Gagner and Saad score 2 each as Blue Jackets beat Ducks 4-0

Sam Gagner and Brandon Saad each scored twice in the first period and Sergei Bobrovskystopped 35 shots for his 14th career shutout as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-0 on Friday night.

Gagner scored midway through the first period, cleaning upScott Hartnell's missed shot for his first goal since signing with the Blue Jackets as a free agent.

Saad scored 21 seconds later as he unleashed a wrist shot from the high slot that hit the post and careened in. Saad knew it was a goal and started celebrating immediately, but the officials needed a video review to confirm it.

Saad then swatted in his own rebound with 6:10 left for his 10th career multi-goal game and first with the Blue Jackets.

Gagner added a power-play goal 20 seconds later with Nick Foligno picking up his third assist to match his career high and tie the team record for helpers in a period.

Alexander Wennberg had assists on Saad and Gagner's second goals.

Ducks goalie John Gibson made 28 saves before being replaced by Dustin Tokarski midway through the third period. Tokarski stopped all five shots he faced.

The game was surprisingly heated, with Blue Jackets RW Josh Anderson and Ducks D Josh Manson fighting 1:50 into the first period.

Foligno bowled over Gibson in the second period, with the goaltender taking visible offense to the collision.

Anderson lost his footing and plowed into Gibson in the third period, leading to more jawing.

NOTES: The Ducks had earned at least a point in their previous foru games. ... Ducks C Ryan Getzlafreturned to action after missing one game with an upper-body injury. ... The Blue Jackets scored four goals in a period for the 14th time in franchise history, having last done so against Chicago in March 2015. ... After scoring three power-play goals against Nashville on Wednesday, the Ducks were 0 for 4 with the man-advantage.

UP NEXT

Blue Jackets: Host Dallas on Monday night.

Ducks: At Los Angeles on Monday night.

McDavid, Talbot help Oilers beat Canucks for 5th straight

Connor McDavidscored on a breakaway in the second period and Cam Talbotmade 26 saves for his 13th career shutout to lead the Edmonton Oilers to their fifth straight win, 2-0 over the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night.

Milan Lucic added an empty-netter to help Western Conference-leading Edmonton, off to its best start since 1985, improve to 7-1-0.

Talbot, who has started all eight games this season, recorded his second shutout in three games.

Ryan Miller had 25 saves for Vancouver, which was shut out for the second straight game and has lost four straight (0-3-1) after starting the season with four wins. The Canucks haven't scored since the third period against Anaheim on Sunday.

Hamilton's 3 points leads Flames to 5-2 win over Senators

 Dougie Hamilton scored his first two goals and added an assist to lead the Calgary Flames to a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night for their third straight win.

Sam Bennett, Sean Monahan and Michael Frolik also scored for Calgary, and Brian Elliott stopped 31 shots.

Erik Karlsson and Kyle Turris scored for Ottawa. Andrew Hammond started in goal and had three saves on four shots before leaving with a lower-body injury after one period. Chris Dreidger replaced him and gave up four goals on 15 shots.

With the score tied 2-2 halfway through the second, Hamilton retrieved the puck from the sideboards, spun and whipped a shot from a bad angle over the Dreidger's shoulder.

Calgary put the game away on goals by Monahan and Frolik 2:46 apart midway through the third. Monahan scored his fourth on a wicked slap shot off a pass from Johnny Gaudreau, who had his second assist of the night. Frolik completed the scoring with his fourth of the year.

After a rocky first three starts in a Flames uniform in which he gave up 14 goals on 87 shots, Elliott has been much sharper his last three starts yielding just five goals on 88 shots.

Ottawa's 2-1 lead to start the second period didn't last long. Bennett fired in a centering pass from Alex Chiasson just 1:25 into the period to tie it.

Bennett has goals in three consecutive games and has six points during a four-game point streak.

The story of the first period was Ottawa's 30th-ranked power play, which looked anything like that.

