ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ryan O’Reilly had a hat trick to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Mike Hoffman and Ivan Barbashev also scored for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington made 28 saves as the Blues snapped a three-game skid. St. Louis had lost five straight against the Avalanche since winning at Colorado on Jan. 13 in the season opener for both teams. Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, and Cale Makar scored for Colorado. Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves as the Avalanche lost for just the second time in regulation since March 8, snapping a five-game winning streak. O’Reilly completed his hat trick with a late empty-netter.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— The Golden Knights have run their winning streak to a team-record nine games with a 5-1 victory against the Ducks. Chandler Stevenson scored twice in the first period and collected three points for the first time in his career. Shea Theodore and William Karlsson got goals against their former team to help Vegas move four points ahead of Colorado for the Western Conference lead.
— Kirill Kaprizov (kah-REEL’ kah-PREE’-zehv) scored for the fifth straight game and the Wild clinched a playoff spot with a 6-3 victory over the Sharks. Ryan Suter scored 19 seconds in before Marcus Foligno and Jared Spurgeon tallied later in the first period. Kevin Fiala (fee-AH’-lah) and Nick Bonino also scored for Minnesota and Kaapo Kahkonen (KAH’-poh KAHK’-ah-nehn) made 27 saves.
— Aleksander Barkov scored 24 seconds into overtime to give the Panthers a 4-3 win over the Hurricanes. Florida’s MacKenzie Weegar had a goal and two assists to help the Panthers win for just the second time in eight meetings against Carolina. Florida also pulled within one point of the Central Division-leading Canes, although Carolina has two games in hand.
— Ryan O’Reilly had a hat trick as the Blues beat the Avalanche for the first time in their last six meetings, 5-3. Mike Hoffman and Ivan Barbashev also scored for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington made 28 saves as the Blues snapped a three-game skid. Nathan MacKinnon scored a pair of goals for the Avs, who ended a five-game winning streak and lost for just the second time in regulation since March 8.
— The Stars beat the Red Wings, 2-1 on Jamie Benn’s goal 32 seconds into overtime. Dallas outshot Detroit by more than three times but trailed until Mark Pysyk made it 1-all early in the third. Anton Khudobin (hoo-DOH’-bihn) stopped 16 shots for the Stars, while Detroit netminder Jonathan Bernier (BURN’-yay) had a season-high 50 saves.
— Mitch Marner scored his 100th NHL goal and the Maple Leafs stretched their lead in the North Division to eight points over Winnipeg by downing the Jets, 4-1. John Tavares and Joe Thornton also tallied, Alexander Kerfoot added an empty-netter and Jack Campbell made 25 saves for Toronto. Thornton, at 41 years, 296 days, became the oldest player in Leafs franchise history to score.
— Johnny Gaudreau scored twice as the Flames beat the Canadiens for the second straight night, 5-2. Milan Lucic (LOO’-cheech), Brett Ritchie and Rasmus Andersson also scored and Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots as Calgary improved to 6-1 versus Montreal this season. The Habs hold the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division, four points ahead of Calgary with a game in hand.
