Blackhawks Edge Senators, Blues Down Sharks

By ESPN

Chicago goaltender Scott Darling and Ottawa netminder Mike Condon had to put their friendship on hold Thursday night.

Darling made 33 saves and Richard Panik scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period to lift the Blackhawks over Condon and the Senators 2-1.

Panik beat Condon on the power play at 16:59 of the third, finding the back of the net on a one-timer off a feed from Patrick Kane, who was behind the net.

"It's fun. We've been friends for 10 or 12 years, and it's the fifth time we've played each other in pro and we love it. Second NHL game, but we've played each other twice in the (American Hockey League) and once in the (ECHL)," Darling said.

"We're great friends and we both want to win. I'm happy he played well but I'm happy I won."

Duncan Keith had the other goal for the Blackhawks, who got their second straight win.

Condon made 26 saves for the Senators, who failed to jump into first place in the Atlantic Division. Kyle Turris scored the lone goal.

Keith opened the scoring 8:04 into the third period. Condon made the initial save on the shot but the rebound bounced off a collection of bodies in front of the net before crossing the goal line.

"I thought the rebound was going far right so I tried to extend, then it hit a skate and went the other way," Condon said. "I tried to lay back and cover it up, but the guy tapped it in."

Turris tied the game at 11:23 on the power play with a one-timer from the right side that beat a screened Darling over the shoulder with Bobby Ryan on top of the crease.

"It was good to take advantage of an opportunity there. I was just trying to get the puck through because we've been struggling on the (power play)," Turris said.

"It's a frustrating result. I thought we played a pretty solid, structured game, it just got away at the end there."

Neither team was able to score despite firing 43 combined shots on goal through two periods.

The Senators had 21 shots on Darling through the first two periods but another 23 were blocked by Blackhawks skaters. Condon made 22 saves while his teammates blocked 10 additional shots.

Condon's best save was a glove grab against Artemi Panarin in the second after Senators forward Derick Brassard tried to clear the puck behind the goal but it bounced off the side of the net right to Panarin in the slot.

"There wasn't much of back and forth and it was kind of a weird game. It seemed slow and boring in a lot of ways," Keith said.

The Senators had back-to-back power plays late in the second as Marian Hossa was called for holding just eight seconds after Marcus Kruger finished serving his interference penalty.

Ottawa had two shots on each of those power plays with no luck. Cody Ceci had no luck either as he was staring at a wide-open net from the face-off circle but the puck jumped over his stick.

Blues 4, Sharks 1

With points at a premium down the stretch of the NHL season, there's no time to lament over lost opportunities. So the St. Louis Blues shook off the disappointment of a loss in Anaheim to end the treacherous California trip with two wins in three games.

Vladimir Tarasenko scored two goals to give him 34 on the season and Zach Sanford added his first since joining St. Louis to help the Blues complete a regular season sweep of the San Jose Sharks with a 4-1 victory on Thursday night.

"We asked for a response and we got it," coach Mike Yeo said. "Last night, it was a close game, but we weren't really happy with the way things went. We knew that we left something on the table. So we asked for a response today and the guys more than delivered."

The 2-1 loss in Anaheim on Wednesday is the only loss for St. Louis in the past seven games. But with an early goal by Scottie Upshall setting the tone and Carter Hutton providing a solid night in goal with 19 saves, the Blues remained two points behind Nashville for third place in the Central Division and four points up on Los Angeles for the second wild-card spot.

"You want to get on them early," Upshall said. "You want to show them you're here to play and you have your legs. We had a tough game last night, almost came back and tied it late. I like the way we came out and played. We held them to under 20 shots. We peppered their goalie from some good scoring chances. It was a game we needed."

Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored the lone goal for the Sharks. Aaron Dell made 32 saves.

"I thought we looked tired out there, sluggish, we just didn't have any jump up front," forward Logan Couture said. "I think a lot of it was on us."

San Jose still holds a seven-point lead in the Pacific Division over Anaheim but missed a chance to pass Minnesota for the second most points in the Western Conference with a third loss this season to St. Louis.

The Blues, despite playing the back end of a back-to-back and their third game in four nights, managed to keep the Sharks away from the net for most of the night and allowed only three shots from Sharks forwards in the first 54 minutes.

They took the lead for good when they scored the only goal in the second period. The play started innocently as Jay Bouwmeester took a shot from the boards that deflected behind the net. The puck hit off the backboards and went right to Sanford, who knocked it in for his first goal with St. Louis since being acquired last month from Washington in the trade that sent Kevin Shattenkirk to the Capitals.

"I saw it coming the whole way," Sanford said. "I didn't know if it was ever going to make it to me. It slowed up a little there at the end, but it ended up getting there in time."

Tarasenko provided the insurance when he knocked in the rebound of Alexander Steen's shot off the crossbar on the power play midway through the third and added an empty-netter late in the period.

"We fought the puck a bit and got some bad bounces," Dell said. "It kind of didn't go our way. The whole game went that way for us with the bad bounces."

The teams traded goals late in the first period with Upshall scoring after intercepting a pass from Brent Burns and San Jose tying it when Vlasic's point pass deflected off defenseman Carl Gunnarsson's skate past Hutton.

Thursday, March 16 Scoreboard

New Jersey 6, Philadelphia 2

Winnipeg 4, New York Islanders 2

Nashville 2, Washington 1 (OT)

Carolina 3, Minnesota 1

Colulmbus 2, Florida 1

Chicago 2, Ottawa 1

Toronto 5, Tampa Bay 0

Edmonton 7, Boston 4

Dallas 4, Vancouver 2

Detroit 5, Arizona 4 (SO)

Los Angeles 2, Buffalo 0

St. Louis 4, San Jose 1

Friday, March 17 Schedule (All Times Central)

Florida at New York Rangers, 6 p.m.

New Jersey at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.

Dallas at Calgary, 8 p.m.

Buffalo at Anaheim, 9 p.m.

Saturday, March 18 Schedule (All Times Central)

Colorado at Detroit, noon

Columbus at New York Islanders, noon

Chicago at Toronto, 6 p.m.

Montreal at Ottawa, 6 p.m.

Washington at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.

Nashville at Carolina, 6 p.m.

New York  Rangers at Minnesota, 6 p.m.

St. Louis at Arizona, 8 p.m.

Vancouver at Edmonton, 9 p.m.

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

Sunday, March 19  Schedule (All Times Central)

Columbus at New Jersey, noon

Florida at Pittsburgh, noon

Minnesota at Winnipeg, 4 p.m.

Carolina at Philadelphia, 6 p.m.

Colorado at Chicago, 6 p.m.

Ottawa at Montreal, 6:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at Calgary, 8:30 p.m.