Hot or not

Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks

Perry got his first goal of the season in the Ducks' 3-2 shootout win over the Florida Panthers. Perry scored the game-tying goal with just six seconds remaining in regulation.

Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks

Crawford allowed six goals on 29 shots in his team's 6-5 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues, including four unanswered after the Hawks took a 5-2 lead.

Just how good was the Blues' comeback win over the Blackhawks?

@ESPN_Burnside: Where to start with Wednesday's epic thriller between the Blackhawks and the Blues? Well, you could start with the seven goals in the first period, including five from Chicago that chased St. Louis netminder Brian Elliott, though that won't do much for his standing as the man in net for the Blues. Instead of crumbling in the second of back-to-back games (they were shut out at home by the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday), the injury-ravaged Blues kept coming. They tied the game with three goals of their own in the second period before ending it in a wild overtime session, with Vladimir Tarasenko getting the winner for an improbable win and two points. The guy who stood out for me was St. Louis rookie defenseman Colton Parayko. The 6-foot-5 native of St. Albert, Alberta, added two more assists for a total of five helpers on the season to go along with four goals. Head coach Ken Hitchcock had the big man on the ice in the waning moments of regulation, and Parayko logged 22 minutes, 54 seconds on the night and leads all rookies in average ice time per night. I think you might want to pencil the young man on your Team North America shadow roster, Craig, because he's been wildly impressive so far.

@Real_ESPNLeBrun: Craig was quick to add Parayko to his roster in our world-famous Toronto Media Hacks Fantasy League, so he's way ahead of us on that that kid. What a win by the Blues, though. When you're down 5-2 after 20 minutes to the reigning Cup champs, you don't like your odds. But even with all their injuries, the Blues are showing scoring depth right now as they march on despite key players being absent from the lineup. This is such an important year for the Blues, who can't afford another first-round postseason stumble. Wins like these fortify a team's psyche. Oh, and it was nice to be brought back to the 1980s with this game, a good old Norris Division shootout!

@CraigCustance: The beauty in watching Parayko play -- besides knowing he's piling up points for my fantasy team -- is his ability to get shots through. He's got a big shot, but he doesn't just lean on that to get pucks past shot-blockers. He now has 35 shots on goal this season, No. 5 in the NHL among defenseman, trailing established names Dustin Byfuglien, Justin Faulk, Brent Burns and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. One of the questions raised with Connor McDavid's injury was who will fill the void in the Calder Trophy race, and Parayko is now emerging as a candidate. He plays a ton, gets power-play time and is on a good team. Parayko's big game against the reigning champs on Wednesday was a good start toward establishing his position in the Calder race after the McDavid injury.

@ESPNJoeMac: The reaction by my 10-year-old son to the Blues' win was a true indication how the game has changed. We missed the first period of the Blackhawks game because he had squirt practice, and when we returned home and I put the game on, the first thing that flashed on the screen was the score. "It's 5-2," I shouted. "What period?" I told him it was the first intermission. "Wow," he responded. It's rare that he's watched such a high-scoring game in his young life as a fan. He finished his nighttime routine quicker than ever because he wanted to watch the second period of this high-scoring thriller. I even let him stay up a little later than normal because he was so into it. Unfortunately, he missed the ending, but I didn't. What a thrilling game to watch. In the waning minutes of regulation, I was hoping it would end in a stalemate because I wanted to see 3-on-3 between these two teams. I actually expected the Blackhawks to win fairly early in OT, but it was just as exciting when Tarasenko scored the game-winning goal. "Who won?" my son asked first thing this morning. When I told him how it ended, he was bummed he missed it.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

AROUND THE LEAGUE

• Blackhawks' coach Joel Quenneville said after the game he's never worried about the team's offense and that he judges performance based on how they play without the puck.

• Sidney Crosby has started to come on offensively, and now it's David Perron who is looking to get going, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Perron scored his first goal of the season in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks, and his first dating back to March 15 of last season.

• The Ducks played without captain Ryan Getzlaf in the win over the Panthers, and Getzlaf is uncertain about his return after undergoing an appendectomy last Wednesday.