Trailing 1-0, the Senators needed just 4 seconds on their first man-advantage for Karlsson to tie the game.

Two minutes later, Ottawa went back to the extra man and converted again, with Turris' shot eluding Elliott, who was screened by Zack Smith.

NOTES: Senators starting goalie Craig Anderson, coming off a shutout in Vancouver on Tuesday, was granted a leave from the team to attend to a personal matter. ... Driedger, who played three seasons of junior hockey for the Calgary Hitmen (WHL), appeared in his third NHL game - all in relief. ... Calgary first-round pickMatthew Tkachuk played in his seventh game, creeping closer to the point where the Flames need to make a decision on whether to send him back to London of the OHL. If he plays in a 10th game, the first year of his entry-level contract will kick-in.

UP NEXT

Senators: At Edmonton on Sunday night before returning home for three games in five days.

Flames: Host Washington on Sunday night before heading out on a four-game trip.

Matthias, Hutchinson lead Jets to 1-0 win over Avalanche

Michael Hutchinson was all warmed up by the time the Colorado Avalanche finally shook off the rust from a long layoff.

At that point, nothing was getting by him.

Hutchinson stopped 37 shots for his third career NHL shutout, Shawn Matthias scored in the second period against his former team and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Avalanche 1-0 on Friday night.

Early on, the Jets were more energetic despite playing their third game in four days, including a 4-1 win over Dallas the night before.

Meanwhile, Colorado looked a bit out of sync after a week break. The Avalanche got their offense working in the third period, outshooting the Jets 20-4. But they couldn't solve Hutchinson as he recorded his first shutout since Jan. 15, 2015, against Columbus.

"We knew with them having those days off, there's a chance they could come out with a little bit of a slower start," Hutchinson said. "With us playing last night, we knew it was important to get a jump on them early. We did exactly what we had to do."

The Avalanche pulled Semyon Varlamov with around 1:22 remaining, but couldn't capitalize.

Varlamov stopped 20 shots, his only mistake not sliding over in time to stop Matthias' wrist shot.

Colorado went on the power play late in the final period and had a golden chance with Hutchinson down on the ice. But Rene Bourque's shot from out front appeared to hit forward Brandon Tanev and sail wide of the net.

Hutchinson also came up big midway through the third period by stopping Joe Colborne, who coasted in all alone and tried to thread the puck between Hutchinson's legs.

"This one stinks," Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog said. "We really wanted this one. Especially after coming off an extended break."

Simply ran into a hot goaltender.

"Their goalie stole one for them," forward Nathan MacKinnon succinctly said.

Colorado's alternate blue sweater hasn't exactly been lucky. The team is 5-9-1 since the jersey's debut last season.

Jarome Iginla remains in a goal-scoring funk. He had a point-blank shot moments into the third period and was thwarted by Hutchinson. Iginla has just one goal so far this season. He's 16th on the league's all-time goal-scoring list.

Matthias gave the Jets 1-0 lead at 8:29 of the second period when he guided in a perfect cross-ice pass fromJoel Armia. Matthias played for the Avalanche last season after being acquired in a February deal with Toronto. He had six goals in 20 games for Colorado.

"Nice to score against your former team," Matthias said. "There's no animosity toward any old team. Just playing hard for the Jets."

Winnipeg nearly had a power-play goal midway through the first period when Mark Scheifele poked in a shot between the pads of Varlamov. But the officials blew the whistle just before the puck rolled into the net.

Scheifele pleaded to no avail.

Patrik Laine, the No. 2 overall pick in June who already has six goals, unleashed a few quality shots only to be turned back by Varlamov. Laine is good friends with Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen, who was making his season debut after being called up from San Antonio of the American Hockey League.

They pair helped Team Finland to the 2016 world junior hockey championship. They also practiced together this summer.

"It will be fun," Rantanen said of the friendly rival.

Rantanen was the 10th overall pick in 2015. His locker once belonged to Avalanche standout Milan Hejduk.

"Maybe Mikko will take the great energy that was in that stall," Landeskog cracked.

