NHL: 3 stories from Wednesday night

There was a rare Sidney Crosby sighting in Edmonton, but the smiles were more apparent in Calgary where the Flames took down the Sharks. In New York, the Rangers made due without their star goaltender by beating the Bruins.

Here are three stories from Wednesday in the NHL:

Flames rise up over Sharks

Separated by just two points, the Flames had the San Jose Sharks in their sights as they welcomed them to the Saddledome in their fourth meeting of the season. The Flames rose on the strength of a three-goal second period to post a 3-1 triumph and catch the Sharks in the Pacific Division. Both teams have 61 points on the season.

Kris Russell, with his first goal of the year, Jiri Hudler and Mason Raymond fired in the Calgary goals. Jonas Hiller allowed only a third-period goal by the lumbering John Scott as he stopped 29 San Jose attempts.

In the three previous meetings the Flames had a 2-1 edge in victories with the visiting team winning each time.

Penguins' big guns stymie Oilers

​Chalk one up for the Penguins' big guns doing just enough to overcome the Oilers in Edmonton, with a little help from former Oiler David Perron, who also scored in the 2-0 victory Wednesday.

Evgeni Malkin, just back into the Pens' lineup after missing five games, opened the scoring in the first minute of the second period, with his 20th goal of the season. Perron, traded by the Oilers to Pittsburgh in December, scored for the seventh time in 13 starts with the Penguins, with 0.4 seconds remaining in the second period, deflecting a Chris Letang shot past Viktor Fasth just before time expired. Sidney Crosby also drew an assist in the goal.

Marc-Andre Fleury earned the shutout for Pittsburgh, his seventh of the season and 35th of his career.

Rangers roll without Lundqvist

The Rangers weren't having much luck of late against the Boston Bruins, even at Madison Square Garden, and even when Henrik Lundqvist started in goal. Wednesday, with Lundqvist scratched due to a neck injury, Cam Talbot got the start and held the Bruins in check in a 3--2 win in New York.

The Bruins had earned points in eight consecutive games (6-0-2) against the Rangers, including a 3-0 Jan. 15 victory when Talbot was in goal. But on Wednesday Talbot made 18 saves and the Rangers overcame a 2-1 deficit on second-period goals by Derick Brassard and Derek Stapley to win their third in a row.

Rich Nash had the other Rangers' goal, his league-leading 32nd of the season.

Lundqvist was hit in the throat by a shot Saturday, but remained in the game as the Rangers defeated Carolina, 4-1.

He also started in their 6-3 Monday victory over Florida and was listed to start against the Bruins. Instead, the Rangers switched to Talbot and now list Lundqvist as day to day.