00th NHL game. His last shutout was on March 19, 2012, ag | Forum

ST. Dougie Hamilton Flames Jersey . LOUIS -- St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong ended a Thursday morning news conference by saying that Alexander Steen had to leave, "to go out and earn his money," after the left wing had signed a three-year, $17.4 million contract extension. So far, Steen is off to a good start. He scored twice and Jaroslav Halak made 25 saves against his former team to lead the Blues to a 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. St. Louis broke a two-game losing streak and improved to 14-3-2 at home. Montreal has lost four of six. Steen recorded his fifth two-goal game of the season. His 24 goals place him second behind Washingtons Alex Ovechkin, who has 28. "It was a pretty good day," Steen said. Steen tied a career high for most goals in a season. He also had 24 in 2009-2010. Steens signing ignited his teammates. "When the news first broke, it fired everyone up," winger Chris Stewart said. "We came out with the right intensity." Halak improved to 4-0 against the Canadiens, who traded him to St. Louis on June 17, 2010. He is 17-6-2 this season. Stewart, Jaden Schwartz and Maxim Lapierre also scored for St. Louis. T.J. Oshie added two assists. Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal, which began a season-high six-game road trip. It was his first goal in 12 games. Steen started a three-goal outburst in the first period with a short-handed goal at 4:20. He scored again at 7:55 to make it 2-0. Steen gave his teammates credit for the win. "We played a solid game throughout the whole 60 minutes," he said. "We came out with a lot of jump. I felt like we dictated from the early going." Stewart capped the early blitz with his 10th goal of the season at 13:33. It was his fifth in as many games. The Blues had been outscored 6-1 in the first period in their three previous games. Halak continued his mastery of his former teammates. He has an 0.98 goals-against average and a .960 save percentage in four starts against Montreal. He stopped Michael Bournival on a partial breakaway in the early going and made 12 stops in the final period. "Its been good, for now," he said. "But we will see them again. Its great to (be) 4-0. But for us, it was all about the two points." Montreal goalie Carey Price gave up three goals on the first eight shots and fell to 16-11-2 as the Canadiens dig themselves a deep hole and never quite recovered. "We didnt show up tonight," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "It was simple, our work ethic was not there. Im disappointed in our performance -- no effort. This was a bad game for us." Montreal captain Brian Gionta lamented the poor start. "It was a period that we just werent ready for," he said. Notes: Montreal C Daniel Briere was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. .... Schwartz returned to the lineup after missing two games with an upper-body injury. ... The Blues beat Montreal 4-1 in the teams previous meeting in St. Louis on March 10, 2011. ... The Blues will play 12 of their next 13 games against Western Conference opponents. ... St. Louis LW Brenden Morrow picked up his 300th career assist on Stewarts first-period goal. ... Montreal D Alexei Emelin was on the ice for all three of the Blues first-period goals. ... The Canadiens previous win over St. Louis came on Jan. 4, 2007. TJ Brodie Jersey . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. Miikka Kiprusoff Flames Jersey . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. http://www.hockeyflamesfanshop.com/Jarome-Iginla-Jersey/ . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. SUNRISE, Fla. -- As the game went on, Dan Girardis mistake became magnified. Luckily for Girardi and the New York Rangers, the defenceman redeemed himself in a big way. After a giveaway by Girardi in the second period resulted in a goal for the Florida Panthers, Girardi tied it late in regulation to send the game to overtime. Brad Richards then netted the lone goal in the shootout to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night. "It felt pretty good," Girardi said. "Its kind of disappointing when one bad play can kind of ruin a game for the team and yourself, so Im glad I could put one in there and kind of redeem myself a little bit." In the shootout, Richards beat Tim Thomas with a wrist shot to the top left corner after Thomas stopped the first two New York attempts. "Thats a great move from a great player," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. Henrik Lundqvist made a save against Brad Boyes to seal the Rangers victory. "I corrected my thinking a little bit in the way I approached (the shootout)," Lundqvist said. "I slowed down a little bit and I had more control." Girardi scored with 2:10 left in regulation with a wrist shot from the left circle to beat Thomas after Derek Stepan found Girardi with a pass as he broke in from the blue line. The goal prevented Thomas from earning his first NHL shutout in nearly two years. "It was one of those nights where if I could see it I could save it," Thomas said. "I thought we were going to hang on until the end there, but thats hockey." Thomas maintained his composure and came up with four saves in overtime, including one from close range by Rangers defenceman Ryan McDonagh. Thomas made 30 saves through overtime, and Lundqvist stopped 21 shots in the third and final meeting between the teams this season. "It was a really hard-fought game by both teams," Vigneault said. "There wasnt a lot of room out there." Florida broke through in the second period on Boyes 10th goal of the season. Girardi retrieved a loose puck, and his pass attempt from behind the net was intercepted by Aleksandeer Barkov, who quickly fed the puck to Boyes in front. Dennis Wideman Jersey. . Boyes beat Lundqvist with a backhander between his pads. Lundqvist was able to keep it a 1-0 deficit despite a 4-minute penalty to Richards midway through the third period when he high-sticked Nick Bjugstad in the face. "I definitely feel like wed like our special teams to be better," Panthers coach Peter Horachek said. New York went 0 for 3 on the power play after scoring three power-play goals on three chances Sunday in a 4-3 win at Tampa Bay. The Rangers came in with at least one power-play goal in five of their last six games. "We had some grade-A scoring opportunities," Vigneault said. "The only thing we didnt do was put it past their goaltender, who obviously was on top of his game." Rangers defenceman Marc Staal made his return after missing 10 games because of a concussion sustained on Dec. 7 against New Jersey. He played nearly 24 minutes, the third-highest total on the team. "I felt pretty good," Staal said. "I think anytime youre out for that long you just want to feel the puck and make the plays you normally make. For the most part I felt I did that. It was a good start." It was the midway point of the season for both teams. The Rangers improved to 20-19-2. "Were one game above .500. We need to get better," Vigneault said. The Panthers dropped to 15-20-6. "We just need to keep this thing going, getting points and climb in the standings," Boyes said. "Weve got to get better. If we keep doing what were doing, the good things will happen." NOTES: New York won the first two meetings, outscoring the Panthers 9-5. ... The Rangers are 3-1 in shootouts, Florida is 4-5. ... Barkov has a four-game point streak (1-3-4) and nine points in 10 games. ... Thomas played in his 400th NHL game. His last shutout was on March 19, 2012, against Toronto when he was with Boston. ... Florida tied the franchise-record with 17 points in December, which has been done four other times. ... New York will continue its road trip at Pittsburgh on Friday. Florida will host Nashville on Saturday. Wholesale Jerseys China' ' '