Stars Fall Again to Nashville

The Nashville Predators are fighting for a playoff spot, and a third straight win against the Dallas Stars is sure to boost their confidence.

“Early in the season, I think we got them at a good time,” Predator Coach Barry Trotz said. “And maybe they didn’t give us a lot of respect. We’ve played them hard and now we’re earning their respect.”

Scott Hartnell scored the go-ahead goal with 2 minutes 57 seconds left as the Predators remained unbeaten in three games against the Stars with a 2-1 victory Friday night at Dallas.

Vladimir Orszagh also scored and Tomas Vokoun made 27 saves for the Predators, who have outscored the Stars, 10-4, this season. Nashville, battling for the final Western Conference playoff spot, is 9-1-1-1 in its last 12 games.

Derian Hatcher’s short-handed goal with 10:14 remaining had lifted the Stars into a 1-1 tie.

The Stars, who lead the NHL with 91 points, are 3-2-3-1 in their last nine and 23-4-6-1 at home this season.

Hartnell broke the tie, deflecting Rem Murray’s shot from the left boards between the pads of Ron Tugnutt to hand Dallas its fourth regulation defeat at home this season.

Tugnutt had gone behind the net to play the puck, but his pass was poor, resulting in a turnover. Tugnutt was able to get back in position just in time to watch the deflection bounce between his pads and into the net.

Detroit 7, St. Louis 2 -- Sergei Fedorov, who sat out the last two games because of a sore back, had three goals and an assist to lead the Red Wings at Detroit to their eighth straight win. Detroit, which is 11-0-0-1 in their last 12 and increased its lead to four points over St. Louis in the Central Division.

New York Rangers 5, Philadelphia 1 -- Bobby Holik scored twice and Radek Dvorak assisted on three of New York’s four first-period goals at New York. The Rangers are 3-0-2 on a season-best, five-game unbeaten streak. The Flyers, who were tied for the NHL lead in allowing only 2.01 goals per game, had a four-game winning streak broken.

Tampa Bay 4, Colorado 3 -- Fredrik Modin scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:31 remaining to help the Lightning erase a three-goal deficit and win at Tampa, Fla. The Lightning moved within one point of Southeast Division-leading Washington. It was the first time Colorado lost in regulation when leading after two periods (23-1-5-2).

Calgary 2, Chicago 0 -- Roman Turek made 30 saves for his third shutout of the season and 23rd of his career, and Chris Drury scored a fluke goal midway through the third period to snap a scoreless tie and lead the Flames at Chicago. Jarome Iginla added an empty-net goal with 10.7 seconds left for the Flames.

Carolina 1, Minnesota 0 -- Ryan Bayda, the Hurricanes’ 22-year-old rookie, scored with 3:33 remaining and goalie Kevin Weekes extended his shutout streak to a career-best 131 1/2 minutes in the victory at Raleigh, N.C. Bayda has three goals and six assists in 12 games since being called up from the minors.

Florida 2, Atlanta 1 -- Roberto Luongo had 40 saves and came within 35 seconds of a shutout to lead the Panthers at Atlanta. Kristian Huselius and Mathieu Biron scored goals for Florida, both coming in the second period.