Calgary wins, moves into first in Northwest

Byron Ritchie justified his return to Calgary’s lineup with a tiebreaking goal Saturday night, and the Flames took over first place in the Northwest Division with a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks at Calgary, Canada.

Calgary trailed, 2-0, after the first period, but stormed back with four unanswered goals, two in the second period and two more in the third.

On the go-ahead goal in the third, Jeff Friesen’s shot from the wing was stopped by Roberto Luongo, but the long rebound caromed right to Mark Giordano at the blue line. His shot was deflected in front by Ritchie as the Flames’ center was knocked to the ice.

It was the eighth goal of the season for Ritchie, who had been a healthy scratch Friday night in the Flames’ victory against Columbus. He got back into the lineup because of an injury to Stephane Yelle.

The Flames also continued their domination at Pengrowth Saddledome, where they have gone 20-2-0 over the last three months.

San Jose 4, Chicago 2 -- Vesa Toskala made 20 saves and recorded San Jose’s first multipoint game by a goalie, picking up two first-period assists for the Sharks in a victory at San Jose.

Marcel Goc and Curtis Brown scored on plays initiated by Toskala, who backstopped San Jose to only its second victory in six games.

Minnesota 1, Phoenix 0 -- Marian Gaborik scored early in the second period, and Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots for his second shutout of the season in the Wild’s victory at Glendale, Ariz.

From the opening faceoff of the second period, Gaborik broke down the right side and his wrist shot from 15 feet deflected off Curtis Joseph’s pads and into the net at 12 seconds. Gaborik’s goal set a Minnesota franchise record for the fastest at the start of a period.

Edmonton 3, Colorado 2 -- Ryan Smyth and Shawn Horcoff scored 30 seconds apart in the third period at Denver, and the Oilers won for the third time in four games.

Ales Hemsky added a goal, and Smyth and Horcoff also each had an assist. Dwayne Roloson made 37 saves to end his three-game losing streak.

St. Louis 2, Dallas 0 -- Martin Rucinsky and Keith Tkachuk scored, and Manny Legace made 22 saves at St. Louis to help the Blues end a three-game losing streak and tie their win total from last season, when the team finished with the NHL’s worst record.

Boston 4, Carolina 3 -- Zdeno Chara scored a power-play goal with 3:11 left in overtime at Raleigh, N.C., and the Bruins ended a five-game losing streak.

Pittsburgh 2, Washington 0 -- Scoring stars Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin were shut out in an unexpected defensive duel at Pittsburgh, but forward Ronald Petrovicky scored the pivotal goal in the Penguins’ sixth victory in a row.

New York Islanders 4, Montreal 2 -- Trent Hunter scored two goals in a 10-minute span of the third period at Montreal, and the Islanders held off the Canadiens.

New Jersey 3, Buffalo 2 -- John Madden, Jamie Langenbrunner and Zach Parise scored in a 2:31 span early in the third period at East Rutherford, N.J., and the Devils pulled to within four points of the Sabres for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

Tampa Bay 3, New York Rangers 2 -- Vincent Lecavalier scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 8:07 left in the third period at Tampa, Fla., and the Lightning won for the 10th time in 12 games.

Philadelphia 5, Atlanta 2 -- Mike York and Simon Gagne scored goals in a 57-second span early in the third period at Atlanta, and the Flyers extended their winning streak against the Thrashers to five games.

Toronto 3, Ottawa 2 -- John Pohl scored on the Maple Leafs’ fifth shootout attempt at Ottawa, and Toronto won its fourth in a row, matching its longest winning streak of the season.