Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price reaches out to snag the pack against the Washington Capitals during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 9, 2017, in Montreal. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP)
Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price reaches out to snag the pack against the Washington Capitals during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 9, 2017, in Montreal. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP) Credit: Paul Chiasson

St. Louis — Brad Marchand scored twice, including an empty-netter, and David Backes got into a fight in his return to St. Louis as the Boston Bruins beat the Blues 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Frank Vatrano, Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug also scored for the Bruins, who improved to 2-0-1 in their last three games. Tuukka Rask made 14 saves.

Backes, who spent his first 10 seasons with St. Louis before signing with Boston as a free agent, fought with former teammate Joel Edmundson late in the second to the delight of the Scottrade Center crowd. Backes dropped the gloves in retaliation for a hit on Bruins teammate David Krejci by Jori Lehtera.

Colton Parayko, Patrik Berglund and Kyle Brodziak scored for the Blues. Jake Allen was pulled for Carter Hutton after allowing three goals on 11 shots in the first period. Hutton finished with 26 saves,

The Blues haven’t won two games in a row since Dec. 1. Boston scored four goals on its first 13 shots.

Vatrano put the Bruins up 1-0 with a power-play goal at 8:19 in the first period. It was the sixth straight game the Blues gave up the first goal.

Carlo made it 2-0 with 4:40 left in the first on a lucky bounce. Carlo’s slap shot went wide, but caromed off the end boards and off Allen’s leg and into the net.

Marchand scored his fourth goal in his last three games to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead with 2:08 left in the first. Marchand extended his points streak to four games.

The Blues allowed more goals (3) than they had shots (2) in the first period.

The Bruins went up 4-0 when Krug scored his first goal in 30 games on a power play early in the second period. It was Boston’s sixth goal with the man advantage in six games.

Bruins defensemen Adam McQuaid (upper body) and Colin Miller (lower body) left the game in the first and third period, respectively.

Hurricanes 5, Blue Jackets 3

Raleigh, n.c. — Jordan Staal scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with 16:10 to play, and Carolina beat Columbus.

Victor Rask had two assists and an empty-net goal, Jeff Skinner had a goal and two assists and Derek Ryan also had a goal and an assist. Brock McGinn added a goal for Carolina, which has earned points in 13 of 14 home games.

Sabres 4, Flyers 1

Buffalo, n.y. — Evander Kane scored to cap a three-goal second-period surge in leading Buffalo over Philadelphia.

Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists in extending Buffalo’s point-streak to 3-0-1 — the team’s best run of the season. William Carrier and Marcus Foligno, with an empty-net goal, also scored for the Sabres.

Predators 2, Canucks 1 (ot)

Nashville, Tenn. — Calle Jarnkrok scored a shorthanded goal with 1.5 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Nashville over Vancouver.

Austin Watson had the other Nashville goal and Pekka Rinne finished with 29 saves for the Predators, which snapped a two-game losing streak.

Two Bruins on All-Star Team

Los Angeles — Even though John Scott won’t be playing, the rosters for the NHL All-Star Game are still brimming with talent.

Rookies Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine were among the 40 players selected on Tuesday to play in the NHL’s 62nd midseason showcase at Staples Center.

The Chicago Blackhawks led the league with four players selected for the All-Star weekend, which will be held Jan. 27-29 in Los Angeles.

The game format will again be a 3-on-3 tournament featuring a team from each of the NHL’s four divisions.

The Pacific Division won the tournament last year, but the weekend was dominated by the unlikely story of Scott. The journeyman enforcer scored two goals and was voted the MVP after an equally improbable grassroots online campaign by fans to vote him into the game as a captain.

Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, Nashville’s P.K. Subban and Montreal’s Carey Price were the fans’ eminently logical choices for captains this time around.

The Bruins are represented by goalie Tuukka Rask and forward Brad Marchand.

The rosters include many veteran NHL stars, including Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, John Tavares, Erik Karlsson and Chicago teammates Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith and Corey Crawford.

The Los Angeles Kings will be represented by forward Jeff Carter and defenseman Drew Doughty in their home rink, while the nearby Anaheim Ducks are sending center Ryan Kesler and defenseman Cam Fowler.

Columbus, which has roared to the top of the overall NHL standings with its recent 16-game winning streak, will send only defenseman Seth Jones and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to the All-Star Game. Forward Cam Atkinson, tied for eighth in the league with 39 points heading into Tuesday’s games, was not selected.

The top two picks in last summer’s draft also made the game. The 19-year-old Matthews is Toronto’s sole representative after scoring 21 goals in his first 39 games to become the Maple Leafs’ youngest All-Star since Wendel Clark made it 31 years ago.

The Winnipeg Jets are represented solely by Laine, the Finnish teenager with 37 points in his torrid rookie season. Laine is out indefinitely with a concussion, however.