>>Kane Leads Blackhawks Past Senators

 

Nick Schmaltz and Jonathan Toews each scored a pair of goals and Patrick Kane had a goal and four assists Tuesday night and the Chicago Blackhawks routed the Ottawa Senators 8-2.

 

Richard Panik, Patrick Sharp and Jan Rutta also scored for the Blackhawks, while Anton Forsberg made 25 saves.

 

Mark Stone and Derick Brassard scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson allowed four goals on 26 shots before giving way to Mike Condon, who also allowed four goals on 17 shots.

 

The loss snapped Ottawa's two-game winning streak and was the worst loss of the season since an 8-3 defeat on Oct. 30 against Montreal.

 

Toews scored his second of the game at 3:24 of the third period to extend the lead to 7-2 before Kane chipped in with his team-leading 18th on the power play.

 

The second period, which has been awful for the Senators of late, was once again troubling as Anderson gave up three goals on four shots in a span of 4:39.

 

Sharp gave Chicago a 2-0 lead at the five-minute mark with a wrist shot from the top of the circle. Schmaltz made it 3-0 with his first power-play goal of the game, beating Anderson five-hole and, 1:38 later, the Blackhawks took a 4-0 lead as Toews scored on a rebound to end Anderson's night.

 

The Senators managed to cut the lead in half when Stone, with his third in as many games, beat Forsberg short side. Brassard then made it 4-2 by driving to the net and tipping Stone's shot in off his chest.

 

But two late power-play goals allowed Chicago to regain its four-goal advantage.

 

Schmaltz scored his second of the game, picking up Sharp's rebound to beat Condon high and Rutta made it 6-2 with a one-timer.

 

Combined, Anderson and Condon gave up five goals on nine shots in the second period. Bobby Ryan added to the misery by leaving the game favoring his hand and didn't return for the third.

 

The Senators looked good in the first period, but were still outshot 17-8 and gave up the first goal as Panik picked up the puck near the slot and threw it at the net to beat Anderson through traffic.

 

The Blackhawks host Minnesota on Wednesday night.

 

>>Panthers Outlast Blues

 

Vincent Trocheck had two goals and an assist, leading Florida to a 7-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.

 

The Panthers rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to snap a three-game losing streak.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov each had a goal and two assists, and James Reimer stopped 26 shots in his 15th straight start.

 

St. Louis has lost three straight against Florida at Scottrade Center. Vladimir Tarasenko and Paul Stastny each had a goal and an assist for the Blues, and Colton Parayko and Tage Thompson also scored.

 

St. Louis got off to a fast start on goals by Stastny and Parayko in the first 8:05 of the game.

 

Aaron Ekblad and Barkov responded for Florida in the first, and the Panthers grabbed control with three more goals in the second.

 

After Tarasenko made it 3-2 with a wrist shot from the right circle at 4:17, Radim Vrbata replied for Florida from in front of the net at 12:23. Huberdeau scored from the left circle at 15:55 and Trocheck got his 16th of the season 42 seconds later, making it 5-3 with a snap shot from the slot.

 

Colton Sceviour added a short-handed goal 13:02 into the third. After Thompson got St. Louis within two again, Trocheck tacked on an empty netter at 17:56.

 

St. Louis goaltender Jake Allen stopped 18 of 23 shots before he was replaced by Carter Hutton, who finished with 11 saves.

 

The Blues head into their league mandated bye week. Their next game is Jan. 16 at Toronto.