Stars Get Offensive Against San Jose

With the Stanley Cup playoffs scheduled to start in three weeks, the Dallas Stars are gearing up to defend their title.

The Stars scored five times Sunday against a team that had previously defended them well this season, defeating the San Jose Sharks, 5-3, at Dallas.

Jamie Langenbrunner had two goals and an assist, while Brett Hull scored his 608th goal. The Stars had managed only five goals in their first four games against San Jose. They were 1-3 in those games.

“The guys have been playing offensive hockey more and more,” said goaltender Ed Belfour, playing his first home game since he was charged with assault and resisting arrest March 8.

“Putting the puck in the net against a defensive team is nice to see.”

Hull tied Dino Ciccarelli for 10th on the career list and is two behind his father, Bobby Hull. The Hulls are the only father-son duo with 600 or more goals.

The Sharks maintained their hold on the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot with 76 points, but they have three teams chasing them--including the Mighty Ducks, who have 74 points after beating Detroit.

“Every game is critical for us,” center Mike Ricci said. “Teams are creeping up on us. Each game is like a playoff game for us.”

The Sharks’ Owen Nolan reached a career high with his 43rd goal in the first period, then added his 44th in the second.

Dallas regulars Guy Carbonneau, Jere Lehtinen, Blake Sloan, Shawn Chambers, Grant Marshall and Brian Skrudland are still out with injuries.

San Jose was without defenseman Bryan Marchment, serving the first game of a three-game suspension.

Pittsburgh 5, New York Rangers 4--Jaromir Jagr had three assists in his first game in nearly a month and the Penguins scored twice in a 43-second span of the third period to overtake the Rangers at Pittsburgh.

Helped by Jagr’s return after a 12-game layoff caused by thigh and hamstring injuries, the Penguins passed the Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens into seventh place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

The Penguins have 74 points to Montreal’s 73 and the Rangers’ 72. New York lost for the first time in the 22 games this season that they have scored four or more goals.

Jagr, who had surgery last month to remove a blood clot from his left thigh, was supposed to play only 10 minutes but instead played about twice that in his first three-point game since a seven-point night against the New York Islanders on Dec. 30.

Jagr’s points were his first since he scored a goal Feb. 14 against Vancouver and gave him a NHL-leading 88 for the season. Despite a three-game scoreless streak before the 12-game injury layoff, Jagr retained the league scoring lead.

Philadelphia 6, Boston 2--The Flyers scored two goals within spans of 31 and 15 seconds during the second and third periods at Philadelphia in winning for the first time in three games.

Rookie Simon Gagne broke a 2-2 tie at 10:08 of the second period. He swept the puck off the boards deep in the Philadelphia zone and scored on a wrist shot from the left circle.

John LeClair and Daymond Langkow scored goals within 15 seconds early in the third period to break the game open.

LeClair skated in from the left boards and dumped the puck off goaltender John Grahame’s glove into the net. It was the NHL-leading 67th power-play goal for the Flyers.

Langkow then scored at 1:12 of the period.

Calgary 3, Edmonton 2--Jason Wiemer scored midway through the third period at Edmonton in a game that featured five power-play goals.

Jarome Iginla and Robyn Regehr also scored for Calgary, which rallied from a two-goal deficit to end a six-game losing streak.

The victory gave the Flames 71 points, five behind San Jose for eighth place in the Western Conference.

Washington 5, Tampa Bay 2--The victory at Washington gave Olaf Kolzig the most wins in a season by a Capital goaltender.

Kolzig recorded 27 saves in his 36th victory, which surpassed Jim Carey’s 35 wins in 1995-96.

Kolzig won 33 games in 1997-98, his first season as a starter, when the Capitals reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

New Jersey 5, Florida 2--Petr Sykora scored twice, and Patrik Elias had a goal and two assists to lead the Devils at East Rutherford, N.J. Scott Stevens and Bobby Holik also scored for the Devils, who won for the first time in three games.

Pavel Bure scored his league-leading 51st goal for Florida, which is 3-7-1 in its last 11 games.