The Dallas Stars moved into playoff position with a 5-3 win over the visiting Edmonton Oilers.
Edmonton took a 3-2 lead in the third period, with goals 43 seconds apart by Evander Kane and Leon Draisaitl. Dallas then countered with goals 27 seconds apart, by Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov, while Tyler Seguin iced the game with his 300th career goal.
An EPIC night in the home barn puts the Stars back in the playoff picture.
📝: https://t.co/gldX8nlmwV@PNCBank | #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/XQafQrTlVw
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) March 23, 2022
Both teams played without key players as Edmonton forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder) missed his 12th game in a row, and Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen (mononucleosis) sat out for the ninth game in a row.
Dallas took over the final playoff spot in the Western Conference as the Stars jumped over slumping Vegas. “With this league, you can be in and out [of a playoff berth] every game,” Seguin said. “Twenty games are left, we’re trying to get into that dance.”
Edmonton lost for the first time this season when scoring first.
Three games featuring teams in playoff position were part of the 11-game schedule.
Defenseman Tony DeAngelo scored in his second game back after missing a month as the Carolina Hurricanes edged the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. 3-2.’
It could be a preview of things to come, considering that Tampa Bay (+850) has the third-lowest odds to win the Stanley Cup. Carolina (+1200) is tied for fifth.
Sebastian Aho’s 28th goal of the season gave Carolina a two-goal lead in the third period before Alex Killorn scored with a minute to go to cut the lead back to a goal. Tampa Bay only managed one shot in the final minute, having to go on the penalty kill when Nikita Kucherov was called for interference (drawn by Aho) with 26 seconds remaining. Kucherov came out of the penalty box as the game ended to exchange words-and some stick work-with Aho.
Carolina was 0-3-1 in its previous four games and remained three points ahead of hard-charging Pittsburgh atop the Metropolitan Division.
Something to consider for those who bet online, Tampa Bay was held to two goals or less for the fourth time in its last five games.
The visiting St. Louis Blues scored the final four goals in a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals.
Nathan Walker, less than a day after being summoned from the AHL, scored the game-winning goal midway through the second period. Brayden Schenn and David Perron added goals to complete the comeback. Perhaps it’s a costly win as Torey Krug, the top-scoring St. Louis defenseman, left the game in the second period after being slashed in his hand. St. Louis was already playing without Vladimir Tarasenko and Robert Thomas, the No. 2 and 3 scorers on the Blues.
Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist to give Washington a 2-1 lead.
The Los Angeles Kings rolled past the visiting Nashville Predators, 6-1, strengthening their hold on second place in the Pacific Division.
Playing without veteran defenseman Drew Doughty (hand) for perhaps the rest of the regular season, Los Angeles had two goals and an assist from 19-year-old Quinton Byfield, a goal from 20-year-old Arthur Kaliyev as well as assists from 22-year-old Rasmus Kupari and from 21-year-old Jordan Spence.
Kids didn’t have all the fun as Adrian Kempe scored twice, Anze Kopitar had two assists and Jonathan Quick stopped 24-of-25 shots.
Nashville’s Philip Tomasino scored his 10th goal of the season-our goals and six assists in his last 13 games-as the Preds hold down the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
The Pittsburgh Penguins rolled to a 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Jake Guentzel scored twice, Sidney Crosby had three assists and Bryan Rust had a goal and an assist as the Penguins won their third game in a row.
Gustav Nyquist gave Columbus the early 1-0 lead before Pittsburgh took over, improving to 29-8-4 since Dec. 1st.
The biggest surprise of the night came when the visiting San Jose Sharks overcame a pair of two-goal deficits in a 4-3 win over the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames. The win had a Las Vegas odds payout of +270.
Timo Meier started the comeback with his 27th goal of the season, before leaving with what appeared to be an injured foot. Alexander Barbanov and Logan Couture scored in the third period as Calgary suffered its first regulation loss of the season when leading after two periods.
Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for Calgary.
The New Jersey Devils scored five times in the second period en route to a 7-4 home win over the New York Rangers, snapping an eight-game losing streak to their cross-river rivals. The NHL betting lines paid +1000 for New Jersey’s three-goal win
Jack Hughes scored twice in the third period, becoming the 20th American-born player to score at least 20 goals this season. Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Yegor Sharangovich, Ryan Graves and P.K. Subban also had two points for the Devils.
Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox scored in the first period, giving the Rangers a two-goal lead. The loss pushed New York two points behind Pittsburgh and into third place in the Metropolitan Division.
The homestanding Winnipeg Jets became the only one of the four Canadian teams in action Tuesday to get two points. Nikolaj Ehlers and Mark Scheifele each had a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win over the slumping Vegas Golden Knights.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 42 shots to lead the Jets, despite Winnipeg being outshot by 16. Winnipeg is three points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Vegas fell out of playoff position after dropping its seventh road game in a row. It was the second game in a row the Knights were shut out..
Semyon Varlamov wasn’t as busy as he faced 24 shots as the New York Islanders blanked the visiting Ottawa Senators, 3-0.
Anders Lee had a goal (his 10th this month) and an assist. Hr’s one shy of the NHL March goal lead, shared by David Perron of St. Louis and Nashville’s Matt Duchene.
Scott Mayfield and Zach Parise also scored as all three Islander goals came in the final 10:11 of the game.
The Detroit Red Wings had two goals from Jakub Vrana in a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
It was Detroit’s second win in the last nine games while the Flyers remained the only team yet to win on the road in 2022. The Flyers are 0-11-1 on the road since Jan. 1st, the 13-game winless streak on the road is the longest for the franchise since the 1971-72 season.
Despite trading away six of the 18 skaters to appear in at least 39 games this season, the Seattle Kraken secured their ninth road win, a 4-2 victory against the Arizona Coyotes.
Carson Soucy scored twice and Daniel Sprong, one of the players acquired in a flurry of transactions by Seattle, scored in his first game with his new team.
