Stars Defeat Blues, 3-1, to Win Division Title

Marty Turco had to make only 12 saves in his return from an 18-game absence as the Dallas Stars clinched the Pacific Division title with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night in Dallas.

The Stars, who have 100 points, eliminated the second-place Mighty Ducks from the race. It’s their fourth Pacific Division title in the last five seasons.

Dallas was 7-6-3-2 with reserve goaltenders Ron Tugnutt and Corey Hirsch during Turco’s absence.

Turco sprained his right ankle Feb. 11 against the Carolina Hurricanes.

At the time, Dallas had the NHL’s best record (33-11-12-1), and Turco led the league with a 1.77 goals-against average.

Minnesota 4, Detroit 0 -- The win at St. Paul, Minn., enabled the Wild to become the third expansion team in 30 years to advance to the NHL playoffs in its third season of existence. San Jose in 1994 and Florida in 1996 are the others.

Pittsburgh 1, Chicago 1 -- The Penguins earned a point at Chicago, but they also extended their winless streak to 16 games. They are 0-14-2 during the streak, which is two shy of the team record. The Blackhawks have won only six of their last 29 games (6-19-2-2).

Vancouver 6, Washington 0 -- At Vancouver, Todd Bertuzzi scored his NHL-best 44th and 45th goals and rookie Alex Auld had to stop only 14 shots for his first career shutout. Bertuzzi also assisted on Markus Naslund’s 44th goal.

Edmonton 3, Nashville 2 -- Cory Cross scored his first NHL goal on a power play at 2:12 of overtime to give the Oilers the win at Edmonton.