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Blackhawks, Blues Win Thursday

Patrick Kane scored his 34th goal and added two assists to lead Chicago to a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night for the Blackhawks' eighth victory in nine games.

 

Kane extended his points streak to 16 games and moved into second in NHL scoring with 85 points. He has 12 goals and 22 assists during the run and also extended his assists streak to 15 games, eclipsing Stan Mikita's team record set in 1967.

 

Brandon Saad and Artem Anisimov each had a goal late in third period to break open a tight game and added an assist. Jonathan Toews and Drake Caggiula also scored for the Blackhawks who have climbed back into the fray for a wild-card spot in the Western Conference after a miserable start.

 

Cam Ward stopped 41 shots, and had to be sharp in the third period to keep the Blackhawks in front after they battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead in the second.

 

Damon Severson and Travis Zajac scored to give the Devils a 2-0 lead with a little more than three minutes left in the first period before the Blackhawks took over. New Jersey has lost two straight and five of its last six.

 

Devils goalie Cory Schneider finished with 31 saves to extend his regular-season winless streak to 24 games. He is now 0-17-4 since his last win Dec. 27, 2017.

 

Kane recorded three or more points for the 10th time this season to help Chicago rebound after a 6-3 loss in Boston on Tuesday.

 

The Blackhawks host Columbus on Saturday night.

 

>>Blues Stay Hot, Beat Arizona Thursday

 

Jordan Binnington matched a franchise rookie record with his seventh straight victory, Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and the Blues stretched their winning streak to eight games with a 4-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.

Joel Edmundson scored early in the first and had an assist on Tarasenko's goal late in the period. Tarasenko put the Blues up 3-0 late in the second period with a power-play goal, giving him nine goals and eight assists during a career-high 10-game points streak.

 

Robert Bortuzzo scored his second goal of the third period for the Blues, who have their longest winning streak since 2000-01. St. Louis is 14-4-1 in 2019, including 9-2-1 on the road.

 

Binnington made 21 saves to match Brent Johnson's rookie franchise-record winning streak set in 2000-01. Binnington had a shutout in his first career NHL start on Jan. 7 and has two more while going 11-1-1.

 

Arizona gave up two goals in the first period and, despite playing better the final two periods, had a hard time generating scoring chances after the Blues packed it in defensively.

 

Darcy Kuemper stopped 20 shots for Arizona, which has lost six of eight.

 

St. Louis has been a different team since the start of the new year, though, winning behind Binnington and a high-scoring offense.

 

The Blues jumped on the Coyotes early Thursday night, dominating the puck until scoring 3 1/2 minutes in when Edmundson swept a rolling pass from Jaden Schwartz past Kuemper's right pad.

 

Tarasenko made it 2-0 with his 23rd goal, lifting his stick waist-high to deflect a pass from Edmundson under Kuemper's left arm.

 

Tarasenko stretched the lead to three goals late in the second period, one-timing a pass from Brayden Schenn at the left circle for his 24th of the season.

 

The Blues play at Colorado on Saturday.

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