Darcy Kuemper and the Arizona Coyotes bounced back nicely after an ugly loss in Chicago.
Kuemper made 39 saves, Richard Panik and Vinnie Hinostroza scored, and the Coyotes beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Tuesday.
The Coyotes have won 12 of 16 to move one point ahead of the Wild for the final Western Conference wild card.
Kuemper was back on his game one night after he allowed four goals on 16 shots before he was pulled during the second period of the Coyotes' 7-1 loss to the Blackhawks. He has won 10 of his past 12 starts to improve to 23-16-5 this season.
"Kuemps was great," coach Rick Tocchet said. "Even when I pulled him and I went and talked to him after the game you could just tell, he was focused. There was no way I couldn't put him back in the net. There was not much room tonight. He was big in the net tonight."
Dallas 2, Buffalo 0: Ben Bishop made 35 saves for his third shutout in a row, leading the Stars to the victory. Rookie Roope Hintz scored twice for Dallas in the opener of a two-game trip. The Stars have won five of six and remain on top of the Western Conference wild-card standings with 77 points.
Pittsburgh 5, Washington, 3: Sidney Crosby scored twice during a furious second-period rally and Evgeni Malkin picked up two assists to reach 1,000 career points as the host Penguins edged the Capitals. Jake Guentzel started Pittsburgh's comeback with his team-leading 35th goal of the season.
Montreal 3, Detroit, 1: Carey Price made 20 saves and became the winningest goaltender in the storied history of the Canadiens, who beat the Red Wings at Bell Centre. It was win No. 315 for Price, ending a tie with Hall of Famer Jacques Plante atop the team leaderboard. The loss eliminated Detroit from the playoffs.