NOTES: Jets D Dustin Byfuglien recorded the 800th penalty minute of his career with a tripping call in the second period. He also was called for another penalty in the closing seconds. ... F Drew Stafford missed a second straight game with an upper-body injury. ... D Fedor Tyutin (groin) sat out a second straight game. ... FJohn Mitchell (hip) made his season debut.

UP NEXT

Jets: Host Buffalo on Sunday.

Avalanche: At Arizona on Saturday in their second back-to-back set this season.

Skinner's almost-hat trick helps Hurricanes beat Rangers 3-2

Jeff Skinner had a hat trick, and then he didn't. He still did it all to help the Carolina Hurricanes earn a victory they hope will mean even more in the spring.

Skinner had two goals and an assist, and the Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Friday night.

Skinner originally had his fifth career hat trick - and a shower of souvenir hats on the ice - before the third goal was awarded to Bryan Bickell on a scoring change.

"I told Bicksie he owes everyone in the building their hats back," Skinner quipped.

Still, his 16th career three-point night - in his debut wearing the "A" as an alternate captain - helped the Hurricanes win their home opener.

"He's got the ability to make things happen in tight spaces," Carolina coach Bill Peters said. "He's got real good edge control. And he's dangerous. He's a goal-scorer. There's not a lot of them anymore, and he's a pure scorer, one of those guys that can just hang in the weeds a little bit and all of a sudden he gets the puck at the right time and the right spot, and it's in the net."

Victor Rask had two assists, giving him points in all seven games, and Cam Ward made 28 saves - stoppingMats Zuccarello with about 5 seconds left - to help Carolina snap a two-game losing streak.

Zuccarello scored two power-play goals and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 18 shots for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game winning streak.

It seems silly to label an October game as a must-win, but this might have counted as one for the Hurricanes: Since the lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season, they have not made the playoffs in any season in which they lost their home opener . Meanwhile, only twice in that span have they won their first game at PNC Arena, and they went on to reach the postseason both times.

And Skinner did plenty to make it happen in this one.

He beat the second-period buzzer with a slap shot from the right circle - a review found that 0.8 seconds were on the clock when the puck crossed the goal line - that sent hundreds of complimentary hats onto the ice. It wasn't until the intermission that officials determined the puck clipped Bickell on its way past Lundqvist.

"I was shocked when I saw it in the net," Lundqvist said. "Just had eyes, that puck, and obviously it's a backbreaker to give up a goal that late. That's the winner."

That came after Skinner tied it with 7:26 left in the first when he chased down the rebound of his shot and snapped it high from the circle . He put Carolina up 2-1 by beating Lundqvist with a smooth backhand 33 seconds into the second.

Zuccarello matched him goal for goal, beating Ward on a breakaway with 7:43 left in the second to make it 2-all, after his first goal was disputed by the Hurricanes.

His high wrister from the left circle came after Carolina defenseman Ron Hainsey and New York winger Pavel Buchnevich fell on top of Ward during a scrum. The Hurricanes' challenged, claiming interference, but the goal was upheld upon review.

"I felt like after we tied it at 2, the way we were playing, it felt like we were going to get this one," Lundqvist said.

NOTES: Lundqvist assisted on Zuccarello's second goal for the veteran goalie's first assist of the season. He had four last year. ... Only one player in Hurricanes/Whalers history has a longer points streak to begin a season than Rask - general manager Ron Francis, who did it in 1984-85 with Hartford. ... Two-time Daytona 500 winner NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. sounded the siren that blares when the Hurricanes enter the rink.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Return home to face Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Hurricanes: Wrap up a two-game homestand Sunday against division rival Philadelphia.

Artem Anisimov lifts Blackhawks past Devils in OT

Down by a goal and late in a four-minute power play in the closing minutes of the third period, Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville took a chance and pulled his goaltender with more than two minutes to play.

It didn't take long for Marian Hossa to make the gamble pay off, setting the stage for Artem Anisimov to be a hero in overtime.

