DALLAS - Bill Guerin is proving he is recovered from last season's debilitating thigh injury.
He recorded his second hat trick in three games Sunday, leading Dallas to a 7-3 victory against Nashville.
"You go out and play hard, do what you are supposed to do and let it happen," he said.
Guerin, who also had an assist, has nine goals, second in the league behind the 11 of Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk. The hat trick was Guerin's fifth, and he has 10 points (six goals and four assists) in his past four games.
Guerin, who missed 18 regular-season games and the first round of the playoffs last season when his thigh muscle was crushed, credited his linemates, Brenden Morrow and Jason Arnott, who had a goal and an assist.
"I've been the recipient of some really nice plays the last few games," Guerin said. "We just need to keep working and keep going out there and doing it on the ice."
Sergei Zubov added three assists and Stu Barnes two for the Stars, and Mike Modano and Niko Kapanen had a goal and an assist.
AVALANCHE 3, RANGERS 2 (OT): Alex Tanguay scored the tying goal in the third and assisted on Karlis Skrastins' winner 1:14 into overtime for visiting Colorado. Tanguay extended his points streak to nine games, longest in the league this season.
Tanguay tied it with 9:06 left when he picked up a rebound of Milan Hejduk's wraparound and banked in a shot off goalie Mike Dunham's left arm. Skrastins' shot struck the right post behind Dunham then caromed off the goalie's skate and in.
MAPLE LEAFS 2, HURRICANES 1: Rookie Mikael Tellqvist stopped 24 shots as visiting Toronto recovered from a 7-1 home loss to Philadelphia a day earlier.
Glen Wesley's failed attempt to keep the puck inside the blue line helped create a two-on-one for Mats Sundin and Alexander Mogilny, leading to Sundin's goal 1:05 into the game. A few minutes later, Ken Klee scored on a two-man advantage.
Tellqvist, up from the minors because of an injury to backup Trevor Kidd, lost his shutout on Ron Francis' power-play goal with 9:33 left.
BLACKHAWKS 3, DUCKS 1: Steve Sullivan and Kyle Calder scored power-play goals for host Chicago. The Blackhawks are 4-1-3 in their past eight.
Sullivan made it 1-0 with 6:14 left in the first with a screened shot from the top of the slot. Scott Nichol made it 2-0 31 seconds later with a rising shot from the left circle.
Calder's goal, 3:24 into the third, came after Jean-Sebastien Giguere, now 1-6, stopped Alexander Karpovtsev's shot from the point. But Calder got it and scored from a sharp angle.
Meanwhile, Chicago will be without defenseman/forward Jason Strudwick for about three months. He will have surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left wrist. He was hurt during Thursday's game.
SHARKS 2, THRASHERS 2: Marco Sturm scored with 2:54 left to rally visiting San Jose.
After Slava Kozlov gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead with five minutes left, the tying goal came after goalie Pasi Nurminen tried to trap the puck against his chest. But Sturm swooped in to score.
Atlanta lost Marc Savard, its second-leading scorer, midway through the second with a sprained left ankle. He crashed awkwardly into the boards after colliding with San Jose defenseman Jim Fahey and is scheduled to be re-evaluated today.
