NHL NEWS JAN 21 – BLACKHAWKS BLANK BRUINS TO CLIMB WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS

Scott Darling turned aside all 30 shots he faced and Marian Hossa scored the only goal of the contest with 1:26 remaining in regulation as the Blackhawks picked up their sixth win in their last eight games.

At 29-14-5 (63 points), the Blackhawks moved back into a tie with the idle Wild (29-10-5, 63 points) for the most points in the Western Conference. Minnesota, however, holds four games in hand.

Darling registered his second shutout of the season (also Dec. 6 vs. ARI) and improved to 12-4-2 (2.21 GAA, .928 SV%, 2 SO). Elias notes that he became the first Blackhawks goaltender to blank the Bruins since Jeff Hackett on March 22, 1998 (1-0 W) and the first to do so in a road game since Tony Esposito on Jan. 17, 1970 (1-0 W).

Hossa scored his fifth game-winning goal of the season and the 83rd of his NHL career, fifth among active players behind Jaromir Jagr (134), Jarome Iginla (97), Patrick Marleau (95) and Alex Ovechkin (94).

HENRIK SEDIN SCORES TO REACH 1,000-POINT MILESTONE

Canucks captain Henrik Sedin scored in the second period to become the first player in Vancouver Canucks franchise history to reach the 1,000-point milestone (233-767—1,000).

Sedin also became the fourth Swedish-born player in NHL history to register 1,000 career points, joining Mats Sundin (564-785—1,349), Daniel Alfredsson (444-713—1,157) and Nicklas Lidstrom (264-878—1,142).

Panthers goaltender and former teammate Roberto Luongo skated over to congratulate Sedin shortly after the milestone goal.

NHL NEWS AND MUSINGS

• The Atlantic Division-leading Canadiens scored three power-play goals to improve to 6-0-2 in their last eight games vs. NJD dating to Jan. 2, 2015 (NJD: 2-5-1)
• Ryan Ellis (1-0—1) scored the decisive goal in the shootout to lead the Predators to their fifth win in their last six outings
• Kyle Okposo scored with 26 seconds left in overtime to guide the Sabres to their fourth consecutive win at KeyBank Center
• Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr (1-0—1) moved within three points of the 1,900-point milestone (758-1,139—1,897)
• Canucks goaltender Ryan Miller (34 saves) extended his personal point streak to nine games (7-0-2)
• Devils forward Taylor Hall (0-1—1) extended his point streak to five games (2-3—5)
• The 2017 NHL Fan Fair inside the Los Angeles Convention Center will be the site of the third annual NHL Mascot Showdown featuring all 27 NHL Mascots as part of the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, Jan. 26-29.

FRIDAY’S NHL RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
Chicago 1, BOSTON 0
BUFFALO 3, Detroit 2 (OT)
Pittsburgh 7, CAROLINA 1
Montreal 3, NEW JERSEY 1
Nashville 3, EDMONTON 2 (SO)
VANCOUVER 2, Florida 1

SATURDAY’S NHL ACTION
All Times Eastern
St. Louis @ Winnipeg, 3 p.m.
Carolina @ Columbus, 5 p.m.
Ottawa @ Toronto, 7 p.m.
Buffalo @ Montreal, 7 p.m.
Los Angeles @ NY Islanders, 7 p.m.
New Jersey @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay @ Arizona, 8 p.m.
Washington @ Dallas, 8 p.m.
Anaheim @ Minnesota, 9 p.m.
Edmonton @ Calgary, 10 p.m.
Colorado @ San Jose, 10:30 p.m.