It's been a forgettable season for Matt Duchene and the Colorado Avalanche, but the talented forward got a major monkey off his back Wednesday night.

Duchene grabbed the loose puck and buried the tying goal against the Detroit Red Wings midway through the second period, scoring for the first time since Feb. 19.

The dynamic center raised both arms, then dropped them in a clear sign of relief after snapping the 11-game drought, which began before the trade deadline, when he was the subject of constant trade speculation.

Duchene leads the league-worst Avalanche with 17 goals and ranks second with 37 points in 64 games.

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CALGARY, Alberta - Brad Marchand scored his league-leading 36th goal of the season and David Backes returned after getting hurt to score the game winner and the Boston Bruins defeated Calgary 5-2 on Wednesday night to end the Flames' 10-game winning streak.

Marchand is also tied with Chicago's Patrick Kane and Edmonton's Connor McDavid for the top spot in the NHL with 76 points.

Backes got tied up with Flames defenseman Mark Giordano and was taken into the corner boards 12 minutes into the game. He was favoring his leg as he was helped off the ice.

But he returned seven minutes into the second period and on his second shift back he broke a 2-2 tie. Backes took a pass from David Krejci on a 3-on-2 and from 30 feet whipped a wrist shot over the glove of Chad Johnson.

David Pastrnak scored twice, and Matt Beleskey also scored for Boston. The Bruins' fourth straight win moves them within three points of the second-place Ottawa Senators in the Atlantic Division.

Alex Chiasson and Dougie Hamilton scored for Calgary.

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NEW YORK - A U.S. district court upheld an arbitrator's ruling that reduced Calgary Flames defenseman Dennis Wideman's suspension for knocking a linesman to the ice in a game last season.

The NHL says in a statement released Wednesday night that it disagrees with the court's decision but understands the standard needed to overturn the decision. The league says it is ready to turn the page.

Wideman was suspended 20 games for hitting linesman Don Henderson and knocking him down during a game against the Nashville Predators on Jan. 27, 2016.

Commissioner Gary Bettman upheld that suspension, but neutral discipline arbitrator James Oldham ruled that Wideman did not intend to injure Henderson and reduced the suspension to 10 games.

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When Tuukka Rask isn't in net for the Boston Bruins, bad things happen.

Calgary Flames defender Dougie Hamilton proved that point Wednesday, when his wrist shot from center ice eluded the backup goalie.

Hamilton's apparent bullet was one of only 16 shots the Bruins allowed through two periods, Khudobin stopping 14 of them.

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PHILADELPHIA - Wayne Simmonds scored the 200th goal of his career and Steve Mason made 23 saves to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux, and Dale Weise also scored for the Flyers, who closed within five points of the idle New York Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Making the postseason remains a long shot for Philadelphia with just 13 games remaining and four teams to pass.

Philadelphia snapped a three-game losing streak while handing the defending Stanley Cup champions their fourth shutout of the season.

The road-weary Penguins completed an eight-day, five-game road trip that took them through four time zones as they traveled 4,763 miles. The journey got longer due to Tuesday's snowstorm in the Northeast, which caused the Penguins to fly home from Calgary late Monday night rather than directly to Philadelphia. Pittsburgh arrived in Philadelphia late Wednesday morning.

With 95 points, Pittsburgh remained two behind idle Washington for first place in the Metropolitan Division and the best record in the NHL.

Mason posted his third shutout of the season and the 33rd of his career. He saved some of his best work for late in the game, making three strong stops within four minutes of each other with under 10 minutes remaining.

First, he denied Oskar Sundqvist's short-handed chance from right in front with 9:55 remaining. Then, Mason made a good pad save on Nick Bonino with 6:48 left before fully extending his left pad to deny Ian Cole's slap shot.

