COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Viktor Tikhonov's goal with 2:32 remaining helped Phoenix beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Wednesday, ending the Coyotes' six-game losing skid.
The Coyotes had just weathered almost a minute with a two-man disadvantage when captain Shane Doan dug the puck off the back wall and backhanded a pass to Tikhonov, who was skating from right to left along the goal line. He deked with the puck and slid it past goaltender Steve Mason for his second goal of the year.
Tikhonov is the grandson of the former Soviet national team coach.
The Coyotes won by getting goals from three unlikely scorers. David Hale picked up his first career goal in his five seasons in the NHL, and tough guy Daniel Carcillo added his second of the season.
Mikael Tellqvist ended up with 38 saves.
Kristian Huselius converted one of five breakaway chances to open the scoring for Columbus and Jason Chimera added the tying goal a minute into the third period.
The Coyotes had not won since beating the Blue Jackets 5-2 on Nov. 12, also in Nationwide Arena. Full story
Sharks 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Joe Thornton scored on a give-and-go with Ryane Clowe 45 seconds into overtime, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Chicago Blackhawks for their fifth consecutive victory.
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 26 shots in his return from a seven-game injury absence, and NHL-leading San Jose improved to 12-0-1 at the Shark Tank despite facing a late deficit. Rob Blake scored an early power-play goal, and captain Patrick Marleau tied it midway through the third period for the Sharks, who beat Chicago for the 13th straight time.
Captain Jonathan Toews scored two goals for the Blackhawks, who lost for the first time in four stops on their six-game trip.
Toews scored a go-ahead goal 23 seconds into the third period during a two-man advantage for the Blackhawks, who lost defenseman Aaron Johnson and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to second-period injuries. Marleau evened the score with a wraparound shot past Cristobal Huet's outstretched skate, and Thornton ended it when he jumped on a turnover near the blue line and traded passes with Clowe, who had two assists.
Rangers 3, Lightning 2 (SO)
TAMPA, Fla. -- Markus Naslund scored twice and had one of two New York goals in a shootout to lead the Rangers past the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Nikolai Zherdev had two assists, and also scored in the shootout. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 shots in regulation and also turned aside both Tampa Bay shots during the shootout.
Lundqvist is 10-4-2 -- allowing six goals in four victories this season -- against Tampa Bay. The Rangers swept the four-game season series -- that included two games in the Czech Republic -- with the Lightning.
New York has won five of its last seven games.
Avalanche 3, Blues 1
DENVER -- Daniel Tjarnqvist scored his first goal in almost two years and had an assist Wednesday to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a win over the St. Louis Blues and make Paul Stastny a winner in his first NHL matchup against his brother, Yan.
Tjarnqvist took a nifty backhand pass from David Jones to beat Manny Legace for the first score at 11:20 of the first period, Tjarnqvist's first goal since Dec. 28, 2006. Tjarnqvist assisted on Ian Laperriere's goal at 8:11 of the third for the 3-1 lead.
Peter Budaj, who came into the night with a 1.89 goals-against average in the last seven games, made 21 saves for the win.
The Blues failed to earn at least a point for the first time in six games, and were anemic on offense for the second straight night. They finished with 22 shots on goal a night after winning 1-0 in over Nashville a shootout despite managing only 17 shots.
Stars 4, Wild 3
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Loui Eriksson had a goal and two assists and the Dallas Stars overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Minnesota Wild.
Down 3-1 late in the second period, Dallas tied it on goals by James Neal and Brad Richards, then took the lead when Eriksson tipped Stephane Robidas' shot for the winner with seven minutes to play. It was Eriksson's team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Eric Belanger had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who twice had apparent goals disallowed in the game.
Neal had a pair of goals for Dallas as the Stars won for just the second time in their last eight games. It was the third multipoint game of the season for Belanger.
Kings 2, Oilers 1
EDMONTON, Alberta -- Jason LaBarbera made 22 saves, and Anze Kopitar and Patrick O'Sullivan each had a goal and an assist in the Los Angeles Kings' victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Kopitar broke a tie midway through the second period, batting the puck out of the air and into the net, to help Los Angeles snap a two game losing streak. The Kings improved to 9-9-3 with their second win in six games.
Ales Hemsky scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have lost two straight and five of their last six to drop to 9-10-2.
The Kings opened the scoring early in the first period with the teams playing 4-on-4. Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson was able to make a save on Kopitar's screen shot, but O'Sullivan scored off the rebound.
