Stars Keep Making Points and Gain Confidence Too

The Dallas Stars have taken a major step toward winning their first Presidents’ Trophy, awarded to the team with the best regular-season record.

Pat Verbeek’s third-period power-play goal broke a tie and the Stars went on to a 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Blues at Dallas on Sunday night, improving their record to a franchise-best 105 points.

“We needed the confidence boost, especially going into the Detroit game,” forward Jamie Langenbrunner said. “We hadn’t played well against St. Louis all year so it was good for us, especially against a possible playoff opponent.”

Dallas took a one-point lead over the New Jersey Devils for the best record in the NHL. The Devils tied Florida and have 104 points.

The Detroit Red Wings are third at 103. Dallas hosts Detroit Wednesday night.

The Blues had beaten the Stars in four of their first five meetings, making Sunday’s victory especially important for Dallas if the Central Division rivals meet in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.

“This was a big hurdle for us mentally,” Stars Coach Ken Hitchcock said. “St. Louis has been a very difficult team for us to beat.”

Phoenix 2, Chicago 1--Jeremy Roenick’s unassisted goal with 7:20 left gave the Coyotes the victory and also clinched a playoff berth at Chicago.

Roenick, a former Blackhawk, pounced on a bad pass by Chicago defenseman Gary Suter and ripped a 30-foot shot past goaltender Jeff Hackett to break a 1-1 tie.

Murray Baron scored his first goal of the season for the Coyotes (33-34-12), who moved into sole possession of sixth place in the Western Conference with 78 points.

Tony Amonte had a power-play goal for the Blackhawks, whose post-season hopes were all but extinguished. Chicago (30-37-12), which has lost four in a row.

The Blackhawks qualified for post-season play for 28 consecutive seasons--the longest current streak in the NHL.

New Jersey 5, Florida 5--Brendan Morrison scored the tying goal at 12:16 of the third period to help the struggling Devils salvage a tie at East Rutherford, N.J.

Morrison scored his fourth goal in five games since his recall from Albany of the AHL on April 2. The rookie wristed a rising shot from the slot over the left shoulder of goalie Kirk McLean to close out the scoring in the surprisingly wide-open contest.

The Devils have already clinched the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference and began the day tied with Detroit and Dallas for the top record in the league with 103 points.

NHL Notes

Forward Rick Tocchet of the Phoenix Coyotes was suspended by the NHL pending a hearing for a high-stick penalty. The date of the hearing for Tocchet, who missed Sunday’s game at Chicago, will be set Monday. The suspension was the result of a high stick incident against St. Louis forward Scott Pellerin in the second period Saturday.