Dallas Stars double up St. Louis Blues, even series

Mats Zuccarello, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov each collected a pair of assists as the host Dallas Stars beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Wednesday night and evened their Western Conference semi-final series at two wins apiece.Four different players scored goals for Dallas, which got 27 saves from Ben Bishop.Game 5 of the best-of-seven series will be Friday in St. Louis.With his team trailing 1-0, Jason Dickinson put the Stars on the board with an on-the-spot tally at 11:23 of the first period. A point shot went wide, but Seguin whacked at the loose puck, and it came to a wide-open Dickinson to bury for his third goal of the playoffs.Jason Spezza scored the go-ahead goal on the power play with 52 seconds remaining in the opening frame when he fired a rocket of a slap shot from the top of the right circle.Blues goalie Jordan Binnington made a series of big saves early in the second period, but his team’s loose play finally proved costly when John Klingberg scored the eventual game-winning goal just before the midway point. After yet another St. Louis neutral-zone turnover, the Stars rushed up the ice, and Klingberg ripped a top-corner shot after taking a cross-ice pass from Seguin.The hosts didn’t let up, and rookie Roope Hintz made it a 4-1 affair late in the second period with his fifth goal of the playoffs. Hintz joined a three-on-two rush and finished a perfectly executed rush with his wrist shot.Vladimir Tarasenko opened the scoring, putting the Blues ahead 1-0 five minutes into the clash, and Robert Thomas rounded out the offense by scoring his first NHL playoff goal with 6:16 left in the third period. Binnington stopped 27 shots for the Blues, who lost on the road for the first time in the playoffs.Binnington also took a pair of penalties at the end of the second period, a roughing call against Jamie Benn and a slashing infraction on Bishop as they headed to their respective benches. The blood was boiling after David Perron earlier slashed Bishop on the back as the Dallas goalie was behind his net playing the puck.The Carolina Hurricanes moved to within one win of a series sweep over the New York Islanders on Wednesday, surging to a 5-2 victory in game three of their Stanley Cup playoff duel. Justin Williams scored a decisive goal in the third period to put Carolina 3-2 ahead before late efforts from Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho completed the scoring for the Canes.The victory gives Carolina a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, leaving them with the opportunity to wrap up a clean sweep in game four before their home fans in Raleigh on Friday.“We’re up 3-0. They say the last one’s the hardest, and it always is when the other team’s backs are against the wall,” Williams said. “We certainly don’t want to go back (to New York), but if we have to we will. But we’re going to work our tails off to hopefully get it done in four.”Islanders goalie Robin Lehner later rued a costly turnover in the third period which effectively set up Williams’ go-ahead goal. “Coming into the third period at 2-2 I thought I was playing well,” Lehner said afterwards. “I had a bunch of saves. But it comes down to that play. It was a mistake. I own that one.”Hurricanes goalie Curtis McElhinney meanwhile made 28 saves in a history-making appearance for the home side.McElhinney, who replaced the injured Petr Mrazek, became the oldest goalie in NHL history to start his first Stanley Cup playoff game. “I thought we did a great job,” McElhinney, 35, said. “I think it was even a little tighter than the last game we played. It was a great effort and a huge third period for us again.”In Wednesday’s other game, the Dallas Stars levelled their series with the St. Louis Blues at 2-2 after a 4-2 win at the American Airlines Center.RESULTSCarolina 5-2 IslandersDallas 4-2 St. Louis