Dustin Byfuglien led Chicago to its franchise-record ninth straight victory, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the Blackhawks’ 4-1 decision over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
Chicago broke the team record of eight straight victories set in December 1971 and matched in January 1981. With the nine-game streak, the Blackhawks also tied San Jose for the longest run of the season.
Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg also scored, while Blackhawks goalkeeper Cristobal Huet made 18 saves, allowing only Cal Clutterbuck’s third-period goal.
Chicago trails Detroit by four points in the Central Division with two games in hand.
The Blackhawks will play tonight in Detroit and Thursday in Chicago in the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.
BRUINS 2, THRASHERS 1
At Atlanta, Georgia, Michael Ryder broke a tie with 6:04 left as Boston won its eighth straight game to equal San Jose for the overall NHL lead with 58 points.
Ryder converted a perfect lead pass from David Krejci to beat goalie Kari Lehtonen for his 14th goal and second winner in two nights.
On Saturday evening in Carolina, Ryder scored the go-ahead goal with 6:14 left in the Bruins’ 4-2 victory.
Phil Kessel scored his 22nd goal and Manny Fernandez made 32 saves, allowing only Bryan Little’s first-period goal.
The winning streak, which started with two victories over Atlanta, is Boston’s longest since the final eight games of the 1992-93 regular season.
The Bruins (27-5-4) have played one more game than San Jose (27-4-4).
DUCKS 4, BLUES 3
At St Louis, Missouri, Bobby Ryan scored on a power play with 7:11 to play and Scott Niedermayer had a goal and an assist to help Anaheim beat St Louis and snap a three-game losing streak.
Rob Niedermayer and Steve Montador also scored, Ryan Getzlaf had two assists and Jonas Hiller made 27 saves.
It was the Ducks’ fourth consecutive 4-3 finish.
David Perron and Keith Tkachuk each had a goal and an assist for St Louis.
The Blues’ Brad Boyes also scored and Patrik Berglund added two assists.
CAPITALS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1
At Washington, Alex Ovechkin scored two goals, including the tiebreaker with 10 seconds left in the second period, and Brooks Laich also scored twice as Washington beat Toronto to improve its home record to an Eastern Conference-best 15-1-1.
Jose Theodore made 23 saves to win his third consecutive start for Washington, which has won 10 of 12 overall.
Add in a six-game winning streak at home at the end of last season and the Capitals have won 21 of their past 23 games in Washington.
Before the game, Washington retired Mike Gartner’s No. 11 jersey.
Niklas Hagman scored Toronto’s only goal.
OILERS 5, PREDATORS 2
At Edmonton, Alberta, Dwayne Roloson made 28 saves, and Eric Cole had a goal and two assists as Edmonton downed Nashville.
Sheldon Souray, Shawn Horcoff, Andrew Cogliano and Sam Gagner also scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have won three straight to improve to 17-14-3.
Martin Erat and Shea Weber scored for Nashville. The Predators had won their last nine games against the Oilers.
CANUCKS 3, SENATORS 0
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Curtis Sanford made 18 saves for his fourth career as Vancouver handed Ottawa its 12th straight loss on the road.
Henrik Sedin, Pavol Demitra and Alex Edler scored.
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