Price sparkles in Canadiens’ victory over San Jose Sharks

Carey Price (#31) of the Montreal Canadiens stops the puck in front of Joe Pavelski (#8) and Patrick Marleau (#12) of the San Jose Sharks during their NHL game at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday.

Agencies/New YorkGoaltender Carey Price set a career high in shutouts in a season to help the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-0 win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.Price stopped 29 shots for his ninth shutout of the season, and the 34th of his career, tying him with Bill Durnan for fourth on the Canadiens all-time list.Montreal (46-20-7) beat San Jose for the first time since 2010.Wild 6, Blues 3The Minnesota Wild sprinted to a big lead by scoring the first four goals en route to a 6-3 win over the St. Louis Blues.Right winger Justin Fontaine had a goal and two assists for Minnesota (40-25-7), while St. Louis center Paul Stastny scored his 500th career point.Canucks 4, Kings 1Right winger Radim Vrbata broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period on a five-on-three power play as the Vancouver Canucks scored three consecutive goals to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1.It was a stinging loss for the defending Stanley Cup champions in a game with serious playoff implications. Had the Kings (34-23-14) won in regulation, they would have tied the Canucks for second place in the Pacific Division.Blue Jackets 3, Flames 2 (OT)Columbus left winger Rene Bourque scored his second goal of the game with 59 seconds left in overtime to give the Blue Jackets a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames.The Blue Jackets have won six straight road games, tying a franchise record.Islanders 3, Devils 0Goaltender Jaroslav Halak collected 25 saves in his first action in over a week and center Ryan Strome scored a first period goal leading the New York Islanders to a 3-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils.The Islanders (44-25-4) snapped a four-game losing streak and continued their domination over the Devils by beating them for the fifth straight time.Jets 3, Capitals 0Winnipeg Jets right winger Drew Stafford set up two critical goals in a 3-0 victory over the Washington Capitals.Stafford, who came to Winnipeg from Buffalo just prior to the trade deadline, helped the Jets improve to 37-23-12, keeping them in the second wild card spot in the Western Conference.Rangers 3, Hurricanes 2 (SO)Mats Zuccarello scored in the shootout and goalie Cam Talbot stopped 29 shots as the surging New York Rangers won for the sixth time in their last seven games, downing the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2.The Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers (45-18-7) improved to 18-3-3 in their last 24 games.Panthers 2, Bruins 1 (SO)The Florida Panthers gained ground in the battle for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, defeating the Boston Bruins 2-1 in a shootout.Florida center Brandon Pirri scored the only shootout goal as the Panthers (33-25-14) pulled within four points of the Bruins.Senators 5, Maple Leafs 3Center Kyle Turris scored a tiebreaking power-play goal late in the second period and added an empty netter as insurance and the Ottawa Sentators defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3.With their sixth win in a row, the Senators climbed within one point of Boston in the East.Predators 3, Sabres 0Goalie Pekka Rinne notched 24 saves for the 36th shutout of his career as the Nashville Predators beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 for just their third win in 12 games.The Predators (44-21-8) halted a season-high five-game home losing streak and vaulted into a first-place tie in the Central Division with St. Louis.Penguins 3, Coyotes 1The Pittsburgh Penguins gave up the first goal but recovered to end a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 road win over the Arizona Coyotes.Brent Sutter scored Pittsburgh’s opening goal in freakish circumstances when an attempted clearance by Phoenix goalie Mike Smith struck him in the backside and the puck caromed into the net.Stars 4, Blackhawks 0Goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped 33 shots for his fifth shutout of the season and the Dallas Stars blanked Chicago 4-0, halting the Blackhawks’ four-game winning streak.Oilers 5, Flyers 4 (OT)Center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in overtime and the Edmonton Oilers edged the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in a game between two teams out of playoff contention.