DALLAS (AP) — Joe Pavelski and Esa Lindell scored on the first two Dallas shots on goal, and the Stars never trailed in defeating the Minnesota Wild 7-4 on Monday night.
Pavelski put in a backhand 1:31 into the game. Lindell scored shorthanded and unassisted with a shot between goalie Cam Talbot’s legs 1:53 later.
Miro Heiskanen had a goal and an assist for Dallas. Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz, an Jacob Peterson also scored. Teammates Jason Robertson and Denis Gurianov each had two assists.
The Wild’s Kevin Fiala scored twice against Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger.
NHL pushes pause on season
UNDATED (AP) — The NHL is beginning a leaguewide shutdown Wednesday amid an increase of positive COVID-19 test results among players across the league.
Beginning the annual holiday break two days early means five additional games will be postponed, bringing the total this season to 49.
More than a quarter of NHL teams had been shut down through at least the weekend because of the pandemic. The Columbus Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers and Ottawa Senators became the latest to pause all activities Monday because of several positive COVID-19 test results among players.
More than 15% of the league’s players are in virus protocol.
The spread of delta and omicron variants across North America has led the NHL to postpone all cross-border games through the Christmas break and made Olympic participation unlikely.
