Chicago make it nine

Dustin Byfuglien scored two goals and made two assists to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.

The Chicago Blackhawks' Martin Havlat falls into the Minnesota Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom during Sunday night's game. Chicago went on to win the contest 4-1 to set a new franchise record for successive wins as they registered their ninth victory in a row.
Powered by automated translation

Dustin Byfuglien scored two goals and made two assists to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, and a team-record ninth consecutive victory. The streak ties the longest in the NHL this season, matching that of the San Jose Sharks in November and early December.

Byfuglien scored twice in less than three minutes during the opening period, then assisted with goals by Martin Havlat and Kris Versteeg. In their 82 years as a franchise the Blackhawks have never had a run of more than the more than the eight consecutive games they won in 1971 and 1981. Cal Clutterbuck scored the Wild's consolation goal in the third period. Meanwhile, Brooks Laich and Alex Ovechkin scored two goals each to lead the Washington Capitals to a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Nicklas Backstrom and defenceman Mike Green both recorded a pair of assists for Washington, while Jose Theodore finished with 23 saves for the Capitals. Michael Ryder scored the winner for the Boston Bruins as they extended their winning streak to eight games with a 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers. Phil Kessel netted his 22nd goal of the season and Manny Fernandez turned aside 32 shots as the in-form Bruins matched their longest successful run since stringing together victories over the final eight games of the 1992-93 campaign.

Bryan Little scored for the sixth time in three contests for the Thrashers, who have just one win in their last 11 games at home. Bobby Ryan scored a power-play goal with just over seven minutes remaining in the third period as the Anaheim Ducks won 4-3 over the St Louis Blues. Defenceman Steve Montador levelled the game at 3-3 seven minutes into the third with an assist from Ryan, who later converted a decisive shot.

The Blues' Scott Niedermayer had a goal and added an assist and Rob Niedermayer also found the net for the Ducks. Curtis Sanford made 18 saves to record his first shut-out of the season and lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 3-0 victory over the struggling Ottawa Senators. Henrik Sedin and Pavol Demitra each scored a goal and set up another for Vancouver. Erik Cole scored a goal and had two assists and Sam Gagner and defenceman Sheldon Souray each scored and set up a goal as the Edmonton Oilers used a key second period to cruise past the Nashville Predators 5-2.

Shawn Horcoff and Andrew Cogliano also scored and Dwayne Roloson made 28 saves. Martin Erat and defenceman Shea Weber netted goals for Nashville in a losing cause. * Reuters