Khabibulin Shuts Out the Blue Jackets

The Chicago Blackhawks and goalie Nikolai Khabibulin got their timing back in a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night at Chicago.

Kyle Calder ended a tie with a third-period goal and Khabibulin made 33 saves -- including a stop of a second-period penalty shot -- as Chicago ended a three-game losing streak.

Khabibulin started despite being pulled in the Blackhawks’ two previous games, both losses to Detroit. He earned his first victory in four contests since coming back from a sprained left knee that sidelined him for 12 games.

“This was definitely the best I felt,” Khabibulin said. “In the two Red Wings games, they were playing so fast, not only skating but moving the puck real fast so it felt fast.

“This game was a little better. I had some long shots and you can get into the game a little bit easier.”

Philadelphia 4, Florida 0 -- Robert Esche made 27 saves at Sunrise, Fla., to get his first shutout of the season.

Philadelphia ended a six-game road losing streak while beating the Panthers for the ninth time in the last 10 games in Florida. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for Florida.

Roberto Luongo had 26 saves for the Panthers before he was relieved by Jamie McLennan at the start of the third period. McLennan had seven saves.

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New York Islander defenseman Alexei Zhitnik is out for the season because of a broken left ankle. The Islanders also lost forward Arron Asham for four weeks because of a sprained ankle.... St. Louis goaltender Curtis Sanford will sit out the rest of the season because of a sprained ligament in his left knee.... Columbus recalled forward Ben Simon from Syracuse of the American Hockey League.