Patrick Kane had three goals and an assist as the Chicago Blackhawks raced to a six-goal lead in the second period before hanging on for a 6-4 win over the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
Kane's scoring spree gave him 100 points for the first time in his nine-year career. The win was career No. 800 for Chicago coach Joel Quenneville.
Kane, the NHL's leading scorer, was clicking with linemates Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov early and often in the club's fourth win it its last five games. Panarin had a goal and three assists, while Anisimov added a goal and two assists.
Patrice Bergeron had two goals and an assist for the Bruins. He and David Pastrnak scored 11 seconds apart late in the second period. Bruins starting goalie Tuukka Rask was replaced early in the second after allowing a barrage of goals. Brad Marchand scored on a deflection midway through the third to cut it to 6-4, but Chicago hung on.
>>Blues Blast Avalanche
David Backes started the scoring in a three-goal first period, Anders Nilsson made 19 saves in relief of an injured Jake Allen, and the Blues beat the Avalanche 5-1 on Sunday night.
Magnus Paajarvi, Parayko and Pietrangelo also scored for the Blues. Troy Brouwer added an empty-netter with 2:55 remaining.
Allen was playing well, stopping 11 shots, before giving way to Nilsson, who lost the shutout with 4:14 remaining as Matt Duchene tipped in a shot by Mikkel Boedker.
It was Duchene's 30th goal of the season and he celebrated - his teammates even grabbed the puck for him - but it drew the ire of Roy.
The Blues were without forward Robby Fabbri (lower body) and defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (upper body), but defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (lower body) returned after not playing the last three games.
St. Louis pulled within two points of Dallas in a tightly packed division race. Chicago remains four points behind the Blues.
>>Crawford Eyes Return for Chicago
Injured Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford should be back for the playoffs, and could return before the end of the regular-season.
Coach Joel Quenneville said the team feels like "he's turned the corner and is heading in the right direction. Crawford has been out with an upper-body injury since March 16, and missed his ninth consecutive game on Sunday.
Chicago has four games left before the playoffs.
Before Sunday's game against the Bruins, Crawford skated and took practice shots from goaltending coach Jimmy Waite for the second straight day.
Crawford has a career-high 35 wins this season, along with 2.32 goals against average and .926 save percentage that rank him among league leaders.
