NHL-Highlights of Friday's National Hockey League games
March 21 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Friday's National Hockey League games. - - - Bruins 2, Avalanche 0 Goaltender Chad Johnson had 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and the red-hot Boston Bruins won their 11th straight, clinching a playoff berth with a 2-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Patrice Bergeron and Carl Soderberg each had a goal and defenseman Dougie Hamilton had two assists for Boston. The 11-game win streak is the Bruins' longest since they won that many during the 1970-71 season. Boston (48-17-5) also became the first team to reach 100 points this season, and got to that milestone for the fourth time under coach Claude Julien. The Avalanche have fallen three points behind Chicago for second place in the Central Division with 11 games remaining. - - - Blackhawks 3, Hurricanes 2 In their first game without injured forward Patrick Kane, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. Patrick Sharp stepped into the void at 3:09 of the second period, passing Kane to take over the team goal-scoring lead with his 30th of the season, beating Carolina goalie Anton Khudobin with a backhand shot. Kris Versteeg made it 2-0 at 16:26 of the second period, tallying his 11th goal of the season. Carolina winger Alexander Semin scored his 20th goal of the season three minutes later, cutting Chicago's lead to 2-1, and tied the game at 2:58 of the third with his second of the game on a power play. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews put his team back in front 30 seconds later with his 28th goal of the season. Chicago (41-15-15, 98 points) have now won three of their last four games. - - - Rangers 3, Blue Jackets 1 Derick Brassard's nifty goal at 11:31 of the third period led the Rangers to a 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin also scored for the Rangers, while goaltender Henrik Lundqvist had 25 saves in his fourth straight start. The Blue Jackets goal was scored by Nick Foligno. - - - (Editing by Peter Rutherford)
