Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012

ST. LOUIS — The Vancouver Canucks kept it close, then pounced.

Nice try: Chicago's Ray Emery makes a save on a tipped shot by Minnesota's Dany Heatley Thursday night. The Blackhawks beat the Wild 5-2. AP

Daniel Sedin scored a power-play goal 46 seconds into overtime to give the Canucks a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night in a matchup for first place in the Western Conference.

The Canucks prevailed despite getting outshot 33-21 by the upstart Blues, who have missed the playoffs five of the past six seasons. The shot total matched a season low for Vancouver, second in the NHL with 33 road points.

"It's a sign of a good team when you can have so-so games and still come out on the right side," Sedin said.

Alexandre Burrows had two goals and drew the decisive penalty for the Canucks, who have an NHL-best 59 points — three more than St. Louis.

David Backes was whistled for boarding with 19.9 seconds to go in regulation, and the Blues were in disarray in overtime after defenseman Roman Polak broke his stick shortly before Sedin beat Brian Elliott from the right faceoff dot.

"Their guy went to get his stick, and it opened up a passing lane from Hank (Sedin) to me," Sedin said. "It wasn't the best shot, but we'll take it."

Senators 3, Rangers 0

In New York, Craig Anderson made 34 saves for his first shutout of the season, Jason Spezza scored twice, and Ottawa beat the surging hosts.

Bruins 2, Canadiens 1

In Boston, Jordan Caron and Milan Lucic scored, and Tim Thomas stopped 33 shots to lead the Bruins over Montreal.

Flyers 3, Islanders 2

In Uniondale, New York, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 shots, and Philadelphia beat the Islanders for the 26th time in 28 games.

Red Wings 3, Coyotes 2 (SO)

In Detroit, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored in the shootout, and the Red Wings beat Phoenix for their 13th straight home win.

Hurricanes 5, Lightning 2

In Tampa, Jiri Tlusty had two goals and an assist, Tuomo Ruutu added a goal and two assists, and Carolina defeated the Lightning.

Predators 3, Avs 2 (OT)

In Nashville, David Legwand scored his second goal of the game at 4:26 of overtime, and the Predators rallied from a two-goal, first-period deficit to beat Colorado.

Blackhawks 5, Wild 2

In Chicago, Dave Bolland had two goals, and rookie Jimmy Hayes and Viktor Stalberg scored 23 seconds apart in a three-goal second period as the Blackhawks beat Minnesota.

Sharks 2, Jets 0

In Winnipeg, Logan Couture and Brad Winchester scored, and Antti Niemi made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season in San Jose's victory over the Jets.

Flames 1, Ducks 0 (OT)

In Calgary, Blair Jones scored his first goal with the Flames at 1:51 of overtime and Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves against Anaheim.

Stars 5, Kings 4 (SO)

In Los Angeles, Loui Eriksson scored twice and netted the deciding goal in a shootout to help Dallas rally past the Kings.

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