Jamie Benn returned from a brief injury absence to record a hat trick and help the visiting Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues for the second time in 10 days, 4-1 on Saturday night.
Mar 2, 2019; St. Louis, MO, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) handles the puck as St. Louis Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (41) defends during the second period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Defenseman John Klingberg had a goal with two assists, and Ben Bishop stopped 29 shots for the Stars, who continued their push toward the Western Conference playoffs by completing a 3-1-0 road trip.
Dallas, which ended the Blues’ team-record 11-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory on Feb. 21, snapped their seven-game home winning stretch Saturday.
Though third in the Central Division and three points better than Dallas, St. Louis has managed just nine non-shootout goals while going 2-3-1 since the 11-game run. Blues rookie Jordan Binnington made 17 saves during his first loss in eight starts at home.
Wild 4, Flames 2
Matt Read scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period as visiting Minnesota spoiled a festive night in Calgary with a victory.
Prior to the contest, the Flames honored former captain Jarome Iginla and sent his signature No. 12 to the rafters at Scotiabank Saddledome. Iginla, who spent 16 seasons with the Flames, is the club’s all-time leader in goals (525), points (1,095) and regular-season games played (1,219).
Defenseman Ryan Suter collected a goal and an assist, and Eric Staal and Ryan Donato also tallied for the Wild, who have won five in a row to remain one point behind Dallas for the top wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Devan Dubnyk turned aside 35 shots.
Lightning 5, Senators 1
Four different defensemen scored for host Tampa Bay, which beat lowly Ottawa to match the NHL mark for fewest games to 50 wins.
Blue-liners Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Erik Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev all had goals, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves in his ninth straight victory for the NHL-leading Lightning, who rebounded after their club-record 10-game winning streak and 14-game point stretch ended at Boston on Thursday.
Tampa Bay, which has won seven straight at home and earned a point in 10 consecutive there, equaled Detroit’s record of 50 wins in 66 games from the 1995-96 season.
Maple Leafs 5, Sabres 2
John Tavares and Mitch Marner each had a goal and two assists, and Toronto defeated visiting Buffalo.
Morgan Rielly, Nic Petan and Nikita Zaitsev also scored a goal for the Maple Leafs, who have two home wins over the Sabres in the past six days. Frederik Andersen made 35 saves for Toronto.
Jason Pominville and Conor Sheary scored for the Sabres. Linus Ullmark started in goal for Buffalo for the second game in a row and made 27 saves.
Penguins 5, Canadiens 1
Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists, and Jake Guentzel had two goals and two assists as visiting Pittsburgh jumped on Montreal early for the win.
It was the 32nd time in his career Crosby has amassed four or more points in a game, and he made it 10 career seasons with at least 80 points. He has 83.
Evgeni Malkin also scored, and Jared McCann had a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh, which has won two of its past three games and pulled even with the Canadiens and into a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference at 77 points.
Hurricanes 4, Panthers 3 (OT)
Carolina’s Sebastian Aho scored the game-winning goal 1:46 into overtime to lift the surging club to a win over Florida in Sunrise, Fla.
Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek made three saves on breakaways in a hectic 3-on-3 overtime, setting the stage for Aho to score his 27th goal on a clever dish from Nino Niederreiter on a 2-on-1 rush.
Brock McGinn, Greg McKegg and Brett Pesce scored in regulation for the Hurricanes, and Mrazek made 31 saves to win his fourth straight for Carolina, which has used a 13-3-0 run to earn third place in the Metropolitan Division. Carolina won its fifth in a row.
Bruins 1, Devils 0
Brad Marchand scored the game’s only goal fewer than three minutes into the first period, and Tuukka Rask stopped all 20 shots he faced as host Boston remained red-hot by edging New Jersey.
The Bruins won their third straight game and for the 10th time in 11 tries (10-0-1) while extending their point streak to 16 games (12-0-4).
The shutout was the third of the season for Rask. Mackenzie Blackwood made 29 saves in taking the hard-luck loss for the Devils, who have dropped three straight, all in regulation, and five of seven (2-5-0).
Coyotes 3, Red Wings 1
Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Vinnie Hinostroza each collected a goal and an assist as Arizona won six straight games for the first time since 2012 with a victory over Detroit in Glendale, Ariz.
Josh Archibald also scored for the Coyotes, who have won nine of their last 11 overall and avenged a 6-1 loss in Detroit on Nov. 13.
Richard Panik notched a pair of assists, and Darcy Kuemper finished with 22 saves to win his seventh consecutive start and improve to 15-3-3 since Jan. 4.
Kings 6, Blackhawks 3
Dustin Brown scored a pair of goals, Adrian Kempe, Brendan Leipsic and Ilya Kovalchuk each finished with a goal and an assist and Los Angeles pulled away for a win over visiting Chicago.
Sean Walker also scored for Los Angeles, which snapped a 10-game winless streak. The Kings narrowly avoided tying their franchise record of 11 consecutive losses.
Brendan Perlini had two goals, and Connor Murphy had one for the Blackhawks. Chicago has lost three of its past four games.
Oilers 4, Blue Jackets 0
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid each had three points, and Mikko Koskinen made 30 saves as visiting Edmonton earned a shutout over Columbus.
Draisaitl recorded two assists and scored his 40th goal of the season, combining with McDavid on a give-and-go 8:53 into the second period. Draisaitl joined Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Kane as the only players to reach the 40-goal plateau in the NHL this season.
Draisaitl extended his points streak to 10 games and has 25 points (16 goals, nine assists) over his last 17 games.
—Field Level Media