CALGARY, Alberta:Sidney Crosby scored his 30th goal of the season as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Calgary Flames 3-1 on Wednesday, closing the gap atop the NHL’s Atlantic Division.
Crosby scored early in the first period, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 37 saves for Pittsburgh, which drew within six points of Atlantic leader New Jersey.
Bill Guerin scored the deciding goal on a power play midway through the second period — soon after Mark Giordano had equalized for the Flames, who missed a chance to go clear top of the Northwest Division.
Pittsburgh’s Tyler Kennedy completed the scoring late in the third.
Wild 5, Canucks 2: In St. Paul, Minnesota, Nicklas Backstrom set a franchise record for wins by a goaltender as Minnesota overcame Vancouver.
Antti Miettinen scored two of Minnesota’s three third-period goals, while Kyle Brodziak, Mikko Koivu and Owen Nolan also scored to help the Wild win its fourth straight game.
Backstrom stopped 29 shots for his 114th victory with Minnesota. Manny Fernandez held the previous franchise record, winning 113 times from 2000-07.
Ryan Kesler and Alex Burrows scored for Vancouver, which has lost three straight for the first time in over two months.
Capitals 5, Panthers 4, SO: In Sunrise, Florida, Tomas Fleischmann scored in the sixth round of a shootout to complete Washington’s comeback victory over Florida.
Jason Chimera, Brian Pothier, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom scored in regulation for the Capitals, while Michael Frolik, Dominic Moore, Stephen Weiss and Gregory Campbell countered for Florida.
Brendan Morrison and Brooks Laich also had shootout goals for Washington, while Frolik and Weiss scored for the Panthers in the tiebreaker.
Ducks 4, Bruins 3: In Anaheim, California, defenseman Steve Eminger gave Anaheim the third period lead with his first goal of the season as the Ducks extended their winning streak to a season-best five games. Todd Marchant set up Ryan Getzlaf’s 100th NHL goal with his 300th career assist, Dan Sexton had a power-play goal, and fellow rookie Matt Beleskey also scored for the Ducks.
Zedeno Chara, Marco Sturm and defenseman Matt Hunwick scored for the undermanned Bruins.
