Blues pull into tie with Stars with 5-4 OT win

DALLAS -- Alex Pietrangelo scored 2:11 into overtime after Jamie Benn pulled Dallas even late in regulation and St. Louis ended up tied with the Stars atop the Western Conference after the Blues' 5-4 win Saturday night.

It was the second straight night that the top spot in the West was on the line in Dallas after the Stars beat Chicago 5-2 with both teams tied atop the conference.

The Stars forced overtime with a 6-on-4 advantage in the final 2 minutes of the third period when Benn redirected Tyler Seguin's shot past Jake Allen.

The point for Dallas left both teams with 91 points with 12 games remaining. The Blackhawks have 88 points with 13 games to play.

Dallas' Jason Spezza had two goals for a six-game goal streak, the longest of his career.

Kevin Shattenkirk also had a pair of goals and Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who won their sixth straight.

The Stars had pulled goalie Antti Niemi while Robby Fabbri was off for hooking late in regulation when Seguin sent a shot from just inside the blue line that Benn tipped past Allen for his 34th goal with 1:12 remaining and the power play about to end.

On Pietrangelo's overtime goal, he took a pass from Paul Stastny on the left side, skated across the top of the faceoff circle toward the middle and beat Niemi from about 30 feet with no interference in front of the goalie.

Niemi had 31 saves in his first start since March 1, when he was pulled in the second period of a 5-3 loss to Nashville after giving up four goals on 18 shots. He hasn't won since Feb. 23.

Allen finished with 34 saves in his ninth straight start since the rookie missed a month and a half with a lower-body injury. He has a .929 save percentage during the six-game winning streak.

The teams traded goals until Shattenkirk beat Niemi on a wraparound for a 3-2 lead midway through the second period. Shattenkirk made it a two-goal game with a 60-foot slap shot from just inside the blue line in the final minute of the period.

About a minute after Tarasenko had the first of St. Louis' two 4-on-4 goals and his 34th of the season early in the second period, Spezza scored on a power-play tap-in in the crease for a 2-2 tie.

Spezza pulled Dallas to 4-3 early in the third period with a similarly easy shot into an open net after Alex Goligoski's shot ricocheted to him for his 28th of the season.

Stastny now has 38 points (17 goals, 21 assists) in 37 games against Dallas after also assisting on Troy Brouwer's goal that opened the scoring and on Shattenkirk's first goal.

Cody Eakin answered Brouwer's goal by racing to run down a long pass from Benn and beating Allen over his glove before falling on his backside while celebrating the tally.