Red Wings edge Stars, close on West lead

Jiri Hudler scored twice, linemate Valtteri Filppula added a goal and two assists, and the Detroit Red Wings hung on to beat the Dallas Stars 5-4 on Tuesday night. Henrik Zetterberg, the third member of the line, had three assists. Johan Franzen and Cory Emmerton also connected for the Red Wings, an NHL-best 15-2-1 at home but 10-11 on the road. Michael Ryder had two goals, Jamie Benn added a goal and two assists, and Loui Eriksson also scored for the Stars. Injuries forced the callup of rookies Jordie Benn, older brother of Jamie Benn, and Brenden Dillon from the Texas Stars of the AHL. Jordie Benn made his NHL debut, earning an assist in the opening period. CAPITALS 3, FLAMES 1: In Washington, Alex Ovechkin and Troy Brouwer scored power-play goals, Nicklas Backstrom had three assists, and Washington beat Calgary for its fourth straight win. Dennis Wideman also scored, and Tomas Vokoun made 18 saves for the Capitals, who improved to 9-6-1 under coach Dale Hunter. Curtis Glencross had the lone goal for the Flames, who have dropped four straight and have one game left on a seven-game trip. Miikka Kiprusoff made 18 saves, and Jarome Iginla remained one goal shy of becoming the 42nd NHL player to score 500. Vokoun has stopped 125 of the last 131 shots he has faced, and the Capitals are allowing only 2.25 goals per game since Hunter replaced Bruce Boudreau in late November. ISLANDERS 4, HURRICANES 3, SO: In Raleigh, Frans Nielsen scored the deciding goal in a shootout, and the New York Islanders earned their third straight win by beating Carolina in a matchup of the Eastern Conference's bottom two teams. Kyle Okposo scored with 1:30 remaining to send the game into overtime, and John Tavares had three assists for the Islanders (14-17-6), who matched their best winning streak of the season. Evgeni Nabokov made 37 saves. Chad LaRose, Brandon Sutter and Anthony Stewart scored for Carolina (13-21-7), and Cam Ward made 33 saves. SABRES 4, OILERS 3: In Buffalo, Drew Stafford and Nathan Gerbe scored 2:04 apart late in the third period to spark slumping Buffalo over road-weary Edmonton. Jordan Leopold and Sabres captain Jason Pominville, who played despite an illness that limited his ice time, also scored for Buffalo. Stafford added two assists, and Ryan Miller made 23 saves to improve to 6-0 against Edmonton. The Sabres won for the second time in eight games (2-5-1). Corey Potter brought the Oilers within 4-3 with 1:50 left, but Edmonton didn't get off another shot. Sam Gagner had a goal and assist, and Taylor Hall also scored for Edmonton, 1-4 during its seven-game trip. The Oilers fell back into their losing ways one night after a 4-3 win at Chicago that snapped a seven-game road skid. BLUES 4, COYOTES 1: In St, Louis, Jaroslav Halak made a season-high 34 saves, and St. Louis snapped its season-worst, three-game skid with a win over Phoenix. The Blues improved to 15-3-2 at home with their seventh win there in eight games. They are tied with Detroit for most home wins. Chris Stewart and Jamie Langenbrunner scored first-period goals for St. Louis, which improved to 16-5-5 since Ken Hitchcock replaced fired coach Davis Payne on Nov. 6. T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund added goals for the Blues. Halak improved to 5-0-3 in his last eight starts. He is 8-7-5 this season, rebounding from a 1-6 start. Mike Smith (15-11-3) made 27 saves for Phoenix after missing six games with a groin injury. Radim Vrbata scored his team-leading 19th goal late in the second period for the Coyotes. MAPLE LEAFS 7, LIGHTNING 3: In Toronto, Joffrey Lupul had a goal and three assists, and Toronto killed four early power plays-including a two-man advantage-in a rout of Tampa Bay. Carl Gunnarsson, Mikhail Grabovski, Darryl Boyce, Matt Frattin, Dion Phaneuf and Phil Kessel added goals for Toronto (19-15-5). Jonas Gustavsson made 21 saves and won in his first start since Dec. 17. Vincent Lecavalier, Steven Stamkos and Pavel Kubina scored for the Lightning (17-18-3). Stamkos leads the NHL with 27 goals. It was the beginning of an important stretch for the Maple Leafs, who will play nine of 11 at home heading into the All-Star break. Tampa Bay was 5-1-1 in its previous seven games.