Stars 4, Coyotes 1
DALLAS -- Jamie Benn scored his 40th goal of the season and Antti Niemi stopped 30 of 31 shots for the Dallas Stars in a 4-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday at American airlines Center.
Dallas (47-22-9), who won for the sixth time in its past seven games, also got goals from Patrick Eaves, Radek Faksa and Patrick Sharp.
The Stars have 103 points, two ahead of St. Louis for the top spot in the Western Conference.
Arizona (34-36-7), which is mathematically eliminated from playoff contention with the loss, got its lone goal from Martin Hanzal.
Hanzal suffered an upper-body injury late in the first period and did not return to the ice.
Mike Smith stopped 29 of 32 shots in a losing effort.
Sharp scored an empty-net, power-play goal, his 20th of the season, with 1:11 remaining in regulation.
Arizona struck first when Hanzal scored on an easy tap-in in the slot 2:53 before the first intermission. The goal featured a great passing sequence between Anthony Duclair, who slipped a backhand pass to Max Domi in the slot. Domi then fed Hanzal for his 13th goal of the season.
Dallas answered less than a minute later when Eaves scored his 10th goal 1:55 prior to the first intermission. Eaves beat Smith through the five-hole with a wrist shot from the right circle.
The Stars took their first lead 11 seconds into the second period when Faksa scored his fourth goal of the season from the slot. Ales Hemsky, who had two assists and has 13 points over his past 12 games, sent a pass through the slot from behind the Arizona goal.
Antoine Roussel whiffed on his shot attempt, but Faksa flicked the puck into the net to make it 2-1.
Benn gave the Stars a two-goal edge at 3-1 at 10:43 of the second period. Benn, second in the NHL in goals, scored with a wrist shot from the right circle that traveled in under Smith's left shoulder.
Benn is the first Stars player with 40 goals since Mike Modano recorded 50 during the 1993-94 season, the club's second in Dallas after relocating from Minnesota.
NOTES: The Coyotes scratched D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (illness), LW Sergei Plotnikov, LW Jiri Sekac, D Michael Stone (knee) and RW Viktor Tikhonov. Ekman-Larsson was expected to play but did not come out for pregame warmups. ... The Stars scratched D Jason Demers (shoulder), LW Travis Moen, D Jamie Oleksiak, RW Brett Ritchie (lower body), D Kris Russell (lower body) and C Tyler Seguin (Achilles). ... Coyotes LW Eric Selleck made his NHL debut. He was recalled Wednesday from Springfield, where he had 32 points (22 assists) in 59 games for the AHL team. ... Stars G Antti Niemi appeared in his 46th game of the season. ... Coyotes D Alex Grant made his Phoenix debut. He appeared in two games with Anaheim during the 2013-14 season. ... Coyotes coach Dave Tippett made the morning skate optional on Thursday. ... Stars coach Lindy Ruff held an optional practice on Wednesday.