LOS ANGELES — Tyler Seguin led the early charge with two goals in the first period and Scott Wedgewood made 34 saves for his first shutout this season as the Dallas Stars defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-0.
“I think once we got our lead, we didn´t really shrink from that,” said Southern California native Jason Robertson, who had a goal and an assist.
“Our penalty kill was outstanding. Wedgie also. We just kept with it and kind of squeezed the game out,” he added according to AP.
The Stars, who moved into the Central Division lead with a Western Conference-best 61 points, had a 3-0 cushion at San Jose before the Sharks rallied with five unanswered goals. Dallas scored three times in the first period against the Kings and never backed off.
Dallas took advantage of a Los Angeles squad coming off its first four-day break of the season.
Elsewhere, Ryan Donato had two goals and an assist, and Andre Burakovsky scored into overtime to give the Seattle Kraken a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Seattle snapped a two-game losing streak and picked up its 27th victory, matching its total from last season. The win combined with Vegas’ loss to Detroit moved Seattle into a first-place tie with the Golden Knights in the Pacific Division, although the Kraken has a better points percentage.
“It tells me the work that the group in here has done. I mean, that´s that´s the bottom line, right?” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “That´s what we´re here for. You´re here to compete for a playoff spot and positioning, and No. 1 on the list – continue competing every night for important points that go into the bank toward a playoff berth.”
Donato powered Seattle to an early 2-0 lead, but New Jersey rallied. Erik Haula´s short-handed breakaway goal at the third period tied it at 2.
Brandon Tanev put the Kraken in front again at 7:51, but New Jersey forced overtime with another late goal. Nico Hischier jabbed the rebound off Jack Hughes´ shot past Seattle goalie Martin Jones with 1:14 left, capping an extended flurry of activity around the net after the Devils pulled goalie Mackenzie Blackwell.
It was the second straight game that New Jersey forced overtime with a late goal after pulling the goalie. Hughes scored with 8.6 seconds left in regulation against San Jose on Monday. The Devils eventually won in a shootout.
Burakovsky´s 13th goal of the season slipped under Blackwell´s pad.
“I think I was just lucky. I don´t know who it was, (Jesper) Bratt maybe, it hit his stick and went five-hole,” Burakovsky said. “I mean, that´s not really what I was trying to do but it worked out.”
New Jersey had won five straight games overall and seven in a row on the road. It missed out on a chance to sweep a five-game trip, its longest of the season.
Despite picking up nine of a possible 10 points on the trip. coach Lindy Ruff was disappointed with the performance.
“It turns out to be a good trip. I mean, you´re happy anytime you can get that amount of points,” he said. “We´re not happy with the way we´re playing. Didn’t like how we played tonight. Lost too many battles. Gave up too many situations that are preventable.”
Damon Severson scored midway through the second period to pull New Jersey within 2-1.
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