Denver: Semyon Varlamov stopped 37 shots for his 100th NHL win and Brad Malone scored his first goal of the season to help the Colorado Avalanche hold off the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on Wednesday.
Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly added goals as the Avalanche took four of five from the Blackhawks in the season series. They also moved a point ahead of the defending Stanley Cup champions for second place in the Central Division.
Patrick Kane and Brandon Sa’ad scored for Chicago.
Varlamov became the fourth Russian-born goaltender to record 100 wins, joining Evgeni Nabokov (347), Nikolai Khabibulin (333) and Ilya Bryzgalov (213). This also was Varlamov’s 33rd win, second-most in the league behind Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury (34).
Boston’s Carl Soderberg, Patrice Bergeron and Milan Lucic scored in the second period as the Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 for their sixth straight victory.
Tuukka Rask made 35 saves, and Zdeno Chara also scored for Boston. The Bruins pulled within a point of idle Pittsburgh for the Eastern Conference lead.
David Desharnais scored for Montreal.
At Calgary, Alberta, Mikael Backlund scored twice and added an assist to help the Flames rout the Anaheim Ducks 7-2.
Backlund set up Mike Cammalleri in the slot for a power-play goal at 11:28 of the first that chased Ducks starter Jonas Hiller, then beat Frederik Andersen two minutes later to make it 4-0.
Backlund added his second of the night 1:31 into the second period, this time shorthanded. Mark Giordano, TJ Galiardi, Ladislav Smid and Corban Knight with his first NHL goal also scored for Calgary.
Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino scored for The Pacific Division-leading Anaheim.
The Vancouver Canucks beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 after Chris Higgins had the only goal in the shootout.
The Canucks allowed seven goals in the third period in a 7-4 home loss to the New York Islanders on Monday night.
Alexandre Burrows, with the first and second goals of his injury-marred season, tied it 2-2 at 11:17 of the third period. Andrew Ladd and Michael Frolik scored for the Winnipeg. The Jets have lost five straight.
