Oilers smash Stars to stop losing skid

EDMONTON (CP) — Patrick Maroon had a goal and an assist as the Edmonton Oilers snapped a three-game losing skid with a 7-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

Benoit Pouliot, Oscar Klefbom, Darnell Nurse, David Desharnais, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Connor McDavid also scored for the Oilers (36-24-9), who are 2-2-1 through five games of a lengthy eight-game homestand.

Brett Ritchie scored in response for the Stars (27-32-10), who have lost three straight.

A highlight of Tuesday’s game was an appearance by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Bettman was in Edmonton to tour the new Rogers Place arena. It was the first time Bettman was seeing Rogers Place in person after facilitating a deal between the City of Edmonton and Oilers owner Daryl Katz that led to the construction of the $480 million arena, which opened in time for this season.

He was quick to answer when asked if he would be working towards assisting Calgary in building a replacement for the Flames’ Scotiabank Saddledome.

“I hope it will be the case,” he said. “Calgary obviously needs a new arena, and hopefully this arena and this complex is inspirational.”

HAWKS 4, CANADIENS 2

MONTREAL (AP) — Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists, and Corey Crawford made 40 saves to lead Chicago past Montreal.

Johnny Oduya, Artemi Panarin and Jonathan Toews, into an empty net, scored for the Blackhawks, who jumped over Minnesota and lead the Central Division with 93 points. Paul Byron and Shea Weber scored for Montreal. Carey Price made 20 saves and became the third Canadiens goaltender to play 500 games, joining Patrick Roy (551) and Jacques Plante (556).

Crawford, a Montreal native coming off a seasonbest 42 saves against the Wild on Sunday, is 7-0-2 versus the Canadiens.

LIGHTNING 2, SENS 1 (OT)

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Victor Hedman scored with 55 seconds on the clock in overtime and Tampa Bay defeated Ottawa for its fourth straight victory.

Ottawa goalie Mike Condon made 35 saves and was nothing short of spectacular at times. Still, the Senators had their six-game winning streak snapped.

Brayden Point also scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots.

Tommy Wingels scored for the Senators.

PANTHERS 7, LEAFS 2

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals, Thomas Vanek had a career-high four assists and Florida topped Toronto to stop a five-game slide.

Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who won for only the second time in 10 games. Keith Yandle, Jussi Jokinen, Reilly Smith and Colton Sceviour also scored.

James Reimer stopped 28 shots to win for the first time in eight starts.

Nikita Soshnikov and Leo Komarov scored for Toronto.