Hossa tied the score with 2:11 remaining in regulation and Anisimov scored on a rebound at 1:15 of overtime as the Blackhawks rallied to beat New Jersey 3-2 on Friday night, handing the Devils their first home loss.

"Time was running out and 6-on-4 is a pretty dangerous look," Quenneville said. "Fortunately, we had a quick little play at the net. We had an ordinary 5-on-4 and it was running out, and I still figured with 2 1/2 (minutes) or two and change, you'd like that 6-on-4."

Hossa was the player who came off the bench with about 35-to-40 seconds left in the four-minute high-sticking penalty to Vernon Fiddler, and it only took about 10 seconds for him to score.

Jonathan Toews sent the puck from the right circle through the crease and Richard Panik and Hossa swept their sticks at it simultaneously with Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid on the other side of the net.

"It was a free lane at the far post and I put everything I had just to make sure I put it in the net," Hossa said. "I know Richard put his stick there also, and we just shoveled everything into the net. It doesn't matter who got the goal as long as it was the tying goal."

Artemi Panarin, who also scored for Chicago, took a shot from the right circle on Anisimov's fifth goal of the season. Kinkaid, who made 26 saves, stopped the shot but he no chance on the rebound.

"The puck came to me in the right position, and I just put it in," Anisimov said.

Crawford had kept the Blackhawks in the game in the first two periods, stopping 25 of 26 shots, including all 16 in the second period.

Chicago outshot New Jersey 17-4 in the third period and overtime.

PA Parenteau and John Moore scored for New Jersey, which was 3-0 at home. Kinkaid made 26 saves in his first start of the season.

"If you break this game down, we controlled the play, we played hard, dictated the play of the game," Devils coach John Hynes said. "We played hard enough to earn a point, and didn't play smart enough to earn two points."

Moore had given the Devils the lead early in the third period with a slam dunk in front.

Taylor Hall did all the work on Moore's first goal of the season. He carried the puck into the Blackhawks zone, skated into the right circle and sent a backhand pass toward the net. The puck hit off the skate of Devils forward Kyle Palmieri and went right to a wide-open Moore.

Panarin, who hit a goalpost in the first period, tied the score 1-1 in the second period with a power-play goal just 13 seconds after Devils defenseman Damon Severson was called for hooking.

Patrick Kane found last year's rookie of the year in the left circle and he beat Kinkaid with a shot to the top corner with Anisimov screening the goaltender.

Parenteau had given New Jersey the lead with a power-play goal with 4:28 left in the first period. Crawford stopped defenseman Yohann Auvitu's point shot, but the puck popped in the air, hit off Devils forward Devante Smith-Pelly and Parenteau swatted in the rebound for his third goal.

Crawford was the difference in second period, stopping all 16 shots by New Jersey. His best were a snapping glove on a Hall power-play chance with New Jersey ahead 1-0 and point-blank rebound stop of Beau Bennettwith the game tied 1-all.

NOTES: Blackhawks assistant coach Kevin Dineen turned 53. ... Nick Lappin, a Geneva, Illinois, native who grew up a Blackhawks' fan, make his NHL debut for the Devils. ... The Devils were 2-0 against Chicago last season. ... Anisimov leads the Blackhawk with 10 points.

UP NEXT

Blackhawks: Host Los Angeles on Sunday night to start a three-game homestand.

Devils: Host Tampa Bay on Saturday night to finish a four-game homestand.

Hertl scores 2 to lead Sharks past Blue Jackets

 Tomas Hertl made sure to keep the Sharks on track, helping San Jose overcome a power outage in the second period and having a goal disallowed early in the third.

Hertl had two goals and Joonas Donskoi also scored to lead the Sharks to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

"There were a couple things there out of our control, but I thought considering that, we stuck with it and found a way," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "You coach junior hockey in Canada for 15 years, you see your share of power outages."

Martin Jones stopped 24 shots to help the Sharks improve to 3-0 at home.

