Backes leads Blues to emphatic win

Montreal arrest four-game losing streak against Ottawa

St. Louis’ David Backes had a goal and an assist to lead the Blues to a 3-0 home win over Dallas on Saturday, cutting the gap between the Central Division’s top two teams.

The Stars still boast a handy eight-point break, but their failure to find a way past Blues goaltender Jake Allen, who stopped 26 shots, breathed life into the division race.

Among other results, Montreal arrested a four-game losing skid and boosted their lead in the Atlantic Division with victory over Ottawa.

Washington take lead

Washington eked out their lead in the Metropolitan Division by defeating Tampa Bay while the New York Rangers slipped to second after losing in overtime at Calgary.

St. Louis’ Vladimir

Tarasenko 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 5 5 2 Florida Los Angeles Ottawa Tampa Bay Columbus Dallas Nashville Arizona N.Y.Rangers San Jose 1 1 1 1 2 0 2 4 4 0 and Ryan Reaves scored in the third period to help the Blues end a four-game losing streak at home to Dallas.

Backes also got into a fight in the first period and, combined with his goal and assist, earned the colloquial ‘Gordie Howe hat trick’.

Montreal’s Brian Flynn and Max Pacioretty scored in the first period to set up a 3-1 win for the Canadiens against Ottawa.

Jeff Petry also scored for Montreal, who scored more than two goals in a game for the first time in six contests.