Anaheim Ducks' defenseman Luca Sbisa checks New York Rangers' center Brian Boyle during the first period of a NHL hockey game in Anaheim, California, Wednesday. (AP) DETROIT: The Los Angeles Kings kept up their surge in a tight playoff race in the NHL Western Conference by beating the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 Wednesday. Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar scored L.A.'s goals in the second period while Jonathan Quick made 28 saves. Darren Helm opened the scoring for the Red Wings in the first. Detroit has lost four straight and trails Vancouver by nine points for the top spot in the Western Conference. Lightning 4, Blackhawks 3, SO: In Tampa, Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-leading 42nd goal as Tampa Bay returned to the winners' list by downing Chicago in a shootout. Martin St. Louis had the shootout winner, ending the Lightning's season-worst four-game losing skid. He also scored in regulation, helping Tampa Bay build a 3-1 lead before the Stanley Cup champions roared back through goals by Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews. In the shootout, St. Louis spun in front of the net, set himself and fired the puck past Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford. Flames 4, Stars 3, SO: In Dallas, Curtis Glencross scored in the third round of the shootout to lift Calgary over Dallas and into a fourth place tie with Chicago in the Western Conference, a point ahead of the Stars. Alex Tanguay scored in the second round and Dallas' Mike Ribeiro countered on a nifty move in the third. Glencross, who scored the deciding goals in Calgary's previous two games, beat Kari Lehtonen with a snap shot. Rene Bourque, Tom Kostopoulos and Anton Babchuk scored first-period goals during a 3:15 span to get the Flames off to a fast start. Jamie Benn, Ribeiro and Tomas Vincour scored for Dallas. Ducks 5, Rangers 2: In Anaheim, Corey Perry and Lubomir Visnovsky each had two goals and an assist as Anaheim beat New York. Visnovsky, who last Friday became the first defenseman in franchise history to get a hat trick, increased his points total to 54 — tying Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom and Phoenix's Keith Yandle for the NHL lead at the position. Bobby Ryan added a goal and three assists for the Ducks. Brandon Dubinsky and Marion Gaborik scored for New York. Capitals 5, Oilers 0: In Washington, Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist to reach 601 career points as Washington trounced Edmonton. Blues 4, Blue Jackets 3, OT: In Columbus, St. Louis fought back from a three-goal deficit to beat Columbus in overtime. Thrashers 3, Hurricanes 2, OT: In Raleigh, South Carolina, Atlanta won its first road game in seven attempts by beating Carolina in overtime. Atlanta is five points behind the Hurricanes and Sabres.
