Chicago Blackhawks' left-wing Bryan Bickell (No. 29) attempts to shoot the puck against New York Islanders' goalie Michal Neuvirth (Down) during the third period at United Center Tuesday. — Reuters NEW YORK — Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa scored two goals apiece to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-1 win over the slumping New York Islanders Tuesday. Toews assisted on both of Hossa's tallies as Chicago won its third straight and for the fifth time in the last six games to improve to 42-21-6. New York, however, continues to fall. The Islanders (43-25-4) have now lost four straight and fallen five points behind the New York Rangers for the Metropolitan Division lead. Chicago goalie Corey Crawford stopped 38 shots and had his shutout bid ruined at 5:29 in the third by New York's Nikolay Kulemin Blues 4, Flames 0: Alexander Steen scored twice and goalie Brian Elliott made 25 saves for the shutout as the Blues blanked teams in consecutive outings with a victory over the Flames. St Louis (45-20-5) enjoyed a 3-0 win over Dallas Sunday and moved into solo lead of the Central Division with the win. The Flames, who have lost two straight to fall to 38-27-5, are tied in points with the Los Angeles Kings for third in the Pacific Division. Canadiens 3, Panthers 2: Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban scored the game-winning goal in a wild second period to lead the Canadiens to a win over the Florida Panthers. All five of the game's goals were registered in the second period. Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin and Jacob De La Rose also scored goals, while Brandon Prust recorded two assists. Aleksander Barkov and Brandon Pirri scored for Florida (31-25-14) but Montreal backup goaltender Dustin Tokarski made 41 saves. The win moved Montreal (44-19-7) into the top spot in the Atlantic Division. Wild 3, Predators 2 (OT): Defenseman Matt Dumba scored the winning goal 22 seconds into overtime as Minnesota won for the 11th time in 14 games, dumping Nashville. Devils 2, Penguins 0: Cory Schneider stopped 35 shots for his fifth shutout of the season and center Jacob Josefson scored the deciding goal in the second period, leading the New Jersey Devils to victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sabres 2, Bruins 1 (SO): The lowly Buffalo Sabres tied the game in regulation and rode the goaltending of Anders Lindback to a stunning upset of the Boston Bruins. Senators 2, Hurricanes 1 (OT): Ottawa Senators goalie Andrew Hammond tied an NHL record and teammate Mark Stone netted the game-winning goal in an overtime victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. Jets 5, Sharks 2: Blake Wheeler scored a pair of goals and chipped in an assist to spark the Jets to victory over the San Jose Sharks. Canucks 4, Flyers 1: Alex Burrows scored goals 17 seconds apart in the third period to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a win over the Philadelphia Flyers. GMs want 3-on-3 OT format A proposal to change the format of NHL games by instituting three-on-three play in overtime has gotten the support of the league's general managers, although final approval is still needed. The GMs devised two options related to overtime: a switch to three-on-three play for five minutes that the Swedish Hockey League uses, or a four-on-four to three-on-three approach similar to the lower-tier American Hockey League. The recommendations will go to the joint NHL/NHL Players' Association competition committee, which meets in June and must approve any rule changes. That committee also will consider the other recommendation from general managers of instituting a coach's challenge system for goaltender interference. If it goes through, coaches will be able to challenge goalie interference only on goals scored and only if they have their timeout left. While the NHL understands shootouts are popular with fans, the league would like more games going beyond regulation to be decided in overtime. — Agencies
