Artemi Panarin and Richard Panik started a four-goal first period for Chicago, and the Blackhawks moved closer to locking up the Central Division title with a 5-1 victory over the short-handed Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

 

Marcus Kruger and Marian Hossa also scored during an explosive first period as the Blackhawks moved nine points clear of second-place Minnesota with five games left in the regular season. Tanner Nero added a breakaway goal in the third. Patrick Kane picked up two assists to move past Sidney Crosby and into second place in the NHL scoring race.

 

Corey Crawford stopped 31 shots for Chicago, which beat the Penguins in regulation on the road for the first time since 1997.

 

Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 31 saves but received little help outside of Bryan Rust's third-period goal. The defending Stanley Cup champions saw their winless streak reach four games, and their chances to catch first-place Washington atop the Metropolitan Division took another hit.

 

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Vladimir Tarasenko, Patrik Berglund and David Perron scored, Berglund added an assist and the Blues beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 on Wednesday night.

 

Berglund tied his career high with his 22nd goal, and the Blues have won 11 of 13 games and have points in 12 of those.

 

St. Louis' Carter Hutton stopped 22 shots and is 7-2-0 in his last nine road starts. He faced only 13 in the first two periods combined, then saved a breakaway attempt by Tobias Rieder early in the third period before Alex Goligoski scored a power-play goal at 14:37.

 

Perron added an empty-net goal with 19.8 seconds left, his 100th as a Blue.

 

The Blues moved closer to locking up a playoff spot, falling short of clinching because the Los Angeles Kings beat the Calgary Flames. St. Louis beat Arizona for the 11th straight time and the third time in 11 days.

 

The Blues beat the Coyotes 4-1 in St. Louis on Monday. They have won nine straight games in Arizona, and during the 11-game winning streak, have outscored the Coyotes 45-14.

 

Louis Domingue had 40 saves, but Arizona has lost six of seven.