NHL roundup: Blues' Allen earns rare home win

[December 19, 2019]  St. Louis Blues goaltender Jake Allen enjoyed rare home-ice success in a 2-1 victory over the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.

Allen made 35 saves to earn his first victory at Enterprise Center since Jan. 3, and the Blues completed a sweep of their four-game homestand. Brayden Schenn and Mackenzie MacEachern scored goals to support him.

James Neal scored and Mikko Koskinen stopped 42 of 44 shots for the Oilers, who have just three victories in their past 11 games (3-7-1).

Allen made 20 of his previous 21 starts on the road, dating to last season, when he lost the starting job to Jordan Binnington. In the 2018-19 season, he posted an .878 save percentage and 3.65 goals-against average at home and produced vastly better ratios (.924, 2.26) on the road. He had lost his only previous home start this season before Wednesday.

Devils 3, Ducks 1

Kyle Palmieri scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period for New Jersey, who began the post-Taylor Hall era by beating Anaheim in Newark, N.J.

Nico Hischier scored earlier in the second and Sami Vatanen scored early in the third for the Devils, who have won back-to-back games for just the fourth time this season. They have yet to win three in a row.

Former Devils center Adam Henrique scored in the first period for the Ducks, who have lost the first two games of a four-game East Coast road trip.

Blues goaltender Jake Allen (34) makes a save on a shot by Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) during the third period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Avalanche 4, Blackhawks 1

Mikko Rantanen and Ian Cole had a goal and an assist apiece, and Pavel Francouz made 31 saves to lead visiting Colorado to a victory over Chicago.

Nathan MacKinnon and Andre Burakovsky also scored goals while Gabriel Landeskog had two assists for Colorado, which improved to 9-1-1 over its last 11 games. The Avalanche have won all three meetings with the Blackhawks this season, outscoring them 16-6 in the process.

Ryan Carpenter scored for Chicago, which lost for the fifth time in six games (1-4-1). Corey Crawford stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced.

--Field Level Media

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