Surging Blue Jackets edge Red Wings 3-2 for 4th straight win
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Seth Jones scored twice in the second period and Sergei Bobrovsky returned from an illness to make 22 saves as the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 on Friday night.
Matt Calvert also scored for the surging Blue Jackets, who have won four in a row and remain firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff picture with 13 games to go. Columbus swept a back-to-back, surpassed New Jersey to grab the first wild-card spot and moved to within two points of Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Darren Helm and Andreas Athanasiou scored, and Jared Coreau, in just his second start of the season, had 33 stops for the reeling Red Wings, losers of six straight.
STARS 2, DUCKS 1
DALLAS (AP) - Devin Shore and Jamie Benn scored power-play goals in the third period and the Dallas Stars beat the Anaheim Ducks.
With the game tied at 1, Benn tipped John Klingberg's shot from the top of the slot past Anaheim's Ryan Miller for the go-ahead goal with 5:37 remaining.
Ryan Getzlaf scored Anaheim's goal in the first period.
Both teams entered with 80 points, but Dallas increased its lead for the first wild card from the Western Conference to three points over Los Angeles. Anaheim remained one point ahead of the Kings for third place in the Pacific Division.
FLAMES 2, SENATORS 1
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Sam Bennett and Matt Stajan scored and David Rittich made 29 saves to lead the Calgary Flames past the Ottawa Senators.
The win was the second straight for the Flames, who ended a four-game losing streak with a victory in Buffalo on Wednesday night.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau spoiled Rittich's bid for his first career shutout by scoring on a penalty shot with 7:05 left in the game.
Mike Condon made 35 saves for the Senators, including a breakaway stop on Johnny Gaudreau with the score still 1-0 in Calgary's favor early in the third period.
WILD 5, CANUCKS 2
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Eric Staal scored the go-ahead goal in the second period and the Minnesota Wild surged past the Vancouver Canucks.
Staal has 11 goals in his last nine games, giving him 37 for the season - just three behind Washington's Alex Ovechkin for the league lead.
Zach Parise, Matt Cullen, Marcus Foligno and Charlie Coyle, with an empty-netter, also scored for the Wild, who have won three straight and eight of their past 10. Minnesota leads Dallas by three points for third in the Central Division and trails Winnipeg by six points for second. Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves.
Michael Del Zotto and Jussi Jokinen scored for the Canucks, who wrapped up a five-game homestand with a 1-2-2 record.
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