National Hockey

LOS ANGELES — The goals would not come, the losses mounted and the St. Louis Blues appeared trapped in a spiral. They desperately needed something to turn their season — and playoff hopes — around.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — On a road trip where Washington struggled to generate any offence , Nicklas Backstrom's goal was enough to send the Capitals home on a good note.

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins found different ways to win during their perfect homestand.

TAMPA, Fla. — With their latest run, the NHL-best Tampa Bay Lightning have reached a new milestone: first in the league to 100 points.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — David Perron and the Vegas Golden Knights have won so many times in their inaugural season they've stopped counting how many NHL expansion-team records they've broken.

PHILADELPHIA — While the Philadelphia Flyers couldn't prevent Patrik Laine from scoring his 40th goal, they were able to stop everyone else and end their slide.

AUSTIN, Texas — NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly says participation in the 2022 Olympics in China is possible but not essential to the league's efforts to grow the sport in the world's largest country.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Seth Jones scored twice in the second period and Sergei Bobrovsky returned from an illness to make 22 saves as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Friday night.

VANCOUVER — For veteran Wild forward Matt Cullen, this is the time of year when he thrives. Cullen had a goal and an assist Friday while Eric Staal scored the eventual winner as Minnesota defeated the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 at Rogers Arena.

DALLAS — Jamie Benn heard the Dallas home crowd beginning to boo when it appeared that the Stars would continue their power outage. They turned things around in the end with a late surge.