FLORIDA — Wyatt Johnson had a goal and an assist, Jake Oettinger stopped 17 shots for his second shutout of the season and the Dallas Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-0 for their seventh straight win.
Aleksander Barkov, also, scored twice in the third period to get Florida going, Sam Reinhart scored the lone shootout goal and the Panthers rallied to beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-2.
It was the first time Barkov – in his 11th season in the NHL, all with the Panthers – had ever scored multiple third-period goals on home ice. He picked the right time to do it, and the two points in the standings pulled Florida, at least temporarily, back atop the Atlantic Division with the Boston Bruins.
“We didn´t like our first period,” Barkov said according to AP. “We had some chances but I don´t think that was our game. So after the first period, in the second and third, we started playing a lot harder and that looked more like us.
“I think we found the way to win and we just need to believe that that´s how we need to play.”
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout and made 20 saves for Florida, which won for the second time in its last eight games.
Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz also scored to help the Stars remain on top of the Central Division and Western Conference Standings, three points up on Colorado.
Dallas, which clinched its third straight playoff berth with win over Vancouver two nights earlier, trails the New York Rangers by one point in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy.
“You want to be playing well right now and winning games,” Pavelski said. “And you have to string them together. You can win a bunch of games and it feels like you make up no ground.
“The focus is just keep winning – keep doing it the right way and keep building our game toward the playoffs and make sure we´re ready.”
Oettinger got his ninth career shutout and improved to 30-13-4 on the season.
“He´s been awesome,” Johnson said. “It gives you a lot of confidence when he´s playing like that. He´s been huge. He´s been huge all year.”
“In terms of effort, the effort was definitely there,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “Are they a good opponent? Absolutely. They´re fighting for the Presidents´ Trophy for a reason. It´s still disappointing to walk away with a loss. Not disappointed in the effort, but we´re here to win.”
Johnston scored with 1:48 remaining in the second period to give Dallas a 1-0 lead.
“We stayed patient and we found a goal,” Pavelski said. “It came. We didn´t cheat for it. When we found that one, our game seemed to get a little bit better.”
Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 60th goal, Ilya Samsonov stopped 34 shots and Toronto beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-0 in front of a distinctly raucous Maple Leafs-backed road crowd.
Captain John Tavares scored the opening goal in his 1,100th NHL game, and Nicholas Robertson also scored in helping the Maple Leafs maintain their hold on third place in the Atlantic Division.
Matthews became the league´s first two-time 60-goal scorer in 30 years, scoring with 5:37 left to cap the scoring. With chants of “MVP! MVP!” raining from the stands, Matthews matched the franchise record he set when he led the NHL two seasons ago.
“It means a lot, obviously. This is much of a team accomplishment in my opinion as an individual one,” Matthews said. “It´s always a fun atmosphere here with all the blue and white in the stands. Definitely pretty cool.”
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