Scott Hartnell scored for the Blue Jackets, who lost for the second straight game. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves.

Hartnell spoiled Jones' shutout bid with 2:50 remaining as the puck skipped off Jones' skate and onto Hartnell's stick and he put it in to make it 2-1.

"I though we played well. We just have not been consistent enough offensively," Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. "We don't have enough offensive guys going right now."

Hertl added an empty net goal in the final second.

Donskoi scored his first goal of the season, on a power play with 7:01 left in the first period after taking a pass from David Schlemko and knocking it in off the bottom of Bobrovsky's glove and having it bounce into the net.

"My last year in Finland, the ice broke a couple of times," Donskoi said of the power outage. "That was even worse. There was maybe a 1 1/2, two-hour delay in the game, and we just kept going after that. I don't think this was too bad."

After a goal by Brenden Dillon was disallowed due to offsides following a lengthy review early in the third period, the Sharks scored another power-play goal with Hertl converting on a rebound to make it 2-0.

"A lot bad bounces and they just capitalized," Columbus' Josh Anderson said. "It was just unfortunate they had one on the power play too. I thought we came out the way we wanted but we got away from our game a little bit there."

The lights over the ice went out with 2:42 left in the second period, forcing an early intermission. The time was added to the beginning of the third period, with the teams switching sides after 2:42.

"It was definitely a long game," the Sharks' Joel Ward said. "I don't know what time it is right now but with that and the disallowed goal it felt like a triple overtime type of game. Haven't seen that before, but hopefully since we won maybe it happens again and we can capitalize."

NOTES: Schlemko recorded his first point with the Sharks. ... Bobrovsky is one of two goalies to have played all of their team's minutes this season. ... Sharks F Patrick Marleau appeared in his 550th consecutive game. ... The Sharks are 4 for 10 in power plays at home. ... Ryan Murray missed his third straight game with an upper body injury.

UP NEXT:

Blue Jackets: Complete a four-game road trip Friday night at Anaheim.

Sharks: End a three-game homestand against Nashville on Saturday night.

Carter scores late in OT to lift Kings past Predators

The Los Angeles Kings will take having to work overtime every night if they keep winning.

Jeff Carter tipped a shot past Pekka Rinne at 4:31 of overtime to lift Los Angeles to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night for the Kings' fourth straight win.

During the four-game winning streak, three have come in overtime and one in a shootout.

"We'd like to limit our overtime and shootout games and save ourselves a little bit," Carter said. "But if it takes us to overtime every night to win games, then that's what it is."

Jake Muzzin and Tyler Toffoli also scored for Los Angeles and Nic Dowd and Alec Martinez each had two assists. Peter Budaj stopped 24 shots while making his third straight start in place of the injured Jeff Zatkoff.

Craig Smith and Viktor Arvidsson scored for Nashville, and Rinne finished with 42 saves.

After scoring a power play goal in six straight games to open the season the Predators went 0 for 3 with the man advantage.

"It's not coming easy right now as far as offense," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "The goals are just hard to come by right now for a lot of our guys. But I asked for a better effort. Our guys gave that today. But in the end we've got to find points. We've got to find wins, and we've got to continue to push for that."

The Predators weren't satisfied with an overtime loss but were happy with how they bounced back after the Ducks game and were able to earn a point.

"All we can control is our effort and I liked that tonight," Predators defenseman Roman Josi said. "I know there's a lot of things we can do better, but we can't get too frustrated."

One night after giving up six goals to Anaheim, the Predators allowed the Kings to come back and tie the game twice before losing in the extra period.

The Kings got an overtime power play when Smith hooked Anze Kopitar on the side boards 55 seconds in and had several quality chances, but the Predators killed it off. However, Kopitar found Carter in front of the net for the winner in the final minute.

"Just glad it went in," Carter said. "It's been a little bit of a battle lately, but nice play by Kopi right off the draw. Kopi got it loose up top and it kind of bounced around in some skates and popped out to me."

