A shootout victory gave the Chicago Blackhawks their fifth straight road win, 4-3 over the Minnesota Wild Wednesday in a clash of the top two teams in the NHL Western Conference. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews scored in the shootout, while Toews also gave Chicago the lead in the third period only for Mikko Koivu to make it 3-3 a few minutes later and send the game to overtime. Marian Hossa and Michael Frolik had given the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead with second-period goals 89 seconds apart, but Kyle Brodziak and Matt Cullen answered for the Wild later in the period to tie the game. The Wild lead the NHL with 44 points. The Blackhawks, who are 7-1-1 in their past nine games, have 42. Blackhawks goaltender Ray Emery made 27 saves for the Blackhawks, who now trail the Wild by two points in the West. Backstrom had 28 saves and Cal Clutterbuck added two assists for Minnesota. “As far as I'm concerned, it's a win for our guys,” said Wild coach Mike Yeo. “There were a lot of things I liked about tonight. It (stinks) we don't get two points, but this is a win for me.” Bruins 5, Senators 2: In Ottawa, Tim Thomas made 47 saves to help Boston down Ottawa and make it three straight wins. Daniel Paille scored twice, Rich Peverley had a goal and an assist and Chris Kelly and Patrice Bergeron also scored for Boston, which moved atop the Eastern Conference standings. The Bruins have gone 17-2-1 since Nov. 1, when they launched a 10-game winning streak with a win over Ottawa. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza each had a goal and an assist for the Senators. Ducks 4, Coyotes 1: In Anaheim, Niklas Hagman scored twice as Anaheim beat struggling Phoenix. Jonas Hiller made 19 saves, Rod Pelley scored in his Anaheim debut and Kyle Palmieri added his first goal of the season for the Ducks, who climbed out of last place in the overall NHL standings. Martin Hanzal scored for Phoenix's NHL-worst power-play unit but the Coyotes lost to their Pacific Division rivals for the first time in five games.
