Stars Continue to Bring Out the Best in Hrudey

Kelly Hrudey hasn’t done much winning this season, but the San Jose Sharks’ backup goalie still knows how to beat the Dallas Stars.

Hrudey stopped 36 shots and got his first win since December as the Sharks moved closer to a playoff berth with a 4-1 victory over the Stars on Saturday at Dallas.

Tony Granato scored twice and Jeff Friesen and Shawn Burr added goals to help the Sharks move within a point of eighth-place Edmonton in the race for the final Western Conference playoff spot.

Dallas’ Guy Carbonneau scored his sixth goal with 8:17 to play to cut San Jose’s lead to 3-1 and end Hrudey’s shutout bid. Carbonneau’s goal stopped Dallas’ scoreless streak at 183 minutes 16 seconds.

Hrudey’s record is only 4-14-2 this season, but over his career he is 13-6-5 against the Minnesota-Dallas franchise, 5-2-0 against the Stars as a member of the Sharks.

St. Louis 3, Detroit 2--Grant Fuhr and Pierre Turgeon, both playing in their 800th NHL games, helped the Blues end the Red Wings’ five-game unbeaten streak.

Fuhr made 33 saves and Pierre Turgeon scored a goal at St. Louis as the Blues won for the 23rd time at Kiel Center before a sellout crowd of 20,436.

N.Y. Rangers 2, Pittsburgh 2--Martin Straka’s goal late in the third period at Pittsburgh tied the score as the Rangers’ winless streak was extended to five games.

The Penguins also avoided consecutive losses for the first time since Nov. 12 and 14. They have gone a team-record 51 games without losing two in a row.

Montreal 8, Tampa Bay 2--Vincent Damphousse scored one of his three goals during a game-breaking second period at Montreal as the Canadiens moved into a fourth-place tie with Buffalo and Boston in the Eastern Conference.

Benoit Brunet, Mark Recchi and Damphousse scored in the period to give Montreal a 4-1 lead. The Canadiens outshot the Lightning, 12-2, in the period.

Carolina 4, Philadelphia 2--The Hurricanes, who pulled to within three points of Ottawa for the eighth and final playoff slot in the Eastern Conference, ended an 11-game winless streak (0-8-3) against the Flyers.

Keith Primeau had a goal and an assist and Trevor Kidd made 22 saves for the Hurricanes at Philadelphia.

Toronto 4, N.Y. Islanders 3--Defenseman Sylvain Cote scored with four seconds left in overtime at Toronto. Derek King tied the game for the Maple Leafs 3-3 at 19:09 of the third period.

New Jersey 3, Phoenix 0--Martin Brodeur, who has lost just once in his last 17 games, made 26 saves at Phoenix to record his 10th of the season and 32nd of his career. At 42-12-7, he became the 11th goaltender in NHL history to win 42 games in a season.

Florida 3, Boston 2--Scott Mellanby scored the tying goal with 18 seconds left in regulation, then set up Bill Lindsay for the game-winner 3:14 into overtime at Boston.

Washington 3, Vancouver 2--All the scoring was in the first period at Vancouver and Brian Bellows had two of the goals to lead the Capitals.