Binnington gets shutout in 1st start, Blues beat Flyers 3-0
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko scored and Jordan Binnington stopped 25 shots in his first NHL start to lead the St. Louis Blues past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 on Monday night in a listless game between two of the worst teams in the league.
David Perron scored an empty-netter in the final minutes for St. Louis.
The 25-year-old Binnington had played just two games in mop-up duty this season behind Jake Allen. He was sent to the minors in December to keep fresh and earned three wins with a shutout to earn AHL player of the week honors. He was called up — and got the call to start against the hapless Flyers.
The win gave the Blues 38 points and moved them past Los Angeles, out of last place in the Western Conference. Only Ottawa has fewer points than the Flyers (36) in the East after Philadelphia's seventh straight loss. Both teams fired their coaches this season.
The Flyers have scored only 12 goals over their seven-game losing streak, their longest losing streak since they went 0-5-5 over November-December last season.
PREDATORS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 0
TORONTO (AP) — Pekka Rinne made 18 saves for his third shutout of the season and the 54th of his career as Nashville blanked Toronto.
Mattias Ekholm, Kevin Fiala and Colton Sissons each had goal and an assist for Nashville, and P.K. Subban also scored.
Rinne is now tied with Marc-Andre Fleury, Bernie Parent and Ed Giacomin for 21st on the all-time shutout list.
Michael Hutchinson stopped 28 shots for the Maple Leafs, who hit the post three times and had a goal called back for offside.
MONTREAL (AP) — Mikael Granlund scored and Devan Dubnyk stopped 32 shots for his first shutout of the season for Minnesota.
The Wild have won three straight games, all on the road.
Carey Price stopped 24 shots for the Canadiens, who have dropped two in a row.
Montreal lost Shea Weber to injury. The Canadiens' captain was hit in the face by a puck while blocking a shot six minutes into the first period. He played seven more shifts in the period, but did not return for the second.
FLAMES 4, BLACKHAWKS 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Johnny Gaudreau scored two goals, David Rittich made 32 saves and Calgary edged Chicago.
Sean Monahan had a goal and an assist as Western Conference-leading Calgary closed out a 3-1 trip with its second straight win. Garnet Hathaway scored an empty-net goal with 50 seconds left, and Elias Lindholm finished with two assists.
Gaudreau extended his goal-scoring streak to five games.
Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks in the opener of a three-game homestand. Alex DeBrincat and Brandon Saad also scored, and Collin Delia made 39 stops.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Erik Karlsson had three assists, Tomas Hertl scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period and surging San Jose defeated Los Angeles.
Joonas Donskoi and Joe Thornton also scored for San Jose. Martin Jones made 22 saves as the Sharks won their fifth in six games.
Anze Kopitar had a goal and Jack Campbell turned back 26 shots for the Kings, who have lost three of four.
