PITTSBURGH: Jordan Staal scored twice and Sidney Crosby’s goal and assist early in the first period amid a succession of fights lifted the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
Crosby scored an infrequent Penguins power-play goal 3:30 in-and before a flurry of three fights in 16 seconds-and set up Bill Guerin’s goal about 2 1/2 minutes later, immediately after the first round of pushing, shoving and punching. Crosby had a three-point night and now has 21 goals and 28 assists in 28 career games against Philadelphia.
The Penguins had scored once in 15 attempts with the man advantage and came into the game next to last in the NHL in power-play efficiency before Crosby scored his 21st goal.
The Flyers have lost 11 of 14 and are 2-5 under new coach Peter Laviolette.
Marc-Andre Fleurymade 26 saves for the Penguins, who won their third in a row and ninth in 12 games.
Wild 2 Blue Jackets 1: In St. Paul, Minn., Marek Zidlicky scored with 39 seconds left, snapping a tie and giving Minnesota a victory over Columbus.Mikko Koivu won a faceoff in the Columbus zone and sent the puck to the point to Zidlicky, who waited for an opening and fired a shot off goalie Steve Mason’s stick and over his shoulder for the winning goal.
Guillaume Latendresse also scored and Koivu had a pair of assists for the Wild, who won their fourth straight home game and improved to 10-1-1 in their 12 games in Minnesota against the Blue Jackets. Niklas Backstrom stopped 21 shots.
Predators 7 Lightning 4: In Nashville, Tenn., David Legwandand Patric Hornqvist each had a goal and an assist, and Nashville used a five-goal second period to beat Tampa Bay. Jerred Smithson, Ryan Jones, J.P. Dumont, Dan Hamhuis and Martin Erat also scored for Nashville, which set a season high for goals in a game, topping the six they had at Ottawa on Oct. 22.
Vincent Lecavalier had two goals and an assist, and Steven Stamkosand Kurtis Foster added goals for the Lightning.
Blues 4 Flames 3: In St. Louis, T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal with 4:58 to play, helping St. Louis earn its sixth victory in 18 home games.
David Backes had a goal and assisted on Oshie’s sixth goal for the Blues, who beat the NHL’s top road team after honoring Brett Hull on his recent Hockey Hall of Fame induction in a pregame ceremony.
Capitals 6 Avalanche 1: In Denver, Tomas Fleischmann scored two goals, Jose Theodore stopped 27 shots and Washington routed Colorado.
Nicklas Backstromand Matt Bradley had a goal and assist each, and Mike Knubleand David Steckel also scored. Kyle Wilson and Chris Clarkboth had two assists for the Capitals, who have won seven of nine.
Theodore, who played two-plus seasons with Colorado and led the Avalanche to the Western Conference semifinals in 2008, won for the fourth time in five games. T.J. Galiardi scored a power-play goal for Colorado with 8:39 left, spoiling Theodore’s shutout bid.
Kings 3 Oilers 2: In Edmonton, Alberta Sean O’Donnell scored a tiebreaking goal with 4:33 left and Los Angeles beat Edmonton.
Dustin Brown and Brad Richardson each had a goal and an assist for the Kings (22-11-3), who moved atop the Western Conference standings with their eighth win in 10 games.
O’Donnell’s first of the season came on a point shot that went untouched through several legs to put the Kings ahead for good.
