Blues hockey Kessel keeps points streak alive in Bruins' 6-3 win

ST. LOUIS -- Phil Kessel had two assists to extend his points streak to 18 games, and former University of Minnesota teammate Blake Wheeler had two first-period goals in the Boston Bruins' 6-3 victory against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.

Kessel's streak is Boston's longest since Adam Oates had a 20-gamer in 1997-98.

Michael Ryder had a goal and an assist in Boston's fifth straight victory. Shane Hnidy, Marc Savard and Vladimir Sobotka also scored, David Krejci had three first-period assists, and Manny Fernandez made 29 saves.

The Eastern Conference-leading Bruins are 19-3-1 in their last 23 games and 24-5-4 overall.

Brad Winchester, Jay McClement and Yan Stastny scored for St. Louis, coming off a 5-2 victory over Minnesota on Saturday night that snapped a five-game losing streak.

The Blues tied it at 3-3 when Stastny knocked in Keith Tkachuk's centering feed at 2:46 of the second period, but Boston regained control on Ryder's power-play goal at 9:34 and Savard's tally at 16:57.

-- AP