WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Scott Darling made 28 saves for his first shutout of the season, Andrew Ladd scored against his former team and the Chicago Blackhawks snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.
Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa opened the scoring 26 seconds apart late in the second period, and Tomas Fleischmann also had a goal for the Blackhawks. It was Ladd's first appearance in Winnipeg since the former Jets captain was traded to Chicago on Feb. 25.
Darling earned the second shutout of his two-year career with the Blackhawks in his 20th game of the season.
Ondrej Pavelec turned aside 32 shots for Winnipeg, which started a four-game homestand (see full recap).
Avalanche beat Flames in shootout
CALGARY, Alberta -- Mikkel Boedker scored the only goal of the shootout and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 4-3 on Friday night.
As the second shooter for Colorado, Boedker made a nifty deke to beat Joni Ortio. That left it up to goalie Semyon Varlamov, and he ended it with a stop on Sean Monahan. Varlamov made 30 saves.
Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie and Carl Soderberg scored for Colorado. The Avalanche move three points ahead of Minnesota for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Wild have a game in hand.
NHL
Matt Stajan, Mark Giordano and Freddie Hamilton scored for Calgary. The Flames finish 3-1-2 on their season-long six-game homestand and open a three-game trip in Montreal on Sunday (see full recap).
Kuznetsov's passing helps give Capitals win
WASHINGTON -- Evgeny Kuznetsov put on a dazzling passing display and Daniel Winnik scored two goals as the Washington Capitals cooled off the hottest team in the NHL by beating the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Friday night.
Kuznetsov's magnificent primary assists, including a no-look pass to T.J. Oshie, gave him 53 on the season. Winnik's goals were his first with the Capitals since they acquired the forward from Toronto at the trade deadline.
Andre Burakovsky also scored as Washington moved two points closer to clinching the Metropolitan Division, top seed in the Eastern Conference and home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. Braden Holtby made 20 saves to register his league-best 43rd victory.
Filip Forsberg, a Capitals first-round pick in 2012, scored his team-leading 29th goal for the Predators, who lost in regulation for just the second time in their past 18 games (see full recap).