DALLAS — Jamie Benn had two goals and an assist and the Dallas Stars beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 Saturday night in a battle of first-place teams.
Benn regained the NHL lead with 22 goals, passing the Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko.
Central Division-leading Dallas scored within the first 2 minutes of each period to improve to 24-7-2 and reach a league-high 50 points in only 33 games.
Montreal leads the Atlantic Division despite losing seven of its last eight games. This loss kicked off an eight-game trip.
Jason Spezza had a goal and two assists, and Tyler Seguin and Patrick Sharp each had a goal and an assist. Patrick Eaves added a power-play goal.
Stars goalie Antti Niemi made 21 saves. Daniel Carr scored on the power play for Montreal, and Paul Byron added a short-handed goal.
Blues 3, Flames 2: Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko scored his league-leading 21st goal of the year and assisted on another in the first period to send St. Louis to a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames.
Blackhawks 3, Sabres 2 (SO): Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane scored late in regulation and then again in the shootout to lead Chicago to a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Hurricanes 2, Penguins 1: Jordan Staal and John-Micheal Liles scored as the Carolina Hurricanes halted a two-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the reeling Pittsburgh Penguins.
Staal and Liles each scored power-play goals in the first period, and that was enough to hand Pittsburgh their fifth straight loss.
Ducks 2, Devils 1: Ducks winger Chris Stewart and winger Ryan Kesler scored 12:05 apart in the first period to spark Anaheim to a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark.
With the win, Anaheim improved to 12-14-5.
Maple Leafs 5, Kings 0: Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier recorded his first victory in 12 starts this season in a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, his former team.
Jonathan Quick took the loss. Bernier had played behind Quick in Los Angeles.
Blue Jackets 3, Flyers 2 (SO): Rookie goaltender Joonas Korpisalo had 30 saves and made five of six saves in the shootout, earning his first NHL win and guiding the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Nationwide Arena.
Brandon Saad and Ryan Murray scored goals for the Blue Jackets, who have won two straight for the first time since Nov. 27.
Predators 3, Wild 2: Nashville scored the game’s first three goals and rode that start to a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild at Bridgestone Arena.
In improving to 16-11-6, the Predators scored more than twice in a game for just the sixth time in their last 16 games. They upped their mark to 5-8-3 in that span, winning none of the 10 games in which they were held to two or fewer markers.
Coyotes 1, Islanders 0: Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored with two minutes left in the first period and goaltender Louis Domingue stopped 25 shots for his first career shutout in the Arizona Coyotes’ 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders at Gila River Arena.
Ekman-Larsson scored his seventh goal and fourth game-winner of the season. He leads NHL defensemen with 20 game-winning goals since his first year in the league in 2010-11.
Avalanche 5, Oilers 1: Semyon Varlamov had 39 saves to continue his strong play, Jarome Iginla scored his first goal in nine games and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1.
Tyson Barrie had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who have won five straight. Blake Comeau, Jack Skille and defenseman Nick Holden also scored for Colorado. — Agencies
