Stars defeat Blues, move into 1st in Central Division

ST. LOUIS --The Dallas Stars moved into first place in the Central Division with a 5-2 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Wednesday.

The Stars lead the Colorado Avalanche by one point with one game remaining on Thursday at home against the Blues. The Avalanche have two games remaining.
"An important win," Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. "We want to keep the pressure on Colorado and keep our hopes alive to win the division. And, you know, that was the goal coming onto the road trip, to make sure we took care of our business and win two games, and we did that, and obviously the power play is a big part of that tonight."

Wyatt Johnston scored twice, Jason Robertson had three assists and Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist in his 900th NHL game for the Stars (46-21-14), who have won five straight and seven of eight. Scott Wedgewood made 16 saves.
"Everyone wants to feel good and confident scoring and feeling the puck and touching it, especially the power play, but I think you've got to stay in that neutral, humble, simple median and not get too ahead of ourselves, because the playoffs are a different demon," Robertson said. "Not going to get as much power plays, not going to get many looks and chances, so you've just got to bear down."
Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist for the Blues (37-37-7), who have lost two straight and had their home point streak end at six games (4-0-2). Joel Hofer, recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Monday, made 32 saves in his eighth NHL start.
"We took some unnecessary penalties in the second period that cost us," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "They entered our zone too easily on their breakouts. They had too much time with the puck, that's the bottom line. Not enough pressure."
Johnston made it 1-0 at 5:49 of the first period when he chipped a puck in on the short side after Hofer couldn't corral an initial puck at the net by Stars defenseman Ryan Suter.

Jakub Vrana tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 7:44, finishing off a backdoor play off a cross-seam pass from Thomas.
Joe Pavelski's seventh goal in the past eight games gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 19:04 when he came off the bench on a delayed penalty and beat Hofer with a long slap shot from the right point, but Thomas tied it 2-2 at 19:40 when he deked around Ty Dellandrea and beat Wedgewood into the roof of the net off the short side.
"I was fortunate enough to kind of catch them flat-footed a little bit," Thomas said. "I saw the stick coming out, so I knew I needed to kind of get it up top, and I was able to do it."
The Stars scored three power-play goals in the second period to take control of the game.
With St. Louis forward Sammy Blais serving a double minor for high-sticking, Roope Hintz made it 3-2 at 4:48 on a quick snap shot from the right off Jamie Benn's pass from below the goal line, and Johnston's one-timer from the slot pushed it to 4-2 at 5:36.
"The first unit, they're just kind of always buzzing, they always make plays there," Johnston said. "They've been awesome all year, and then I think for us, I think just kind of slowing it down a bit, not rushing anything, just kind of slowing it down and making some plays."

Seguin increased the lead to 5-2 at 19:17 when he banked in a Miro Heiskanen shot that got deflected off the boards behind the net.
"I think we were just buzzing around, retrievals were great, just trying to really get shots through, and everyone just really contributed," Robertson said.
NOTES:Heiskanen had two assists and his 73 points passed Sergei Zubov (71) for most in a season by a defenseman in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history. Heiskanen's 62 assists passed Craig Hartsburg (60 in 1981-82) for most assists by a defenseman in a season in Stars history. Heiskanen has 11 assists in the past seven games. ... Johnston has 23 goals, one behind Matty Beniers of the Seattle Kraken for the most by a rookie this season. … Robertson has 109 points (46 goals, 63 assists), the most in a season age 23 or younger among United States-born players. He also passed Dino Ciccarelli for second-most points in a season in franchise history behind Bobby Smith (114 in 1981-82). … Hintz's 37th goal ties his NHL career high from last season. ... Blues forward Hugh McGing played 9:37 in his NHL debut after being recalled from Springfield on Monday. ... St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk had an assist to give him six points (one goal, five assists) in a four-game point streak. … Blues defenseman Tyler Tucker had one hit in 16:40 in his first game since March 15.