BOSTON — Mark Recchi has 576 goals, 956 assists and one more objective before he retires.
“I’m hoping we get on a long run, it’ll be real easy for me,” Recchi said after moving into 12th place on the NHL’s career scoring list and leading the Boston Bruins to a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. “If we win a championship, I’m gone.”
Tim Thomas stopped 32 shots for his ninth shutout of the season, and Recchi had an assist to give him 1,532 points — one more than Paul Coffey. Bruins great Ray Bourque is next at 1,579; everyone ahead of Recchi who’s been retired long enough to be eligible is in the Hall of Fame.
“It’s unbelievable if you think about it. It’s big names that he’s passing,” Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron said. “It’s an unbelievable amount of points.”
Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk scored 2 minutes, 20 seconds apart in the second period to break a scoreless tie, and Recchi assisted on the second goal. Nathan Horton made it 3-0 in the third.
It was the 25th shutout of Thomas’ career, and his second in three games. He has allowed just two goals in four games to drop his league-leading goals-against average to 1.96.
“I don’t think he’s ever been bad for us this year,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “He’s been good sometimes, but he’s been great most of the time.”
Corey Crawford made 31 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who had won three of four but remained three points ahead of idle Calgary for eighth place in the Western Conference.
“Every game is a huge two points,” Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. “You’ve got to value every two points. There’s a big premium on these points right now. We can’t be happy. We just got to be excited about Friday and move on.”
The Bruins protected their seven-point lead over Montreal atop the Northeast Division and moved three points behind the Washington Capitals in the race for the No. 2 seed in the East.
One night after an overtime victory in Detroit, the Blackhawks started slow and didn’t get off a shot for the first 7:44. It was still scoreless when the Bruins took a faceoff in the Chicago end with just over 8 minutes left in the second. The puck came out to Chara at the left point, and he wristed it past Crawford to make it 1-0.
“I don’t like to make excuses,” Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell said. “We had a big game last night. I think everybody felt great going into tonight, so I don’t really use that as an excuse. We know the situation, but we need to compete a little bit harder for pucks, win some more battles, especially early on.”
Boychuk made it 2-0 with a knuckleball that Crawford seemed to lose track of. It stayed that way until the third, when Daniel Paille chased the puck toward the corner and backhanded it through the slot to Horton, who stickhandled to Crawford’s glove side and shot the puck past him.
Bruins forward Shawn Thornton left the game with a cut after taking a skate to the head in the second period. He didn’t return.
“He took a lot of stitches, and the trainers didn’t want to take a chance,” Julien said. “Especially when you have to put a helmet on it.”
Notes: Boston’s minor league affiliate in Providence of the AHL signed 2009 third-round pick Ryan Button to an amateur tryout agreement. … It was the Bruins’ last game against the Western Conference. They finished the season 8-7-3. … Crawford made his 21st consecutive start and the first appearance of his career against the Bruins. … Horton reached 50 points for the fourth time in five seasons. … The Blackhawks lost to a Northeast Division team for the first time this season (4-1).
Lightning 5, Senators 2
TAMPA, Fla. — Martin St. Louis and Dominic Moore both scored two goals to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Ottawa Senators 5-2 Tuesday night.
Steven Stamkos had an empty-net goal and Simon Gagne had two assists for the Lightning, who have won two in a row after a four-game losing skid.
Ottawa, last in the Eastern Conference, got goals from Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek. The Senators dropped to 6-4-1 over their last 11.
St. Louis put the Lightning up 1-0 on an in-close goal at 3:15 of the second. Just 14 seconds later, Tampa Bay goalie Dwayne Roloson made a glove save on Ryan Shannon’s shot from the left circle.
Moore made it 2-0 with 12:35 left in the second. Marc-Andre Bergeron’s shot went off the end boards and rebounded into the crease, where Moore poked the puck into the net while Ottawa goalie Curtis McElhinney was trying to control it with his glove.
St. Louis extended Tampa Bay’s advantage to 3-0 on his 29th goal of the season 5:48 into the third. St. Louis scored off a pass through the slot from Gagne.
After Spezza scored with 9:57 left in the third, Tampa Bay responded with Moore’s second of the game, 1:24 later.
Michalek scored a shorthanded goal later in the third. Tampa Bay has given up 16 shorthanded goals.
Stamkos, who has just four goals in his last 22 games, scored his 44th this season with 33.9 seconds left. Stamkos also ended a five-game point drought earlier with an assist on St. Louis’ third-period goal.
NOTES: McElhinney, claimed by Ottawa off waivers from the Lightning on Feb. 28, had beaten Tampa Bay twice earlier this month. He never played with the Lightning after being obtained in a trade with Anaheim on Feb. 24. … Bergeron stopped a personal 11-game point drought. … Tampa Bay C Vincent Lecavalier had an assist to extend his point streak to five games (five assists, seven point s).
Blue Jackets 3, Panthers 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Maksim Mayorov had the lone goal in his first NHL shootout, and Columbus’ Steve Mason stopped all three Florida Panthers attempts to lead the Blue Jackets to a 3-2 win on Tuesday night.
Mayorov, shooting second for Columbus, scored on a lefty shot from the right hash, beating Scott Clemmensen on the glove side. Mason then stopped Mike Santorelli and Sergei Samsonov to seal the win and end the Blue Jackets’ home losing skid at six and overall slide at four.
Scottie Upshall and Antoine Vermette scored in regulation for Columbus, which also ended a string of six consecutive shootout loss.
Evgeny Dadonov and David Booth had goals for Florida, which lost its sixth in a row.
Mayorov, the Blue Jackets’ fifth pick and 94th overall in the 2007 draft, was playing in just his ninth NHL game.
Mason stopped 29 shots in regulation. Clemmensen had 30 saves.
Down a goal midway through the third period, the Panthers got the equalizer when Dadonov scored on a wraparound as Mason was unable to recover laterally after sealing off a post.
The Panthers also tied the game, this time on the power play, early in the second period. Samsonov won a puck battle in the corner and fired a high shot that Mason blocked with his chest. The puck tumbled over his head and behind him, and Booth tapped it in for his 22nd goal.
With a minute left in the period, the Blue Jackets put together a flurry of shots. After Matt Calvert stripped the puck and tossed a shot that didn’t get through to the goaltender, R.J. Umberger controlled it and slid a blind, backhanded pass to Vermette who fought off Dmitry Kulikov to jam in the puck for his 18th.
With his 31st assist, Umberger tied a career high with 55 points, matching his total set in 82 games last season.
The Blue Jackets scored the only goal of the first period at 7:06 — but hit the post with three other shots.
Upshall took a pass from Derek Dorsett and netted a shot from the left circle inside the far post. He extended his career best with his 21st goal.
Notes: The Blue Jackets signed G Allen York, a junior at RPI, to a two-year, entry-level contract. … The Panthers were 1 for 3 on the power play. The Blue Jackets failed on three opportunities and are 0 for 36 over the last 10 games. … The franchises combined for five wins and 23 losses since the trade deadline on Feb. 28.