What we learned in the NHL this past week

Lessons from the past week of NHL play:

•A three-game winning streak and 6-1 surge have lifted the Dallas Stars to No. 1 in the West. Their 12-3-0 record is their best after 15 games in franchise history, topping the 10-2-3 of the 1980-81 Minnesota North Stars, who reached the Stanley Cup Final. Center Tyler Seguin had nine goals and 23 points and shared the NHL scoring lead with Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks through Sunday’s games. Left wing Jamie Benn shared the lead in goals (10) with Kane and ranked third with 21 points. Coach Lindy Ruff has been effectively using a goalie tandem of Antti Niemi (2.77 goals-against average .908 save percentage in eight starts) and Kari Lehtonen (2.37, .921 in seven starts).

•Despite MVP Carey Price being sidelined because of a lower-body injury on Oct. 29, the league-leading Montreal Canadiens earned seven of eight points in their just-completed homestand. Rookie Mike Condon stopped 89 of 95 shots in the four games, 29 Saturday against his hometown Boston Bruins. Condon is 6-0-1 with a 1.57 goals-against average and .940 save percentage and hasn’t given up more than two goals in any of his seven starts. Price went to New York for treatment Monday, so he’ll probably be sidelined a while longer.

•Minus Zach Parise, who is week-to-week after suffering a sprained knee last Thursday, the Minnesota Wild will have to focus more on defense. In its first game without the productive left wing, the Wild clamped down to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 1-0. Goalie Devan Dubnyk has seven shutouts in 51 games since Minnesota acquired him from the Arizona Coyotes in January; he had only nine shutouts in his first 192 NHL appearances with the Coyotes, Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers.

•Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith skated Sunday for the first time since undergoing knee surgery Oct. 20 and might beat the four-to-six-week timetable set for his return to hockey activity. He told reporters in Chicago that he was injured during Game 3 or 4 of the Stanley Cup Final but continued to play — and earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.

•The Lightning, struggling to score, learned Monday that winger Ondrej Palat will be sidelined because of a lower-body injury for three to five weeks. The Lightning led the NHL with 262 regular-season goals (3.195 per game) last season but with 38 goals in 15 games this season is averaging 2.533 per game, ranking 15th through Sunday. Its 1-0 loss at Minnesota last Saturday was its third shutout loss this season, two more than last season.