ST. PAUL
Montreal Canadiens Hoodies Authentic , Minn. (AP) Matt Dumba and the Minnesota Wild started a defining two-game stretch against the Dallas Stars with
a determined performance.They’re one step closer to a spot in the playoffs.”That
was what fueled the fire, just wanting to bury these guys,” Dumba said. ”Not let
them think that they could potentially get back into this thing by getting a
couple victories against us.”Dumba scored on a power play and finished with
three assists for a career-high four points, leading the Wild past the fading
Stars 5-2 on Thursday night.”It’s something we talked about, making that gap
even bigger and pushing more teams down,” said Zach Parise, who scored 59
seconds after Dumba in the second period and tacked on an empty-netter in the
waning seconds.Mikael Granlund sparked the Wild with a short-handed goal in the
first period , set up by the first of two assists by Ryan Suter, and Jason
Zucker scored on a power play with 11 seconds left before the second
intermission.Even more important than Granlund’s goal was the effort by the Wild
that immediately followed it.Tyler Seguin had set up Benn in the slot for the
lead for the Stars less than three minutes into the game, and a high-stick
double-minor penalty on Wild defenseman Ryan Murphy produced a four-minute power
play. Granlund scored just 12 seconds in, and the Wild penalty killers took over
from there.”It was a big turning point, and it gave us a lot of life,” coach
Bruce Boudreau said.Jamie Benn and Devin Shore scored for the Stars, who have
lost eight straight road games, including six in regulation. They’re just 1-7-2
in their past 10 games overall, staggering into position for the knockout punch
to their postseason hope. They host a rematch with the Wild on Saturday
night.With only four games remaining, the Stars are five points behind current
wild-card spot holders St. Louis and Anaheim in the Western Conference
standings. The Blues have six games left, and the Ducks play five more times.
The Stars also trail ninth-place Colorado by four points
Montreal Canadiens Hats Authentic , with five games to go for the Avalanche.”Every mistake we made ended up in our net, and the chances we had we
didn’t finish on,” Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said, adding: ”We’re going to
compete at a very high level, and then the autopsy for us can take place.”Devan
Dubnyk stopped 29 shots for the Wild, who improved to 26-6-8 at home for the
second-most points in the NHL. With five games to go, they’re up six points on
the Avalanche in the race to clinch an appearance in the playoffs for the sixth
straight year.Dumba, who set a career high with his 12th goal on a blistering
one-timer , and Zucker gave the Wild’s power play a badly needed boost. They had
only one goal in their previous 26 opportunities until the sizzling second
period. The Stars, meanwhile, were left shaking their heads about the
opportunities they handed the Wild.”I had a bonehead shot there on the penalty
kill,” Seguin said, referring to the sequence before Zucker scored. ”I can’t
shoot far-side short-handed, and they go down and score. That’s a tough
play.”NOTESDumba became the first Wild defenseman with four points in a game in
franchise history. … Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, who has missed the past
seven games with a torn right hamstring, could start skating next week, Boudreau
said before the game. Wild defenseman Gustav Olofsson left with an upper-body
injury and was declared questionable to travel to Dallas. … The Stars fell to
2-23-2 when trailing after two periods. … Suter stretched his career high and
franchise record to 45 assists. … Stars defenseman Stephen Johns was being
evaluated for a concussion after leaving in the first period with the injury. …
Zucker has three goals and two assists in three games against the Stars this
season. … Granlund’s was the 10th short-handed goal allowed by the Stars to
match the second-most in the league this season. … Granlund scored for the first
time in 15 games since Feb. 27. … Seguin has 27 points in 23 games against the
Wild. … Announced attendance was 19,350
Custom Montreal Canadiens Jerseys , the largest of the season for the Wild.UP NEXTStars: After the rematch with Minnesota, Dallas must wrap up the
schedule on the West Coast with games at San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles.Wild:
Following the quick trip to Dallas, Minnesota plays its final regular-season
home game on Monday against Edmonton. Then the Wild finish the schedule with the
same three California road games the Stars have, against the Ducks, Kings and
Sharks.— LOS ANGELES (AP) A strong power play and penalty kill can carry a team
deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Right now, the Los Angeles Kings hope their
special teams can do what it takes just to reach the postseason.Anze Kopitar
scored one of his team’s three power-play goals, Jonathan Quick made 23 saves
and the Kings moved back into playoff position with a 3-0 win over the Calgary
Flames on Monday night.”Obviously, scoring three power-play goals goes a long
way,” Kopitar said. ”I guess this time of year it doesn’t really matter how you
do it but you’ve got to figure out ways to win, and we did that tonight.”Jeff
Carter also scored and Dion Phaneuf had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who
tied Anaheim for third place in the Pacific Division at 91 points. They also
passed Colorado (90 points) and St. Louis (89) in the Western Conference
wild-card race.Phaneuf gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 4:04 into the second period,
scoring on a long shot from the blue line five seconds into a power play. All
four of Phaneuf’s goals since being acquired from Ottawa in a Feb. 13 trade have
come on the man advantage.Adrian Kempe got the lone assist for winning the
faceoff against Troy Brouwer, and Tyler Toffoli set a screen that kept goalie
Mike Smith from seeing Phaneuf’s shot.”The key on power play, if you get people
to the net and you get opportunities for lanes to the net and you shoot the puck
early, it really forces the penalty killers to turn and face their net,” Kings
coach John Stevens said. ”Once Dion shot the first one there, it really had a
ripple effect where guys were looking to move the puck quick and get it to the
net.”Kopitar made it 2-0 at 11:55 with his seventh power-play goal of the
season. Scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle
www.officialpredators.com , Kopitar matched his career high of 34 goals during the 2009-10 season. The Kings
captain has five goals in his last three games.Flames forward Sam Bennett
committed three penalties in the opening 30:21, with his infractions for
high-sticking and tripping leading to the Kings’ first two power-play
goals.Carter put Los Angeles in front 3-0 by following up his own rebound from
close range at 8:24 of the third. He has 10 goals in 16 games since returning
from surgery to repair a cut tendon in his ankle.Los Angeles scored three
power-play goals in a game for the third time.Smith stopped 26 shots for the
Flames, who were eliminated from playoff contention. Calgary has been outscored
28-7 during a six-game losing streak.”It’s tough to create against LA at the
best of times, but I thought we limited them. Again, 5-on-5, there weren’t many
chances out there. Just the specialty teams came into play,” Flames coach Glen
Gulutzan said.Already without forwards Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk because
of injury, the depleted Flames had to play without top scorer Johnny Gaudreau,
who was not with the team after his father had a cardiac event on Monday.The
lack of scoring punch beyond those three, who have combined to score 78 of
Calgary’s 203 goals, is something the Flames will have to address to get back
into the playoff chase next season, Gulutzan said.”You can see that we’re a
little bit dependent on some of our top guys to create most of our offense, and
that’s an issue that is coming to light a little bit,” Gulutzan said.NOTES:
Kings D Jake Muzzin did not return after sustaining an upper-body injury in the
second period. Muzzin fell awkwardly into the boards following a hit by Micheal
Ferland. … Dustin Brown had two assists.UP NEXTFlames: Host the Columbus Blue
Jackets on Thursday night.Kings: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday
night.—