Smith opened the scoring in the second period when he scored on his own rebound at 10:56. Smith tried for the wraparound but Budaj kicked the puck out to the slot, where Smith muscled through his defenders to get the shot off and past the goalie.

Muzzin tied it just over five minutes later with a point shot through traffic on the power play.

With 19 seconds left in the second period, James Neal was awarded an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he took Drew Doughty's stick and tossed it in the air. However, Nashville took the lead when Arvidsson broke away for a short-handed goal 1 minute into the third.

Just as the power play expired 41 seconds later, Rinne lost track of Dowd's shot from the right circle, letting it slip under his pads and into the crease, where a waiting Toffoli was there to sweep it in and tie the score.

NOTES: Nashville is now 3-0-2 in its last five trips to Staples Center. ... Kings coach Darryl Sutter got his 599th career regular-season victory. ... Carter's goal was his 589th career point. ... Kings D Matt Greene and FTeddy Purcell were each healthy scratches for the fifth straight game.

UP NEXT

Predators: At San Jose on Saturday night in the middle game of its five-game trip.

Kings: At St. Louis on Saturday night.

Laine scores 2 on power play, Jets beat Stars 4-1

When Patrik Laine was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets this summer, he knew the team's power play had finished at the bottom of the NHL last season.

The 18-year-old forward wanted to help - and he has in a big way.

Laine scored twice on the power play to help the Jets beat the Dallas Stars 4-1 on Thursday night.

"When I came here, they had the worst power play last year so I thought that I could bring something to the power play," Laine said. "And now I've got a couple goals on the power play. Those are important goals for these games. I'm just trying to help my team to win."

Laine has four of Winnipeg's five power-play goals through seven games. He has six goals overall - tying him for the league lead with a number of players, including fellow rookieAuston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"We've played only seven games, but it's nice that I've got those goals and helped my team to win with those games," Laine said.

Jets coach Paul Maurice said Laine doesn't show much emotion when he scores because the sniper is used to it.

"He's a spectacular shooter," Maurice said. "He's a really humble person. It's important to him that he portrays himself like that. ... He's probably not going to be throwing a parade for himself after he scores a couple of goals. He has that expectation."

Defenseman Tyler Myers got the Jets on the scoreboard 15 seconds into the game and rookie Kyle Connorgot his first NHL goal. Connor Hellebuyck had 38 saves.

Winnipeg, which lost at Dallas in the opener of the home-and-home on Tuesday, has scored five power-play goals this season, with the 18-year-old Laine getting four.

With Dallas trailing 3-0, Tyler Seguin scored his fourth of the season 33 seconds into in the third period.

"I'm not going to sit here and say they were completely outskating us or completely out-battling us," Seguin said. "I thought we could have made some smarter choices. But we lost. We're going to move on and get ready for Saturday night (against Minnesota)."

Antti Niemi stopped 32 shots for the Stars.

Winnipeg was 2 for 7 on the power play and Dallas went 1 for 6.

Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said special teams was the difference.

"Five-on-five, we probably had the edge in the chances, but special teams, they generated a lot of energy and a couple goals," Ruff said. "We got off to a tough start with that shot going in, but I thought our work ethic inside the game was good."

Winnipeg got off to a fast start and outshot Dallas 22-13 in the opening period. In the opening minute, Myers took advantage of a loose puck bouncing off the boards in the Dallas end to fire a one-timer from the point past Niemi.

Both teams then took turns on the power play, but neither capitalized.

Dallas had a two-man advantage for 1:16, then the Jets got on the power play and fired eight shots on Niemi in just over 1 1/2 minutes.

Nikolaj Ehlers and Connor then went down the ice on a 2-on-1 at even strength, with Ehlers passing the puck across the ice for Connor's high shot to double the lead with 3:48 left in the first.

"Nicky made a great pass over and I just tried to get it upstairs," Connor said. "It's definitely a special feeling. You work so hard to get to this point and to get rewarded like that feels good."

