ourselves to play a better game. We need to crunch down and play the way we want to play."

Perron agreed.

"We're not gonna talk about Stanley Cup right now, but every team that gets in has a chance for it," Perron said. "In the end, it's definitely the goal, but it's building step by step."

Vladimir Tarasenko and Joel Edmundson also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 35 shots as St. Louis earned at least at point for the ninth straight game (7-0-2). Allen improved to 9-1-2 with two shutouts and 16 goals allowed his past 12 starts.

Ryan Johansen scored for Nashville and Juuse Saros finished with 21 saves. The Predators, 8-4-0 in their last 12, had won four of the last five meetings with St. Louis before taking a loss that kept them from earning a playoff spot. Nashville needed one point in the game to clinch a berth, but can still qualify if Los Angeles doesn't win against Arizona later Sunday.

The Blues hold a two-point edge and the tiebreaker over Nashville. St. Louis rests in third place while Nashville is fourth in the division.

"It was a big game. This has been on our schedule for a while," Allen said. "We knew it was going to come down to between us and Nashville there for the race in the standings. We were ready. We played well."

With the score tied 1-1 after one period, Steen knocked in a loose puck from the left side of the goal 55 seconds into the second. Saros deflected a pass by Perron and Steen pounced, scoring his first goal in 10 games.

"Steen's goal was a momentum swing," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "They're a good team. They're going to generate chances. That's a good line. I thought that was one that pushed it a little bit in their favor. ... Their goalie (Allen) made some big saves. You've got to give him some credit as well."

Perron scored on a wrist shot that sailed under Saros' arm at 6:47 to make it 3-1. It was St. Louis' third goal on just 13 shots.

"A real strong game by Perron," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "On his first shift, the puck comes around and it's a 50-50 battle and he hands down won that battle. I had a good sense he was ready to go."

Edmundson had an unassisted goal at 8:11 of the third to cap the scoring.

The Blues struck first for a 1-0 lead at 5:22 of the first when Tarasenko scored his 37th goal. Jaden Schwartz fed Tarasenko, who snapped a wrist shot from the left circle.

Tarasenko has thrived under Yeo, scoring 21 points -- including 15 goals -- since Yeo was hired Feb. 1. Tarasenko has nine goals and five assists in the past 14 games.

Nashville had a two-man advantage midway through the period when Edmundson (tripping) and Perron (slashing) went off at the same time. The Predators cashed in when Johansen lifted a rebound over a sprawled Allen at 11:22 to tie it.

Saros made his second career start against the Blues. He was in net when Nashville shut out the Blues in St. Louis, 4-0, on Dec. 30.

"It was a couple of tough goals there (in the second period)," Saros said. "It felt like we were into the game but bounces didn't go our way today."

Sunday, April 2 Scoreboard

Boston 3, Chicago 2

New York Islanders 4, Buffalo 2

St. Louis 4, Nashville 1

Pittsburgh 3, Carolina 2

Tampa Bay 6, Dallas 3

Washington 3, Columbus 2

Minnesota 5, Colorado 2

San Jose 3, Vancouver 1

New York  Rangers 4, Philadephia 3

Anaheim 4, Calgary 3

Arizona 2, Los Angeles 1

Monday, April 3 Schedule (All Times Central)

Toronto at Buffalo, 6 p.m.

Ottawa at Detroit, 6 p.m.

Montreal at Florida, 6:30 p.m.