CHICAGO: Marcus Kruger and Andrew Shaw scored during Chicago’s strong second period, and the NHL-leading Blackhawks beat the sliding San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Friday night for their fifth win in six games.
Dave Bolland and Niklas Hjalmarsson also scored for the Blackhawks, who remain the league’s only team without a regulation loss. Jamal Mayers had two assists and backup Ray Emery made 27 saves for his fourth win in four starts this season.
Chicago’s first home win since Jan. 27 against Detroit had a little bit of everything, including a rare fight between captains Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks and Joe Thornton of the Sharks.
Toews skated up to Thornton with about 4½ minutes left in the first period, jabbed him with his stick and then dropped his gloves. The star centers tangled up for a minute before Thornton dragged Toews to the ice and the linesmen skated in.
Blues 5 Flames 2: In Calgary, Alberta, David Perron scored twice on the power play Friday night as the St. Louis Blues scored four unanswered goals in the first period and never looked back in a 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.
Perron’s first of the night at 17:12 of the first period came against Joey MacDonald, who took over in the Flames’ net for starter Leland Irving just over four minutes into the game after St. Louis scored on two of its first four shots.
Calgary outshot the Blues 15-5 in the second, but was only able to solve rookie Jake Allen once when Dennis Wideman ripped rising slap shot through a crowd.
The Flames scored again 2:46 into the third when Curtis Glencross was set up neatly by Jarome Iginla.
Rookie Jaden Schwartz, with his first of the season, Patrik Berglund and Alex Steen also scored for St. Louis.
Stars 4 Canucks 3: In Vancouver, British Columbia, Brenden Dillon scored the go-ahead goal with 3 minutes left in the third period and the Dallas Stars rallied past to end the Canucks’ six-game winning streak.
Reilly Smith, Cody Eakin and Antoine Roussel also scored for the Stars, who overcame a 3-1 deficit to win for the fifth time in six games. Backup goalie Richard Bachman rebounded from a rough start and earned the victory in relief of injured Kari Lehtonen.
Daniel Sedin, Chris Higgins and Alex Burrows had goals for the Canucks, and captain Henrik Sedin became the club’s career scoring leader.
Kings 2 Blue Jackets 1: In Los Angeles, Kyle Clifford opened the scoring late in the second period, Jonathan Bernier made 12 saves and the Los Angeles Kings beat the Columbus Blue Jackets for the defending Stanley Cup champions’ first regulation win at home this season.
Mike Richards scored during a two-man advantage in the third period for the Kings, who climbed over Columbus and out of last place in the Western Conference with their second straight victory.
Although Nick Foligno erased the shutout bid with 2:25 to play, Bernier largely shut down Columbus’ punchless offense and even picked up his second career assist in his second straight victory in place of Jonathan Quick.
Ducks 5 Red Wings 2: In Detroit, Andrew Cogliano scored two of Anaheim’s three goals in the third period, sending the surging Ducks to victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Viktor Fasth made 26 saves to become the first goalie in seven years to win his first seven career starts. The 30-year-old Fasth is considered a first-year player and not a rookie by the NHL because he is older than 25. Cogliano snapped a 2-all tie just 1:02 into the third and Bobby Ryan connected 48 seconds later. Cogliano capped the outburst with his fourth of the season at 18:11.
Penguins 3 Jets 1: In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Craig Adams scored his first two goals of the season to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
James Neal scored his 11th goal of the season, while Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury turned aside 25 shots.
Andrew Ladd scored for the Jets and Ondrej Pavelec stopped 25 shots.
It was Pittsburgh’s seventh road win of the season, while Winnipeg has lost three straight at home and hosts Boston on Sunday.
After a couple swipes at rebounds, Adams recorded his first goal of the season at 3:19 of the first period. His second was into an empty net in the final minute of regulation.
Sabres 4 Bruins 2: In Buffalo, N.Y., Christian Ehrhoff scored the game-winner with 10:58 remaining and the Buffalo Sabres rallied for three goals in the third period to beat the Boston Bruins.
Ehrhoff fired a wrister from the slot over goalie Anton Khudobin, who anticipated a low shot and went down early. Cody Hodgson added an insurance goal less than 3 minutes later when he tipped in a pass from Tyler Myers.
Myers began the comeback 2 minutes into the third period, tying the game at 2 by backhanding in a rebound after Khudobin stoned Jochen Hecht on a 2-on-1 break.
