DALLAS (AP) — Wyatt Johnston scored his 30th and 31st goals of the season as the Dallas Stars beat the Seattle Kraken 4-1 on Wednesday night.
Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist, and Sam Steel also scored for the Stars, who have won seven consecutive games for the first time since last March 22 to April 3.
Johnston scored his 19th power-play goal — the most in the NHL this season and setting a Dallas season record — for a 4-0 lead. He has three consecutive
30-goal seasons and five multigoal games this season. Hitting pipes twice in the third period kept him from a fifth career regular-season hat trick.
Dallas goalie Casey DeSmith, backup to Team USA’s Jake Oettinger, made 18 saves. DeSmith went into play sixth in the NHL with a 2.37 goals-against average.
Defenseman Ryker Evans scored a third-period goal, and Joey Daccord stopped 28 shots for the Kraken.
Johnston put Dallas ahead 1-0 with 1:19 left in the first period on a deflection at the net. His second score, midway through the second period, went off his leg after a shot from the slot by Miro Heiskanen initially grazed Evans’ stick.
Duchene’s goal, the first of three second-period Dallas goals, gives him seven goals in the last seven games. Steel jammed the puck between Daccord’s pads about four minutes later, and the goal was upheld following Seattle’s challenge for goaltender interference.
Thomas Harley, who played for Canada’s silver medal team in the Olympics, had two assists.
The Kraken lost defenseman Ryan Lindgren after only two shifts following a violent collision with Stars forward Colin Blackwell.
Dallas swept the three-game season series for the third consecutive season.
Kraken: Complete a road back-to-back at St. Louis on Thursday, their fifth straight road game since Jan. 31.
Stars: Host Nashville on Saturday.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
