The Blues grab a late victory

Vancouver's Mats Sundin is challenged by St Louis' Roman Polak, left, TJ Oshie, right, and goaltender Manny Legace.

St Louis Blues scored two goals in the final two minutes to snatch a 6-4 victory away at the Vancouver Canucks on Friday evening. Brad Boyes came through with a goal on a power play with 2:10 remaining and Brandon Crombeen followed up with another 21 seconds later to give St Louis the spoils. "I think the bottom line is, we were deserving tonight," the Blues coach Andy Murray said.

Willie Mitchell netted twice and Daniel Sedin and Jannik Hansen also scored for Vancouver, while Patrik Berglund, TJ Oshie were also on the scorsheet for the Blues. Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks captain Patrick Marleau scored twice as they won 4-1 over the Edmonton Oilers to remain top of the Western Conference. The Sharks opened up an 18-point lead in the Pacific Division after the second-placed Anaheim Ducks fell 4-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ryan Malone scored twice, including the winner for Tampa.

Steve Mason made 45 saves for his league-leading sixth shut-out of the season as the Columbus Blue Jackets halted the Washington Capitals' seven-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory. Mason turned aside 18 shots in both the first and third periods while making nine saves in the second, and Fedor Tyutin and Jared Boll each recorded a power-play goal and an assist to stun the Capitals, who had won nine games in a row at home.

Ryan Miller made 43 saves before turning away all three attempts he faced in the shoot-out to carry the Buffalo Sabres to a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers. * With Agencies