CHICAGO: Daniel Carcillo scored the tiebreaking goal with 49.3 seconds left and the Chicago Blackhawks won their 11th consecutive game, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Wednesday night to extend the best start in NHL history.
Jonathan Toews and Andrew Shaw also scored for Chicago (21-0-3), which reached the halfway point of a lockout-shortened season without losing in regulation. The remarkable Blackhawks have earned at least one point in their first 24 games, an NHL record.
Dating back to last year’s regular season, the streak is 30 games.
The Blackhawks broke the previous team record for consecutive wins with their 10th in a row Tuesday night, 5-3 over Minnesota.
Chicago’s overall points streak is the second-longest during one season in NHL history. The 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers set the league record at 35 games with a 25-0-10 run.
John Mitchell and Matt Duchene scored for Colorado, which has lost six of seven.
Ray Emery made 20 saves for the Blackhawks to improve to 10-0.
Maple Leafs 5, Senators 4: At Toronto, Phil Kessel had a goal and two assists to help Toronto hold off Ottawa in a game highlighted by a knockout punch from Frazer McLaren.
Only 26 seconds into the latest installment of the Battle of Ontario, the Toronto tough guy decked Dave Dziurzynski when he caught the Ottawa forward flush with a right to the chin, sending him face down to the ice. A woozy Dziurzynski was slow getting up and eventually needed help from two teammates to skate off.
Dziurzynski did not return, and the Senators said he had a concussion. He logged a total of 3 seconds in his 10th NHL game.
Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, who won their third straight. They built leads of 3-0 and 5-2 before Ottawa scored twice in the final 8 minutes.
Jay McClement and Nazem Kadri also scored for the Maple Leafs. James Reimer made 39 saves in his sixth consecutive victory.
Mika Zibanejad, Zack Smith, Daniel Alfredsson and Colin Greening had the goals for Ottawa, which lost its fourth in a row and dropped to 3-7-2 on road. The Senators are 9-1-2 at home
Flames 4, Sharks 1: At Calgary, Miikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves in his return from a knee injury to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.
Blake Comeau scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period. Jarome Iginla, Roman Cervenka and Curtis Glencross (into an empty net) also scored for Calgary, which improved to 4-1-1 in its last six games.
Joe Thornton had the only goal for the Sharks, who are 2-6-1 in their last nine.
Kiprusoff returned to the lineup after missing 13 games with a sprained knee. The 36-year-old goalie was injured in the second period of Calgary’s 4-1 win over the Red Wings on Feb. 5. Calgary went 6-5-2 during his absence.
Ducks 2, Coyotes 0: At Anaheim, California, Jonas Hiller faced only 18 shots in his first shutout of the season, Corey Perry scored in the first period and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 on Wednesday night for their ninth straight home victory.
The teams met for the third straight time in a five-day span, following a pair of 5-4 shootout victories by the Coyotes in Phoenix on Saturday and Monday.
This was the first time the Ducks played three consecutive games against one opponent in the regular season. The only other time the Coyotes did it was during a six-day stretch in November 2007 against San Jose, when they lost all three by a combined score of 15-1.
The Ducks have the second-best record in the NHL at 16-3-3 and still trail the astounding Chicago Blackhawks by 10 points.
