DALLAS (AP) Dallas boosted its NHL-best record with a 3-0 home win against Buffalo on Saturday, with goaltender Antti Niemi getting his second shutout this season.
Jamie Benn scored two third-period goals for the Stars, who have five straight wins and moved six points clear atop the Central Division, ahead of St. Louis which lost in overtime at home against Detroit.
The New York Rangers beat Florida to move level on points with Montreal for the best record in the Eastern Conference, while Minnesota’s Ryan Sutter starred against his former team as the Wild beat Pittsburgh.
Dallas’ Niemi made 22 saves to shut down a Sabres team that has only scored four goals in its last four games.
Benn’s first goal was at 7:11 after the Stars failed to score on their first four power plays. He scored again at 9:04, and Tyler Seguin assisted on both goals.
The Stars have won eight of their past nine games.
Detroit’s Teemu Pulkkinen scored 4:41 into overtime to give the Red Wings a 4-3 win at St. Louis.
Pavel Datsyuk, Luke Glendening and Dylan Larkin also scored for the Red Wings.
Kyle Brodziak, Jori Lehtera and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for St. Louis.
New York’s Rick Nash scored 2:01 into overtime for his third goal of the game, lifting the Rangers to a 5-4 win at Florida.
Mats Zuccarello and Viktor Stalberg scored in the third period to put the Rangers ahead 4-2. New York returned to winning way after defeat at Tampa Bay ended its nine-game winning streak.
Jaromir Jagr, Aleksander Barkov, Jussi Jokinen and Nick Bjugstad scored for the Panthers.
Minnesota’s Devan Dubnyk made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season as the Wild beat Nashville 4-0.
Suter had a goal and two assists against his former team, while Mikael Granlund, Jonas Brodin and Thomas Vanek also scored for Minnesota.
Nashville has been outscored 8-0 over the past two games and the frustration showed in a game featuring three fights, and a 10-minute misconduct against Nashville’s Mike Ribeiro.
San Jose’s Brent Burns scored twice in a 3-1 win against Pittsburgh, and Patrick Marleau got his 1,000th career point.
Marleau became the 83rd NHL player to reach 1,000 points with an assist on Burns’ first goal 7:54 into the game.
Burns has seven goals this year, and the Sharks have won the first five games of a season-high six-game trip that ends Sunday against Columbus.
Sharks defenseman Paul Martin scored his first goal of the season and had an assist against his old team.
Phil Kessel scored his seventh of the season for Pittsburgh.
Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin had three goals and an assist and twin brother Henrik Sedin added a goal and four assists, leading the Canucks to a 6-3 win against Chicago.
Daniel Sedin’s ninth goal of the season snapped a 3-3 tie at 14:35 of the third, and he scored again just two minutes later. Alexandre Burrows added an empty-netter with 38 seconds left as Vancouver stopped a four-game slide. It was Sedin’s first hat trick since 2011.
Henrik Sedin set a career high for points and matched his career best for assists, accomplished three times previously.
Jonathan Toews had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks, and Ryan Garbutt and Artem Anisimov also scored.
Patrick Kane assisted on Anisimov’s tying goal at 12:20 of the third, running his career-best point streak to 16 games. He has 10 goals and 16 assists in the surge.
Winnipeg’s Chris Thorburn scored a short-handed goal with 8:51 left, lifting the Jets to a 3-2 victory against Arizona.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin scored one of his team’s four goals in the first period, setting the Capitals up for a 7-3 win against Colorado.
Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman had a goal and an assist as the Senators beat Philadelphia 4-0.
Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist to lead the Lightning to a 5-0 victory over Anaheim.
Boston’s Zdeno Chara scored at 16:17 of the third period as the Bruins beat Toronto 2-0.
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