DALLAS (AP) — The Chicago Blackhawks made the most of a couple of odd-man rushes and another solid performance for Corey Crawford.Alex DeBrincat and David Kampf scored in the first period Karl Alzner Jersey Womens , and the Blackhawks beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Saturday night.Crawford helped Chicago shut out Dallas for the last 53:37 in the team’s second straight win. Crawford made 26 saves in his third victory in four games since recovering from a concussion.“Right from the first faceoff it was intense,” Crawford said. “All our guys were into the game. Guys were making great plays. Smart plays.“We blocked a lot of shots.”Connor Murphy had a game-high seven of Chicago’s 21 blocked shots. Dallas finished with 28 blocks, including five by Roope Hintz.Murphy also started the play that ended with the Blackhawks’ tiebreaking goal in the first. He dived to bat the puck out to Patrick Kane, who skated through the neutral zone and passed to DeBrincat behind the Dallas defense. He had an easy wrist shot from the slot 36 seconds before the period ended.“I saw Murphy block the shot,” said DeBrincat, who has 37 goals this season after he finished with 28 last year. “I think their defense went low, so he chipped it up to Kane and I just kind of took off. Kane made a good play to get me in behind the defense and I just tried to come across and go back far side.”Alexander Radulov scored for Dallas, and Anton Khudobin made 37 saves.Dallas maintained its lead for the first wild card in the Western Conference, but slipped to four points behind third-place St. Louis in the Central Division. The Stars had won four in a row.Chicago jumped in front when Kampf and Chris Kunitz combined on a textbook 2-on-1. Kampf skated down the right side, passed across to Kunitz, received a return pass and beat Khudobin 5:10 into the first period.“Our defensemen were at the top of the circles and our forwards were not coming back hard so that doesn’t allow us to stop and go back at pucks Joel Armia Jersey Womens ,” Dallas coach Jim Montgomery. “That led to a lot of odd-man rushes.”It was the first goal allowed by Dallas in three games. The Stars were coming off consecutive shutouts against Colorado and the New York Rangers.Radulov scored his fourth goal in two games at 6:23 of the first. He took the rebound of a shot by Tyler Seguin, skated to the right of the net and slid a backhand behind Crawford.NOTES: The Stars missed a chance to tie a franchise record with a third straight shutout. The first-year expansion Minnesota North Stars’ Cesare Maniago had three in a row Dec. 13-16, 1967. … In 47 career games against Dallas, Kane has 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists). … The visiting team has won all three games to date in the season series. … The only three power plays were for Chicago, which fell to 2 for 23 over six-plus games. The Stars have been successful on their last 14 penalty kills. … The Blackhawks had a 77-60 advantage in total shots.UP NEXTBlackhawks: Return home to play Arizona on Monday.Stars: Begin a two-game trip at Buffalo on Tuesday. PITTSBURGH (AP) — Matt Cullen is well-versed in the electricity that creeps into a locker room when the games dwindle down to a precious few and the playoffs loom. It’s one of the main reasons the veteran Pittsburgh Penguins center — at 42 the NHL’s oldest player — keeps coming back for more.When Cullen arrived at work Sunday for Pittsburgh’s pivotal showdown with Carolina, the vibe was unmistakable and familiar. So was the result.Cullen scored a goal and added an assist and the Penguins took a major step toward locking up a postseason spot for a 13th consecutive year with a 3-1 victory over the Hurricanes.“We had a real playoff feel in here which is good and the energy in the building was great,” Cullen said. “It was a big game for our team. Obviously it’s a huge two points.”Pittsburgh sits at 97 points with three games left in the regular season. The Penguins need two points — be it a victory in any fashion, a pair of overtime losses or any single loss by Montreal — to extend the NHL’s longest active postseason streak.“I think we still have some really good opportunities in front of us,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “Until that regular season is over, we’ve got to continue to grab points. We’ve got to make the playoffs first and foremost. Then we can look at the opportunities beyond. This was a big opportunity tonight.”Carolina’s bid to reach the postseason for the first time in a decade took a hit. The loss combined with Columbus’ win in Buffalo dropped the Hurricanes to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Carolina has 93 points Torey Krug Jersey , just one ahead of the Canadiens with a week to go.Jaccob Slavin’s power-play goal with just under eight minutes to go spoiled Murray’s bid for a shutout but by then the Penguins were firmly in control. Curtis McElhinney finished with 25 saves while losing for the third time in four starts. A day removed from a lopsided win in Philadelphia, the Hurricanes spent the first two periods running in place against Pittsburgh.“Just didn’t have any jump, I guess,” Carolina defenseman Justin Faulk said. “We were pretty flat. We didn’t make smart decisions. It cost us, I think.”Playing without injured stars Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, the Penguins relied on their depth and the kind of defensive grit they’ve lacked at times their at times wildly uneven season. Carolina came in leading the NHL in shots per game (34.5) and while it did manage to eventually get 38 on Murray, Pittsburgh blocked 23 others and clogged the ice in front of its goaltender.“We didn’t really get to our game until about halfway through and then it’s pretty much you’re just chasing it and it’s tough,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said.Cullen and fourth-line mates Garrett Wilson and Adam Johnson provided the Penguins an early jolt. Wilson put the Penguins in front just past the midway point of the first period, crashing the net following a feed by Cullen from the corner and then jabbing at the puck until it emerged from the pile of bodies surrounding McElhinney and slid across the goal line.Cullen, playing in his 1,513th career game — one shy of tying Hall of Famer Steve Yzerman for 19th on the NHL’s all-time list — doubled Pittsburgh’s advantage late in the first period when he and Olli Maatta broke in on McElhinney 2-on-1. Cullen looked at Maatta Womens Tuukka Rask Jersey , but opted to zip a wrist shot from the right circle that sailed over McElhinney’s right arm and into the net for his seventh of the season.Patric Hornqvist, who left briefly in the first period when his head hit the boards while getting checked by Carolina’s Dougie Hamilton, earned a measure of revenge 46 seconds into the third period when he collected a blind backhanded drop pass from Dominik Simon and beat McElhinney from the bottom of the right circle. The goal was Hornqvist’s 18th of the year and his first non-power play tally since Jan. 6.Carolina mustered little in response.The Hurricanes didn’t reach double digits on the shot counter until the middle of the second period. When Carolina did find space, Murray either came up with the stop or the Hurricanes couldn’t get the bounce they needed.NOTES: Hurricanes D Calvin de Haan exited with an upper-body injury after getting pushed to the ice by Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel. De Haan will return to Carolina for tests. … Letang, Malkin, F Zach Aston-Reese and D Chad Ruhwedel all skated Sunday morning, but remain out with injuries. … The Hurricanes went 1 for 2 on the power play. The Penguins were 0 for 1. … The teams split the season series 2-2. … Johnson picked up the first two assists of his career for Pittsburgh.UP NEXTHurricanes: Visit Toronto on Tuesday.Penguins: Begin a home-and-home series with the Red Wings on Tuesday in Detroit.