Bruins win fifth straight

ST. LOUIS - Phil Kessel had two assists to extend his points streak to 18 games, and former University of Minnesota teammate Blake Wheeler had two first-period goals in the Boston Bruins' 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues last night.

Kessel's streak is Boston's longest since Adam Oates had a 20-gamer in 1997-98.

Michael Ryder had a goal and an assist in Boston's fifth straight victory. Shane Hnidy, Marc Savard and Vladimir Sobotka also scored, David Krejci had three first-period assists, and Manny Fernandez made 29 saves.

The Eastern Conference-leading Bruins are 19-3-1 in their last 23 games and 24-5-4 overall, their best 33-game start since the 1929-30 season.

Brad Winchester, Jay McClement and Yan Stastny scored for St. Louis, coming off a 5-2 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night that snapped a five-game losing streak. "We need our better players to be better," Blues coach Andy Murray said.

Chris Mason replaced Blues goalie Manny Legace after the second period. Legace, who beat Minnesota on Saturday, allowed five goals on 23 shots.

Boston 3 2 1 – 6

St. Louis 2 1 0 – 3

First period:

1, Boston, Wheeler 10 (Krejci, Ryder), 2:27. 2, Boston, Wheeler 11 (Krejci, Chara), 4:59 (sh). 3, St. Louis, Winchester 4 (Woywitka, Polak), 6:18 (pp). 4, St. Louis, McClement 3 (Weaver), 16:51 (sh). 5, Boston, Hnidy 2 (Krejci, Kessel), 17:44 (pp).

Penalties:

Lucic, Bos (tripping), 4:40; Lucic, Bos, major (fighting), 6:21; Crombeen, StL, major (fighting), 6:21; Woywitka, StL (hooking), 13:51; Polak, StL (slashing), 15:59.

Second period:

6, St. Louis, Stastny 2 (Tkachuk, Strachan), 2:46. 7, Boston, Ryder 12 (Axelsson, Chara), 9:34 (pp). 8, Boston, Savard 11 (Kessel, Lucic), 16:57.

Penalties:

Backes, StL (tripping), 8:46; McClement, StL (tripping), 12:34.

Third period:

9, Boston, Sobotka 1 (St. Pierre), 15:49.

Penalties:

Hunwick, Bos (hooking), 10:11; Fernandez, Bos, served by Stuart (roughing), 11:57.

Shots on Goal:

Boston 12-11-5–28. St. Louis 10-9-13–32.

Power-play opportunities:

Boston 2 of 4; St. Louis 1 of 3.

Goalies:

Boston, Fernandez 11-2-1 (32 shots-29 saves). St. Louis, Legace 9-6-1 (23-18), Mason (0:00 third, 5-4).

A:

19,150 (19,150).

T:

2:24.

Referees:

Don Koharski, Tim Peel.

Linesmen:

Lonnie Cameron, Derek Nansen.

Panthers 3,

Avalanche 0

SUNRISE, Fla. - Tomas Vokoun made 23 saves for his second shutout of the season for Florida, and Brett McLean, Richard Zednik and Bryan McCabe scored goals in the victory over Colorado.

The Panthers ended an eight-game home losing streak against the Avalanche franchise. Florida's last home victory in the series was April 22, 1995, against the Quebec Nordiques at Miami Arena.

Florida 0 2 1 – 3

First period:

None.

Penalties:

Zednik, Fla (tripping), 5:26; Clark, Col (tripping), 6:54; McCormick, Col (roughing), 14:20; McLeod, Col, minor-misconduct (roughing), 14:20; Boynton, Fla (roughing), 14:20.

Second period:

1, Florida, McLean 1 (Tarnasky), 5:26. 2, Florida, Zednik 4 (Skrastins, G.Campbell), 12:59.

Penalties:

Tucker, Col (hooking), 2:16; Foote, Col (unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:49; Ballard, Fla (clipping, unsportsmanlike conduct), 8:49; Laperriere, Col, major (fighting), 14:08; Tarnasky, Fla, major (fighting), 14:08.

Third period:

3, Florida, McCabe 5 (Horton, Weiss), 18:18 (pp-en).

Penalties:

C.Stewart, Col (holding), 17:50; Dvorak, Fla (hooking), 19:06.

Shots on Goal:

Colorado 3-8-12–23. Florida 8-11-5–24.

Power-play opportunities:

Colorado 0 of 3; Florida 1 of 4.

Goalies:

Colorado, Budaj 11-15-1 (23 shots-21 saves). Florida, Vokoun 7-10-1 (23-23).

A:

16,132 (19,250). T–2:16.

Referees:

Chris Lee, Wes McCauley.

Linesmen:

David Brisebois, Dan Schachte.

Hurricanes 3,

Canadiens 2

MONTREAL - Tuomo Ruutu scored 1 minute, 43 seconds into overtime for Carolina, and Sergei Samsonov and Eric Staal each had a goal and an assist.

Cam Ward made 26 saves to help Carolina improve to 4-1-3 in its last eight games. Robert Lang and Matt D'Agostini scored for the Canadiens. Montreal ended a stretch of 10 of 11 at home.

First period:

1, Carolina, Samsonov 5 (Staal, Ruutu), 13:48.

Penalties:

G.Latendresse, Mon (interference), 8:27; Pitkanen, Car (roughing), 10:50; Komisarek, Mon (cross-checking), 15:30; Brind'Amour, Car (hooking), 20:00.

Second period:

2, Montreal, D'Agostini 6 (Tanguay, Hamrlik), 6:10. 3, Carolina, Staal 14 (Samsonov, Whitney), 14:52 (pp).

Penalties:

Ruutu, Car (hooking), 8:07; Plekanec, Mon (slashing), 14:13; Lapierre, Mon (slashing), 14:28.

Third period:

4, Montreal, Lang 11 (Brisebois, Tanguay), 13:08 (pp).

Penalty:

Cullen, Car (slashing), 11:43.

Overtime:

5, Carolina, Ruutu 11 (Staal, Corvo), 1:43.

Penalties:

None.

Shots on Goal:

Carolina 11-6-7-3–27. Montreal 8-8-12-0–28.

Power-play opportunities:

Carolina 1 of 4; Montreal 1 of 4.

Goalies:

Carolina, Ward 11-8-3 (28 shots-26 saves). Montreal, Price 13-4-5 (27-24).

A:

21,273 (21,273).

T:

2:24.

Referees:

Francois St. Laurent, Marc Joannette.

Linesmen:

Steve Barton, Pierre Champoux.