Halak strong again, Blues beat Bruins in shootout

BOSTON (AP) — Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves through overtime and two more in the shootout to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.

Gregory Campbell scored with 7 minutes left in the third period to spoil Halak’s hopes for a fourth shutout in five games. That ended his shutout streak at 150 minutes, 3 seconds.

But T.J. Oshie and Brad Boyes both beat Tuukka Rask in the shootout. Halak stopped Patrice Bergeron and Michael Ryder, with help from the post both times. The Bruins also had two goals erased by replays in regulation.

Halak and the Blues have won six straight games — their longest winning streak since 2003. They have just one loss in regulation all season, and their four overtime games is the most in the NHL.

In the shootout, Bergeron put his shot off the left post, and Oshie went under Rask’s pads to make it 1-0. Tyler Seguin faked right and went left for a backhand that tied it, then Boyes scored to put the Blues back in the lead. When Ryder’s shot appeared to deflect off Halak’s glove and then the post, the Blues had clinched the win.

The Bruins have lost back-to-back games for the first time, losing to Washington 5-3 on Friday night after Rask came in to replace starter Tim Thomas in the third period, trailing 3-0. That leaves Rask with all four of Boston’s losses this season.

But he matched Halak in regulation, stopping 34 shots in his best performance of the season.

And the Boston offense just missed giving him the win.

Ex-Bruins center Vladimir Sobotka scored on a giveaway from Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg late in the first period.

The Bruins saw the red light go on twice, but both goals were erased on replay.

In the first period, Nathan Horton did a spin move from the right circle and sent the puck off the far post. It bounced behind Halak, who reached back and covered it with his glove as the light went on; the referee immediately signaled no goal.

In the second, it was Horton again who lost the goal on review. He made a quality move to get around defenseman Eric Brewer, who hooked Horton down as he put the puck off the top corner of the net on Halak’s glove side. It bounced onto the goal line and trickled around but, replay showed, didn’t go into the net.

The Bruins finally tied it when Ryder brought the puck over at the left side and centered it to Campbell, who one-timed a shot as he dropped to his knee.

NOTES: Andrew Ference and David Backes fought early in the second, and Mark Stuart and B.J. Crombeen mixed it up later in the period. … Bruins F David Krecji had to be helped off the ice after a hard collision with Oshie in the first minute of overtime. … It was the only meeting between these teams this season.

Pittsburgh beats Phoenix 4-3 in shootout

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Brent Johnson was steady in replacing Marc-Andre Fleury, and Mark Letestu scored the only goal of a shootout to help the Pittsburgh Penguins rally for a 4-3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night.

Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist, and the Penguins also got goals from Evgeni Malkin and Chris Kunitz to come back from an early 2-0 deficit. Crosby and Kris Letang were each stopped by Ilya Bryzgalov in the shootout, but Letestu beat him with a quick wrist shot for the winner.

Wojtek Wolski had his first goal and an assist, and Eric Belanger and Radim Vrbata each had goals for Phoenix. Johnson stopped Vrbata and Wolski in the shootout, and Lauri Korpikoski shot wide on the Coyotes’ final attempt.

Phoenix, coming off a 6-3 loss to Dallas on Friday, played without captain Shane Doan (lower body) and defenseman Ed Jovanovski (illness). Charged up by a rare big crowd of 14,642, the Coyotes didn’t seem to mind early. They chased Fleury from the net with two goals in the first 7 minutes.

But Pittsburgh, sluggish early after a loss to Anaheim on Friday night, rallied in the second period thanks to Johnson and a whiff by Coyotes defenseman Derek Morris that led to an easy goal for Crosby.

Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma has stuck with Fleury despite his struggles — and Johnson’s solid play — this season and had him in the lineup again against the Coyotes after the loss to the Ducks.

Belanger scored 2½ minutes in on a rush, taking a feed from Wolski and using a deke to beat Fleury to the near-side post. About 3 minutes later, Vrbata crashed his body into the net, and put the puck between Fleury’s pads, making it 2-0. The goal was upheld after a long video review.

Fleury was yanked right after the goal was allowed.

Pittsburgh had a shoot-while-falling-down goal by Crosby wiped out at the midpoint of the first period when Pascal Dupuis was called for interference during a scrum in Phoenix’s crease.

But Johnson kept turning away shots — including a glove-snatching save during a power play — and things got better quickly for the Penguins in the second period.

Crosby scored his ninth goal 1:16 in, scooping up a gaffe by Morris in front of his crease. Last season’s NHL’s goal leader had no trouble taking advantage and beating Bryzgalov gloveside.

Malkin tied it 3 minutes later, lifting in a tough-angle shot off the crossbar for his fourth of the season to tie it at 2-all.

The Coyotes went back up 3-2 on a shot by Wolski that caromed off Pittsburgh defenseman Paul Martin’s leg, then bounded past Johnson.

Pittsburgh picked up the pressure and tied it again with 33 seconds left in the period when Kunitz one-timed Letestu’s pass from behind the net just seconds after Phoenix escaped a two-man, short-handed situation.

NOTES: Phoenix has allowed six goals in the first period this season, second-best in the NHL to Boston’s three. … Fleury has been stuck on 149 career wins since beating Nashville on Oct. 21. … The Coyotes are 0-3-1 on the second of back-to-back games.