Connor, who was a healthy scratch in Tuesday's loss, was playing his sixth game of the season.

Laine's fifth of the season at 4:30 of the second made it 3-0 just 8 seconds after Stars defenseman John Klingberg was sent off for hooking.

Seconds after Seguin's goal, Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien crashed into the boards after getting tangled up with Stars forward Antoine Roussel, but only went to the dressing room for a few minutes.

Laine scored his second of the game with 6 seconds left in a two-man advantage on a shot into the left side of the net that made it 4-1 at 10:17.

NOTES: The Jets had gone into the game only holding a lead for a total 17:02 in their first six games. ... Laine's second-period goal marked the first time this season Winnipeg held a three-goal lead, and the first time the Jets hadn't trailed going into the third.

UP NEXT

Stars: At Minnesota on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game trip.

Jets: At Colorado on Friday night in the back end of their first of 14 back-to-backs this season.

Detroit defeats St. Louis after marathon shootout

Detroit's Frans Nielsen had no doubt who was the difference for the Red Wings on Thursday night: goalie Petr Mrazek.

Henrik Zetterberg scored in the eighth round of a shootout to give Detroit a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues. Zetterberg's goal gave the Red Wings a six-game winning streak.

"I think the goalie stole the game for us," said Nielsen, who scored the only goal in regulation for Detroit. "I don't think we've been perfect but we found a way to win."

That is what Mrazek found important.

"This was a huge win on the road for us," Mrazek said. "St. Louis is a very good team. You know in the first period we didn't play how we wanted to play but from that second half of the game, we were better."

In the shootout, St. Louis' first shooter, Alexander Steen, scored but then Vladimir Tarasenko, Kevin Shattenkirk, David Perron, Nail Yakupoc, Robby Fabbri, Patrick Burgland and Dmitrjij Jaskin all came up short.

"I still think we could have pulled off some more moves, some better moves to give us better scoring chances," Shattenkirk said. "We need to bury our chances."

Gustav Nyquist scored on Detroit's second attempt but Nielsen, Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheehan and Darren Helm all missed.

St. Louis had the better chances in overtime. Center Jaden Schwartz missed a wide-open net early in the extra session. Jori Lehtera was stopped on a breakaway midway through the period by Mrazek.

"We played really well and had a lot of good stuff but we don't finish," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We've got to look at what's working and what's not working. You've got to finish at the end of the day.

"We're scoring one goal and getting points. That's a hell of a feather in these guys' caps but you're going to have score goals in this league."

Fabbri was called for hooking with 19 seconds left but Detroit could not cash in. The Red Wings outshot the Blues 3-2 in the overtime.

"We found a way to grind it out," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "We had a big short-handed goal and it was big for us to get the two points."

The Blues and Red Wings have played to overtime in four of their last five meetings. The teams split their games last season with the road team winning each time.

The Blues scored first at 2:31 of the second period on a goal by Shattenkirk. The puck came to Shattenkirk after Berglund won a faceoff. Shattenkirk sent in a wrist shot and the puck deflected in off the skate of Nielsen.

Nielsen got it back for Detroit on a short-handed goal, tying the game 1-1 at 13:54. Helm got a loose puck at the top of the slot. He dropped the puck to the trailing Nielsen, who got around Shattenkirk and beat goalieJake Allen with a backhand shot.

St. Louis outshot the Red Wings 14-4 in a scoreless first period. Mrazek made two standout saves in the period, thwarting the Blues, who had a 23-15 shot advantage after two periods.

"We've got to find a way to get wins," Allen said. "You're not going to win every single game in a shootout but that was a tough one tonight."

NOTES: Detroit LW Thomas Vanek sat out the game with a lower-body injury. The Red Wings listed him as day to day. ... LW Justin Abdelkader was back for the Red Wings after missing the last two games with a lower-body injury. ... Lehtera was back in the lineup after missing four games with an upper-body injury sustained in a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers on Oct. 15. To make a roster spot for Lehtra, the Blues put Magnus Paajarvi on waivers. ... Former Blues D Barret Jackman dropped the ceremonial first puck. Jackman spent 14 years in the NHL, 13 with the Blues. He signed a one-day contract to retire a Blue on Oct. 4 at Scottrade Center. Jackman's first game as a Blue was in a Stanley Cup playoff game against the Detroit Red Wings on April 14, 2002.