Simmonds scored his 29th of the season and 200th of his career while tying teammate Brayden Schenn for the NHL lead with his 15th on the power play with 13:40 left in the second period to put Philadelphia up 2-0. Shayne Gostisbehere took the initial shot and Simmonds put the rebound over a sprawling Matt Murray.

Couturier put Philadelphia on the board a minute into the second when he also went high over Murray from close range after the puck deflected to him right in front of the net.

Murray had to go to the bench with 11:34 left in the period when he was inadvertently hit in the head by Philadelphia's Travis Konecny, but was able to stay in the game.

Murray finished with 24 saves.

Giroux scored on a wrist shot from the slot that beat Murray with 4:16 left, and Weise finished the scoring with 47.3 seconds remaining.

The game featured the return of defenseman Mark Streit, the former Flyers assistant captain who was traded by Philadelphia on March 1.

NOTES: Flyers D Brandon Manning (upper body) missed his second straight game and forward Jordan Weal (lower body) also was out of the lineup. . Penguins forward Matt Cullen returned to the lineup after missing three straight games due to a lower-body injury. . Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz received a loud ovation when he was introduced while attending his first Flyers game. . The Penguins lead the season series 2-1. The teams will wrap it up March 26 in Pittsburgh. . Sidney Crosby remained one assist shy of tying Jaromir Jagr for second place on the Penguins' all-time list. Crosby has 639 assists. Mario Lemieux owns the club record with 1,033.

UP NEXT

Penguins: Return home to host the New Jersey Devils on Friday night.

Flyers: Play the second game of a back-to-back at New Jersey on Thursday night.

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Blink and you might miss Andreas Athanasiou.

The Detroit Red Wings forward showed off his blazing speed Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche, zooming from one end to the other and tucking it in on the breakaway.

It was the 16th goal of the season for the 22-year-old, who's second only to Tomas Tatar (17) for the team lead.

(Courtesy: NHL.com)

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Brad Marchand isn't gonna miss from there.

After muffing a dump-in, Calgary Flames netminder Chad Johnson poked the loose puck to an uncontested Marchand, who promptly tapped in his 36th of the season.

The gift-wrapped goal puts Marchand one ahead of Sidney Crosby for the league lead, and one back of his career-high set a season ago.

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The Columbus Blue Jackets are finalizing a two-year entry-level contract with college free-agent Sam Vigneault of Clarkson University, TSN's Bob McKenzie reports.

Upon reaching a deal, Vigneault will report to the Cleveland Monsters, Columbus' AHL affiliate, and his contract will begin next season, McKenzie adds.

Vigneault, a 6-foot-5, 21-year-old forward, led Clarkson this season with 36 points in 39 games.

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A veteran of the U.S. women's national hockey program is challenging her nation's governing body after its non-committal response to the players' threat to boycott the upcoming World Championship over what they deem are unfair wages.

"Good luck getting a suitable No. 1 competition to represent our country on a world stage," Hilary Knight said, according to Stephen Whyno of The Associated Press. "I kind of dare them."

Knight, along with team captain Meghan Duggan, announced earlier Wednesday that the team won't report to training camp next week or play in the World Championship later this month, unless meaningful progress is made in negotiations the players claim have been stalled for over a year.

"We were sick of sitting around the same table and discussing the same issues and getting upset over the same pettiness," Knight added Wednesday night.

USA Hockey's response to the players' initial statement cited its increased funding and support ahead of the 2018 Olympic Games, but made it clear that it wouldn't treat the players as employees leading up to either event.

Management claimed each player could earn up to $85,000 at the Olympics in support stipends and medal incentives, but Duggan denied that any such offer was made, calling the statement "misleading and dishonest."

"It's an example of them kind of disregarding anything that we're asking and basically disregarding our request to be under contract for a four-year period and any of that," Duggan said Wednesday night, adding that while USA Hockey is promising to cover travel and insurance expenses, the female players want to be compensated on the same level as the men.

Knight has represented the U.S. since 2006, and Duggan has done so since 2007.

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