Devils beat sliding Coyotes 2-1 in shootout
DENVER (AP) — Colin Wilson scored his first goal in more than a month, Philipp Grubauer stopped 29 shots and the playoff-chasing Colorado Avalanche earned their fourth straight win by holding off the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 on Saturday.
J.T. Compher and Sven Andrighetto also scored. Derick Brassard added an empty-netter as the Avalanche moved into position for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Colorado had an array of forwards step up with All-Star Mikko Rantanen missing the game with an upper-body injury. Wilson came through with his first goal since Feb. 7.
Grubauer kept up his torrid play by winning his fourth straight start. He's allowed four goals over stretch.
Jonathan Toews and Erik Gustafsson scored for Chicago, and Corey Crawford stopped 21 shots.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, Jordan Binnington made 39 saves, and the Blues snapped Tampa Bay's seven-game win streak.
Robert Thomas, Alexander Steen and Brayden Schenn also scored for St. Louis, which earned its third consecutive win. Binnington improved to 20-4-1. He has won his last four starts and seven of his last nine overall.
Alex Killorn, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos scored for the Lightning.
MONTREAL (AP) — Brendan Gallagher had two goals and an assist, and Montreal earned its third straight win.
Max Domi and Tomas Tatar each had a goal and two assists as the Canadiens (40-28-7) moved three points ahead of idle Columbus in the race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Artturi Lehkonen, Andrew Shaw and Paul Byron also scored.
Making his seventh start in a row, Montreal star Carey Price made 23 saves.
Sam Reinhart, Alexander Nylander, Marco Scandella and Jack Eichel scored for the Sabres (31-34-9), who were officially eliminated from playoff contention. Carter Hutton stopped 37 shots.
HURRICANES 5, WILD 1
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and two assists, sending the Hurricanes to the win.
Jordan Staal, Brett Pesce, Andrei Svechnikov and Lucas Wallmark also scored for Carolina, which picked up its fifth win in seven games to keep its hold on the Eastern Conference's first wild-card spot. Petr Mrazek stopped 24 shots.
The Hurricanes, who own the NHL's longest playoff drought at nine seasons, have a five-point cushion with eight games to play.
Eric Staal scored and Devyn Dubnyk made 28 saves for the Wild, who dropped out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the West with the loss and Colorado's 4-2 win over Chicago.
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Kyle Connor had three goals and an assist in his first NHL hat trick, helping Winnipeg clinch a playoff spot.
Kevin Hayes had a goal and three assists for the Jets, and Andrew Copp also scored. Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for his second shutout of the season.
Pekka Rinne stopped 38 shots for the Predators, who are in second place in the Central Division, four points back of the Jets.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara each had a goal and an assist as Boston clinched a playoff berth.
Steve Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman and Noel Acciari also scored for the Bruins. Jaroslav Halak stopped 31 shots and also had an assist as Boston won its fourth straight.
Vincent Trocheck, Mike Hoffman and Jayce Hawryluk scored for the Panthers, and Sam Montembeault finished with 32 saves.
The Bruins took control with five goals in the second period.
NEWARK, N.J. — Blake Coleman and Pavel Zacha scored in the shootout and New Jersey hurt Arizona's playoff chances, sending the Coyotes to their fourth straight loss.
Drew Stafford scored in regulation for New Jersey. MacKenzie Blackwood made 23 saves in regulation and stopped five of six chances in the shootout.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored for Arizona, and Darcy Kuemper had 31 saves.
The Coyotes had two great chances on a power play in overtime, with Derek Stepan and Clayton Keller each hitting the post.
ISLANDERS 4, FLYERS 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Josh Bailey scored twice 1:23 apart in the third period, stopping a 12-game drought and leading the Islanders to the win.
Nick Leddy and Brock Nelson also scored for New York, which had dropped two in a row and three of four overall. Robin Lehner made 22 stops.
The Islanders (43-25-7) moved within a point of idle Washington for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Robert Hagg and Shayne Gostisbehere scored for Philadelphia, and Carter Hart made 36 saves.
The Flyers (36-31-8) had won two of three. But the home loss against New York is a big blow to their fleeting chances of rallying to the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
RANGERS 2, MAPLE LEAFS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Ryan Strome scored 1:48 into overtime, and the Rangers stopped a five-game losing streak.
Pavel Buchnevich also scored for New York, and Alexandar Georgiev finished with 44 saves.
Zach Hyman scored for the Maple Leafs and Frederik Andersen stopped 26 shots.
On the winning goal, Andersen made an amazing save on Boo Nieves on a 2-on-1 but the puck went to Strome, who stuffed it in from the left side of the net.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Brady Tkachuk scored 2:09 into overtime for his second goal of the game, lifting Ottawa to the victory.
Bobby Ryan and Brian Gibbons also scored for the Senators (26-43-6), who snapped a two-game losing streak. Ottawa has the fewest points in the NHL with 58.
Alex Chiasson, Connor McDavid and Colby Cave scored for the Oilers (33-34-8), who have lost three of four.
PENGUINS 3, STARS 2
DALLAS (AP) — Jared McCann scored twice, including the go-ahead goal on a spinning short-handed play in the third period, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Stars.
McCann has 11 goals in 26 games since coming over in a trade with Florida, and now leads the Penguins with three short-handed goals. He has four overall this season.
Jake Guentzel opened the scoring with his team-leading 38th goal for Pittsburgh in the first period. The Penguins stayed even with the New York Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division with 93 points, a point behind Washington.
Tyler Seguin and Andrew Cogliano scored for Dallas.
RED WINGS 3, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2, OT
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Anthony Mantha scored the tying goal midway through the third period and got the game-winner 19 seconds into overtime, lifting the Detroit Red Wings past the Vegas Golden Knights.
Luke Glendening also scored for Detroit and Jimmy Howard stopped 28 shots to improve to 3-5-0 in his last eight starts.
On the winning goal, Vegas' Reilly Smith — playing in his 500th career game — turned the puck over right in front of the net, where Dylan Larkin fed Mantha, who poked home his 19th of the season, and first game-winning goal.
Smith and Cody Eakin scored for the Golden Knights, and Malcolm Subban finished with 27 saves while falling to 13-2-0 in two seasons at T-Mobile Arena.
KINGS 4, DUCKS 3, SO
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anze Kopitar scored the only goal in the shootout, and the Kings beat the Anaheim Ducks in a low-stakes edition of the Freeway Faceoff.
Carter Rowney put the Ducks ahead with a short-handed goal midway through the third period, but Carl Grundstrom tied it for the Kings with 3:53 left in regulation.
Kopitar then made a one-handed drag move to beat Ryan Miller in the second round of the shootout. Although the Kings are likely to finish in last place in the Western Conference, they improved to 3-0-0 against the Ducks to win the season series against their rivals for the first time since 2012-13.
Kyle Clifford and Jeff Carter also scored for the Kings. Cam Fowler and Rickard Rakell also had goals for the Ducks.
FLAMES 3, CANUCKS 1
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Mark Giordano had a goal and two assists, leading Calgary Flames to the win.
Garnet Hathaway and Andrew Mangiapane also scored, and Mike Smith made 27 saves for the Flames, who snapped the Canucks' three-game winning streak.
Brock Boeser had a power-play goal for the Canucks, who are six points behind Colorado for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Jacob Markstrom had 28 saves.