UP NEXT:

Red Wings: Will play visiting Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Blues: Will play visiting Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.

Pacioretty, Canadiens beat Lightning for 6th straight win

 Carey Price's teammates are no longer amazed when he makes an impossible save look easy.

Price made a game-changing stop in the third period, one of his 30 saves on the night, to lead Montreal to a 3-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night for the Canadiens' sixth straight win.

With Montreal trailing 1-0 to start the third, Price kept his side in the game by robbing Ondrej Palat from close range with a lightning-fast right-leg kick. The puck, headed for the back of the net, went off Price's toe and bounced into the boards. The goalie called it a "lucky" save.

"It's the norm now with him," Montreal forward Torrey Mitchellsaid. "You're almost not even surprised by it. Most goalies, it's in the back of the net. That just gives us that momentum, it gives us such a big boost. You see the confidence that we come out with on the next two or three shifts after those types of saves."

Price beat Tampa Bay for the first time in his last eight starts (1-5-2). His previous win against the Lightning was on Dec. 28, 2013.

Alex Killorn scored the lone goal for the Lightning, who lost against an Eastern-Conference opponent for the first time this season. Ben Bishop stopped 23 shots.

Max Pacioretty scored the tiebreaking goal in Montreal's three-goal third period to get the win, and the Canadiens' captain also praised his goalie.

"That's just him being himself, making the right save at the right time," Pacioretty said. "Normally when there's a big save or a big play, you generally see the team tend to give a little bit more effort and rally together to play in front of a play like that.

"Big turning point in the game."

Alex Galchenyuk tied the score with a power-play goal at 6:12 of the third, and Torrey Mitchell's empty-netter in the waning seconds sealed the win as Montreal improved to 7-0-1 as the only NHL team without a regulation loss.

On the tying goal, Andrei Markov fooled the Lightning with a cross-ice pass instead of taking a shot on net. Galchenyuk made no mistake with the one-timer just above Ben Bishop's glove.

Four minutes later, Pacioretty put the Canadiens ahead by beating Bishop glove-side. Blown coverage by the Lightning left the Pacioretty all alone on the edge of the face-off circle, and Bishop couldn't see the shot withAndrew Shaw posted firmly in front of goal.

"World-class goalies don't have chances on those," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Look at the goals that went in. They weren't gifts. They got the extra bounce and we didn't.

"It was a pretty even game. It came down to two good teams, chances were probably even and shots were close. It came down to special teams."

Price beat Tampa Bay for the first time in his last eight starts (1-5-2). His previous win against the Lightning was on Dec. 28, 2013.

Price wasn't tested much in the early stages of the game as Tampa Bay didn't get its first shot until 12:14 had elapsed - Killorn from an extremely difficult angle.

After just a four-shot first period, the Lightning were more threatening in the second.

Killorn beat Price for the game's first goal with 3:52 left in the middle period by deflecting home a slap pass from Victor Hedman. Killorn sneaked in behind defenseman Alexei Emelin, put himself in a good position just outside the crease and got enough of the puck for his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

The 27-year-old Killorn has scored in six of Tampa's seven games this season.

It was just the second time this season Montreal gave up the first goal of the game.

NOTES: Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov fell awkwardly into the boards in the first period, left the game and did not return. ... Canadiens D Mikhail Sergachev was a healthy scratch for the fourth consecutive game. ... Shea Weber saw his four-game point streak come to an end. ... Montreal leads the league with 25 points from its defensemen.

UP NEXT

Lightning: At New Jersey on Saturday night in the fourth game of a six-game trip.

Canadiens: Host Toronto on Saturday night.