Blues Salvage a 4-4 Tie but Lose Tkachuk

The St. Louis Blues earned a valuable point with a 4-4 tie against the Canucks on Thursday night at Vancouver, Canada, but lost Keith Tkachuk in the process.

Tkachuk, who scored his 30th goal on a power-play deflection 6:30 into the first period, left the game less than six minutes later because of a wrist injury after a big open-ice hit from Brad May.

Tkachuk had just passed the puck and still had his head down when May, playing his first game with the Canucks since being reacquired from Phoenix on Tuesday, came flying up the ice and caught him shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the net.

Tkachuk went straight to the dressing room and did not return. No penalty was called, but Bryce Salvador came in immediately to fight May.

Pavol Demitra scored his 30th goal and added an assist as the Blues moved within five points of Detroit in the Central Division. Cory Stillman and Eric Boguniecki also scored for St. Louis.

Brendan Morrison had a goal and an assist for the Canucks, who have earned at least one point in 17 of 19 games since the All-Star break.

In addition to a fighting major, Low received a 10-minute misconduct and challenged the Vancouver bench as he was escorted to the locker room. But Low didn’t receive an instigator penalty, which left Canuck Coach Marc Crawford fuming and led to his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the period.

Crawford continued to yell and referee Stephen Walkom ejected him from the game.

New York Islanders 5, Edmonton 2 -- Jason Blake had two goals and an assist as the Islanders scored five unanswered goals to win at Edmonton.

Calgary 4, Toronto 3 -- Chris Clark scored 4:30 into overtime at Calgary.

Doug Gilmour, in his much-anticipated return to the Maple Leafs, was hurt on his first shift of the second period. Gilmour and Calgary left wing Dave Lowry collided at center ice while Lowry was backing up on the play. Gilmour, 39, was slow to get up before returning to the bench. He eventually left for the dressing room and did not return.

Montreal 4, Atlanta 2 -- Richard Zednik had a goal and an assist and Marcel Hossa added a pair of assists for the Canadiens at Atlanta.

Ottawa 3, New York Rangers 2 -- Wade Redden scored 1:34 into overtime at Ottawa, Canada.

Bryan Smolinski, acquired from the Kings this week in a trade, and Senator captain Daniel Alfredsson combined on a passing play in the Ranger zone to set up Redden’s shot from the slot.

Philadelphia 5, Carolina 3 -- Tony Amonte had a goal and an assist in his Flyer debut and Keith Primeau scored the go-ahead goal 59 seconds into the third period at Philadelphia.

John LeClair, appearing in his first game since dislocating his right shoulder at Pittsburgh on Nov. 27, and Eric Desjardins also scored for the Flyers.

Colorado 5, Columbus 1 -- Joe Sakic scored his 12th career hat trick, all three goals coming in the first period at Columbus, Ohio.

Sakic has one four-goal game and 11 three-goal performances in his 15 years in the NHL.

Boston 4, New Jersey 3 -- Martin Lapointe scored three goals in 5:15 to drive goalie Martin Brodeur from the game at Boston. Lapointe got the second hat trick of his 10-year career as part of Boston’s four-goal flurry in the second period.

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Billionaire B. Thomas Golisano has agreed to buy the bankrupt Buffalo Sabres, all but securing the team’s future in Buffalo after eight months of uncertainty, a league source said Thursday.

The source, who is familiar with the negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity, said more details will emerge today after a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing.