Blues slow Stars with 3-0 victory
David Backes had a goal and an assist and Jake Allen stopped 26 shots as the host St. Louis Blues beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 on Saturday.
Backes also got into a fight with Stars forward Jamie Benn in the first period, earning the Gordie Howe hat trick.
The Stars’ loss was their first in regulation since Nov. 24 and their first by shutout this season.
Dallas (22-6-2) still has a league-best 46 points; St. Louis is second behind the Stars in the Central Division with 38 points.
Backes’ power-play goal at 2:00 in the first period gave the Blues a 1-0 lead.
The period ended with two fights, with the first bout between the teams’ captains — Backes and Benn.
One minute later, Blues defenseman Petteri Lindbohm fought Stars forward Antoine Roussel after Lindbohm took exception to a hit Roussel made on Dmitrij Jaskin along the boards.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan Reaves scored in the third period for the Blues, who ended a fourgame home losing streak to Dallas dating to Nov. 23, 2013.
Flames 5, Rangers 4: TJ Brodie scored at 2:09 of overtime, Johnny Gaudreau had two goals in regulation, and Calgary recovered after giving up a three-goal lead in the third period for its ninth straight home victory. Tanner Glass, Dan Boyle and Mats Zuccarello scored for the Rangers in the final 15 minutes of regulation to force overtime.
Hurricanes 5, Coyotes 4: Victor Rask scored 53 seconds into overtime for visiting Carolina, which won despite blowing two three-goal leads, including a 4-1 cushion in the third period. Rask’s goal came after the Coyotes’ Connor Murphy scored with 15.7 seconds left in regulation to tie it. Seconds earlier, the Hurricanes’ Elias Lindholm missed an empty net with Carolina up 4-3.
Sabres 2, Kings 1: Ryan O’Reilly’s sliding overtime goal helped host Buffalo snap a three-game losing streak and end Los Angeles’ six-game win streak. O’Reilly was tripped as he cut to the slot, but got off an off-balance shot that fooled Kings goaltender Jhonas Enroth at 3:19 of overtime. It was O’Reilly’s 100th NHL goal.
Islanders 3, Blue Jackets 2: Kyle Okposo scored his second goal of the game for visiting New York at 2:16 of overtime. Brock Nelson also scored and Jaroslav Halak had 28 saves as New York improved to 7-0-2 in its past nine games. A Columbus goal in the final minute of regulation was overturned on video review.
Capitals 2, Lightning 1: Braden Holtby made 35 saves for visiting Washington to win for the 10th time in his past 11 starts. The Capitals got goals from Jay Beagle and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
Avalanche 3, Predators 2: Andreas Martinsen broke a tie midway through the third period and Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves for visiting Colorado. Francois Beauchemin and Nick Holden also scored for the Avalanche.
Canadiens 3, Senators 1: Brian Flynn and Max Pacioretty scored in the first period, and host Montreal stopped a four-game losing streak. The Canadiens scored more than two goals in a game for the first time in six contests.
Bruins 3, Panthers 1: Ryan Spooner scored twice and Tuukka Rask stopped 26 shots to lift host Boston. Backed by a strong stretch from Rask, the Bruins have won eight of their past 11 games (8-1-2). Rask is 6-0-2 in his past eight starts.
Briefly: Pittsburgh fired head coach Mike Johnston and assistant Gary Agnew with the high-profile team languishing in the middle of the pack in the crowded Metropolitan Division. Johnston went 58-37-15 after being hired in the summer of 2014. Former Sharks center Mike Sullivan, who was head coach of the Bruins from 2003-06 and was serving as the coach of Pittsburgh’s affiliate in the American Hockey League, replaces Johnston. ... Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is expected to be sidelined two weeks because of an upper-body injury suffered Wednesday, general manager Jim Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.