DALLAS (AP) With his team getting nearly doubled up on shots

DALLAS (AP) With his team getting nearly doubled up on shots Womens Pavel Buchnevich Jersey , Ben Bishop stopped nearly every one that came his way.Bishop stopped 27 shots and the Dallas Stars held on to beat St. Louis 2-1 on Friday night, moving past the Blues into third place in the Central Division.”The goalie was the best player in the game for either team,” Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock said. ”This was a playoff hockey game, two teams that were desperate. This is as well as anybody’s played against us for a long time.”Article continues below ...Mattias Janmark and Stephen Johns scored for Dallas, which had a season-low 16 shots on goal while winning for the sixth time in seven games. The Stars, who had not been this high in the standings since Nov. 5, are tied with the Blues with 72 points, but have two games in hand.”We really been chasing all year, and it’s a good feeling to catch up with them,” Janmark said.Brayden Schenn spoiled Bishop’s shutout bid with a power-play goal with 1:14 remaining, and Jake Allen finished with 14 saves for St. Louis. The Blues have lost three straight (0-2-1).”It’s a game that we could have won but we didn’t win,” St. Louis coach Mike Yeo said. ”So we have to look at it and make sure that we find a way to win these close games.”Both Dallas goals hit Blues players before going past Allen.”They get two freaky . goals,” Allen said. ”It’s unfortunate. I thought we played a better game than they did.”Neither team scored in the first period, when the Blues outshot Dallas 8-3. St. Louis failed to score on two power plays Vladislav Namestnikov Jersey , and the Stars were unsuccessful on their only man-advantage of the period.”I thought we played tight, didn’t allow them to get much zone offense,” Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. ”Our forwards did a good job of holding on to the puck.”Janmark scored on the power play at 2:42 of the second, getting his 16th of the season to top his total from his rookie season two years ago. It was also his fourth on power-play goal of the season.Bishop preserved the Stars’ lead early in the third as he turned away Schenn’s backhand attempt in front of the net.Johns doubled the lead with 9 1/2 minutes to go with his career-high eighth. Jamie Benn sent the puck across the ice to the right-wing boards. It bounced to Johns in the right circle, and he sent a slap shot into the upper right corner of the net.Schenn pulled the Blues within one as he took a pass across the slot from from Jaden Schwartz and beat Bishop before the goalie could move back in position to stop the shot.Dallas blocked 23 shots – five by Greg Pateryn – and took the puck away seven times.NOTES: Dallas D Marc Methot (knee injury) returned to the ice for only the second time since Nov. 6. … St. Louis D Jay Bouwmeester played in his 1,100th game. … The Blues are the first of six straight playoff contenders on the Stars’ schedule. St. Louis is in the midst of 10 games in a row against contenders. … John Klingberg also had an assist on Janmark’s goal for his 46th helper of the season and his 200th career point. … The Stars’ three shots on goal in the first period tied their season low for a period. On the four previous times this season, Dallas was protecting a lead in the third.UP NEXTBlues: Host San Jose on Tuesday night.Stars: At San Jose on Sunday. CHICAGO — As well as the Pittsburgh Penguins have played of late, they have been anything but perfect.But still, the wins have come as Pittsburgh has tallied a 6-2-2 record in their past 10 games. As they prepare to face the slumping Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, however, the Penguins’ latest victory may have provided more than just points in the standings.Despite again being less than flawless on Monday in a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders, the Penguins will carry some momentum into Wednesday’s road test.Article continues below ...“I think it should be a boost of confidence for us,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan told reporters after Monday’s victory, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “You look at this core group of players Bobby Ryan Jersey , they’re a battle-tested group. They’ve been in a lot of high-stake games. They’ve been in a lot of close games on this stage.“But I think sometimes when you win games like this, especially the way the early part of the season has gone for us, I think it’s evidence that if we play the game a certain way, we can have success. And it’s evidence that we have to play the game a certain way, with a commitment level that’s high, from everybody on the bench in order to win.”Pittsburgh struggled in several facets of the game Monday against the Islanders, which forced Sullivan to make some in-game adjustments. The Penguins won for just the third time in 23 games when they scored three or fewer goals. Although there are concerns moving forward — both from Sullivan and his players — the fact the Penguins are finding ways to win has made some of the shortcomings a bit more tolerable.Still, Sullivan’s team knows it needs to clean things up as they focus on the bigger picture.“We just have to be patient and make sure we don’t beat ourselves,” Penguins captain Sidney Crosby said, according to the Post-Gazette.The Blackhawks enter Wednesday’s game on short rest after suffering a 6-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday. Chicago, which has now fallen behind in 11 straight games, has lost eight straight games and have won only four games since Oct. 25.In their latest setback, the Blackhawks allowed three first-period goals as the Jets barraged Chicago goalie Cam Ward with 15 shots in the opening 20 minutes. The Blackhawks played without forward Artem Anisimov, who did not travel with the team to Winnipeg after he entered the NHL’s concussion protocol Sunday night.According to the Chicago Tribune http://www.officialsenators.com/authentic-adidas-chris-wideman-jersey , Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton did not speculate how long Anisimov, who has tallied 15 points this season, could be out.Chicago has struggled throughout the season in its all-around game but its penalty-killing unit surrendered three goals in Tuesday’s loss, which added to the Blackhawks, who will turn around and play Wednesday before hosting the Jets again on Friday as they look to finally snap their extended losing streak.The first period, which Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane characterized as “embarrassing,” served as a reminder that one way or another, Chicago can’t keep putting itself in a hole as it has of late.Colliton told reporters that the habit that has become a trend that has to change if the Blackhawks have any chance of reversing course.“When bad stuff happens to us, we tend to stop playing for a little bit,” Colliton said, according to The Athletic. “And then the hole gets a little deeper.”