ST. LOUIS (AP) St. Louis’ David Backes scored in the ninth round of a long shootout to give the Blues a 3-2 win against Dallas on Saturday, trimming the gap between the top teams in the NHL Central Division.
The Blues moved within seven points of the Stars in the first game of an important double; they meet again on Sunday.
Washington extended its lead in the Metropolitan Division by beating struggling Montreal, which lost the outright lead in the Atlantic and is now level on points with Detroit, which won at Nashville, while Los Angeles maintained its healthy lead in the Pacific by downing Arizona.
St. Louis’ Alexander Steen and Robby Fabbri scored in regulation and Jake Allen made 22 saves for the Blues.
Tyler Seguin and Colton Sceviour scored in regulation for the Stars, who had won their previous three games.
Washington goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots to help the Capitals beat Montreal 3-1.
Holtby allowed only a second-period goal to Daniel Carr in earning his NHL-leading 22nd victory. He’s unbeaten in regulation time in his 10 career games against Montreal.
Jason Chimera had a goal and an assist while Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jay Beagle also netted for the Capitals, who have won eight straight home games to reach a franchise record start of 26-6-2.
Montreal has been outscored 22-6 while losing its last six games and has dropped 10 of 11 since Dec. 1.
Detroit snared a share of top spot in the Atlantic by winning 3-2 at Nashville.
Brendan Smith had a goal and an assist while Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening also scored for the Red Wings.
Filip Forsberg scored both goals for the Predators.
Los Angeles’ Anze Kopitar scored 36 seconds into overtime to secure a 4-3 win against Arizona.
Kopitar saved the Kings on a night when they rallied from a one-goal deficit only to squander a two-goal lead. Drew Doughty, Tanner Pearson and Dustin Brown also scored for Los Angeles.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored twice and Antoine Vermette added a goal for the Coyotes.
Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist in his return from a one-game injury absence as the Penguins defeated Minnesota 3-1.
Eric Fehr and Patric Hornqvist also scored for the Penguins, who won consecutive games for the first time in six weeks.
Minnesota has lost six of its last seven against Pittsburgh. Jason Zucker netted for the Wild, who have lost six of their past seven meetings with the Penguins.
Buffalo rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period and overran Boston 6-3, with former Bruin Jack Eichel scoring twice for the Sabres.
Carolina’s Justin Faulk scored the go-ahead goal 8:17 into the third period to lift the Hurricanes over New Jersey 3-1.
Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos had two power-play goals and an assist during the second period to power the Lightning to a 5-2 win against Columbus.
Vancouver won in overtime for the first time this season, with Jannik Hansen’s second goal of the match giving the Canucks a 2-1 victory over Edmonton.
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