Sjostrom, Coyotes surge in 3rd period
Fredrik Sjostrom scored on a wraparound with 2:58 to go, capping a strong third period for the Phoenix Coyotes in a 2-1 victory over the host St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night.
Michael Zigomanis tied it with about 7½ minutes to go on a breakaway. The Coyotes entered the game in a 2-6 slump since beating the Blues at home in the opener on Oct. 4 but have won five straight in St. Louis.
Brad Boyes scored his ninth goal in 10 games for the Blues, who last defeated the Coyotes at home on Feb. 16, 2004. Phoenix outshot the Blues 15-4 in the third period.
All the scoring came in the third period, with Boyes putting the Blues ahead at 5:52. Boyes capitalized on nice plays by more-celebrated linemates, with Keith Tkachuk stealing the puck from Matt Jones in the Phoenix zone and Paul Kariya skating around the net and then making a backhand feed to Boyes alone in front at 5:52 of the third.
Zigomanis got a perfect lead pass from Zbynek Michalek and broke straight up the middle to tie it at 12:35. Sjostrom sped around the net and slipped a shot past goalie Manny Legace to put the Coyotes in front.
Mikael Tellqvist made 24 saves for the Coyotes, the biggest one on Lee Stempniak's penalty shot late in the second period. Tellqvist made a pad save on a backhander by Stempniak, who was pulled down on a breakaway.
Penguins 4, Wild 2: Playing in Minnesota for the first time in their young careers, Evgeni Malkin scored twice and had an assist, and Sidney Crosby had a goal and 3 assists in Pittsburgh's victory over host Minnesota.
Petr Sykora's power play goal -- on a beautiful feed from Crosby in the slot -- broke the tie with 9:55 to play, and Crosby broke free on a line change by Minnesota and sealed the win with his fifth goal just over four minutes later.
Stephane Veilleux and Brian Rolston scored for the short-handed Wild, which lost at home for the first time this season and fell to 0-3-1 in their last four games after starting the season an NHL-best 7-0-1.
Minnesota's top three players, dynamic forwards Marian Gaborik and Pavol Demitra and No. 1 goalie Niklas Backstrom, all missed the game due to groin injuries.
Josh Harding made 23 saves for the Wild.
Thrashers 3, Canadiens 2, (SO): Ilya Kovalchuk scored the decisive goal in the shootout to give Atlanta a win over host Montreal.
Kovalchuk put a shot past Montreal rookie Carey Price on Atlanta's third attempt, and Thrashers goalie Johan Hedberg forced Alex Kovalev to shoot off the post.
Chris Higgins scored Montreal's second power-play goal with 1:58 remaining in regulation to tie it at 2-2.
Kovalev, who assisted on the goal, also scored in the second.
The first 3 goals were all scored unassisted, including both tallied by Atlanta. Eric Perrin and Vyacheslav Kozlov scored 57 seconds apart late in the second period to give the Thrashers a 2-1 lead.
Hedberg stopped 31 shots for Atlanta (4-8), which won consecutive games for the first time this season.
Price made 31 saves in his Bell Centre debut.