Rask gets 7th shutout of season, Bruins beat Stars
BOSTON >> Tuukka Rask bailed out the Boston Bruins by matching a personal best.
Rask made 27 saves and tied a career high with his seventh shutout of the season, lifting the Bruins over the Dallas Stars 2-0 on Thursday night.
“It wasn’t our cleanest game but those things happen,” Rask said. “Other teams behind us are breathing down our necks, so we have to keep plugging away and winning.”
Boston won its third straight and stayed three points ahead of Tampa Bay for the second Eastern Conference wild card with one game in hand. The Bruins trail Toronto by a point for third place in the Atlantic Division and are three points back of Ottawa for second place.
“We just weren’t sharp, but when you can find a way to win when you aren’t sharp, that’s a good thing,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Rask has won two straight since struggling for a stretch. He had allowed 18 goals during a four-game losing streak.
Brad Marchand gave Boston a 1-0 lead when he jammed a shot past goalie Antti Niemi at 15:14 of the first period.
Niemi had appearances.
“A couple of mistakes,” Niemi said. “We had a chance to score, but Rask played great once again.”
Torey Krug added an insurance goal early in the second period when he converted a perfect feed from David Pastrnak.
Marchand added an assist and moved into third place in the scoring race, passing Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom and Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby.
Dallas had its best opportunity at 11:08 of the third period when Boston’s Kevan Miller got a double-minor for high-sticking Curtis McKenzie. MAPLE LEAFS 3, PREDATORS 1 >> James van Riemsdyk and Auston Matthews each scored a power-play goal, and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves to help Toronto beat Nashville.
Connor Brown added an empty-net goal with 58.4 seconds left as the Maple Leafs started a three-game road trip by sweeping the season series with Nashville. They also won their second straight and fifth in six games to remain in third place in the Atlantic Division. WILD 5, SENATORS 1 >> Alex Stalock won his first NHL start in over a year, Nino Niederreiter had two goals and Minnesota beat Ottawa to end a four-game skid.
Stalock stopped 18 shots in his first start for the Wild, who remained second in the Western Conference. Joel Eriksson Ek, Matt Dumba and Jason Pominville also scored for Minnesota. HURRICANES 2, BLUE JACKETS 1 >> Jeff Skinner tried a spinner and it led to Noah Hanifin’s first overtime 22 saves and is winless in his last five winner.
Hanifin scored 2:16 into the extra period and Carolina rallied to beat Columbus.
Skinner scored the tying goal with 4:20 left in regulation before setting up Hanifin for the surging Hurricanes. They have established a club record by earning at least one point in 13 straight games, but this was their first overtime victory in that 9-0-4 stretch. Carolina has climbed from last place in the Eastern Conference to the fringe of the playoff race. LIGHTNING 5, RED WINGS 3 >> Alex Killorn and Jonathan Drouin scored power-play goals 1:51 apart late in the second period and Tampa Bay beat Detroit.
J.T. Brown, Andrej Sustr and Yanni Gourde scored for the Lightning. also