Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman each scored a pair of goals and the Minnesota Wild finished strong for a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks to clinch a playoff berth Thursday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Kirill Kaprizov notched a goal and an assist for Minnesota (42-21-12, 96 points), which secured a spot in the postseason for the second straight season and the sixth time in the past seven years. Mats Zuccarello tallied a pair of assists, and Filip Gustavsson stopped 30 of 32 shots to earn the victory.
The Wild trailed 2-1 after one period before scoring two goals in the second and two more in the third to secure a comfortable victory which made them the third Central Division team to punch their postseason ticket.
Tom Willander and Jake DeBrusk scored one goal each for Vancouver, which got 34 saves from Nikita Tolopilo.
Hurricanes 5, Blue Jackets 1
Logan Stankoven scored two goals as Carolina started fast and cruised past visiting Columbus.
The victory clinched Carolina a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season. The Hurricanes sit in first place in the Eastern Conference, and are 6-2-0 in their last eight. Sebastian Aho and Taylor Hall each had two assists. Alexander Nikishin, Jordan Martinook, and Andrei Svechnikov scored the team’s other goals. Frederik Andersen stopped a paltry nine of 10 shots.
The Blue Jackets have been outscored 19-9 during a five-game (0-4-1) winless streak. The slump has dropped Columbus out of a playoff position in the crowded East postseason race. Denton Mateychuk scored the Jackets’ only goal, and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 16 of 21 shots.
Golden Knights 6, Flames 3
Mitch Marner scored a hat trick and also had two assists as Vegas rallied for a victory over Calgary in Las Vegas.
It was the sixth five-point game of Marner’s career and his fourth career hat trick. Ivan Barbashev had a goal and two assists and Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden also scored for Vegas, which remained three points behind co-leaders Anaheim and Edmonton in third place in the Pacific Division with six games remaining.
Shea Theodore had two assists to hit the 400-point mark in his career, and Carter Hart, making his first start since Jan. 8 after missing 33 games with a lower-body injury, made 19 saves. Blake Coleman scored two goals and Morgan Frost also scored for Calgary, while Dustin Wolf finished with 28 saves.
Canadiens 3, Rangers 2
Cole Caufield scored twice, including the tiebreaking goal with 5:05 remaining in the third period, as Montreal recovered from blowing a two-goal lead and extended its season-high winning streak to seven with a victory over host New York.
Caufield scored his 48th and 49th goals in spectacular fashion as the Canadiens won seventh straight for the first time since Oct. 18-Nov. 2, 2016. Caufield scored for the fourth straight game and has nine goals during the win streak. His next tally will give him Montreal’s first 50-goal season since Stephane Richer had 51 during the 1989-90 season. Alex Newhook also scored and Jacob Fowler made 22 saves.
Adam Fox and Will Cuylle scored in a nearly five-minute span earlier in the third to make it a one-goal game. Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots as the Rangers had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Predators 5, Kings 4 (SO)
Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist and Luke Evangelista scored the lone goal in the eight-round shootout to lift visiting Nashville to a victory against Los Angeles.
Filip Forsberg, Zachary L’Heureux and Steven Stamkos also scored, and Juuse Saros made 29 saves and did not allow a goal in the shootout. The Predators ended a three-game losing streak and moved ahead of the Kings into third place in the Western Conference wild-card race.
Adrian Kempe scored two goals, Joel Armia had a goal and an assist, Scott Laughton scored and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves for the Kings, who have lost six of eight (2-2-4) and are fourth in the West’s wild-card race.
Panthers 2, Bruins 1
Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves to lead Florida to a win over Boston in Sunrise, Fla.
Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Bennett scored for Florida, with Samoskevich notching a career-high three-game goal streak.
Fraser Minten scored and Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves for the Bruins, who had their four-game winning streak snapped but remain the top wild-card team in the Eastern Conference.
Senators 4, Sabres 1
Lars Eller broke a tie early in the third period to propel Ottawa to a crucial win against visiting Buffalo.
Dylan Cozens, Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto also scored for the Senators, who moved back into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Linus Ullmark made 21 saves.
Mattias Samuelsson scored and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves for the Sabres, who will have to wait to clinch their first playoff berth since 2011.
Lightning 6, Penguins 3
Anthony Cirelli recorded his second career hat trick, Zemgus Girgensons notched his 100th career goal and host Tampa Bay tallied five straight goals to reach 100 points in a win over Pittsburgh.
Trailing 2-1 to open the second period, the Lightning got Cirelli’s short-handed goal, Brayden Point’s score and Girgensons’ century milestone to improve to 8-2-2 in their last 12 games and move into a tie atop the Atlantic Division with Buffalo with a game in hand.
Pittsburgh’s Egor Chinakhov scored twice, and Rickard Rakell tallied for the seventh time in six games. Stuart Skinner made 27 saves.
Devils 7, Capitals 3
Jack Hughes collected two goals and three assists and Jesper Bratt also recorded a five-point performance, fueling New Jersey to a victory over Washington in Newark, N.J.
Hughes boosted his point total to 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) in 18 games since the Olympic break. Bratt had a goal and four assists as the Devils posted their 11th win in their last 16 games and dealt a blow to the postseason aspirations of the Capitals. Washington resides three points back of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Dawson Mercer scored twice, Cody Glass and Dougie Hamilton also tallied and Jake Allen made 29 saves for New Jersey. Tom Wilson and Pierre-Luc Dubois each collected a goal and an assist and rookie defenseman Cole Hutson also tallied for the Capitals. Logan Thompson yielded six goals on 29 shots.
Mammoth 6, Kraken 2
Logan Cooley scored twice and had an assist and Dylan Guenther had a goal and two assists as Utah rallied from an early two-goal deficit to defeat host Seattle.
Nick Schmaltz added a goal and an assist, JJ Peterka and Michael Carcone also tallied and Kailer Yamamoto had two assists for the Mammoth (39-30-6, 84 points), who won their second straight game to maintain their five-point lead atop the Western Conference’s wild-card standings. Goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 25 saves.
Jordan Eberle and Bobby McCann scored for the Kraken (32-31-11, 75 points), who suffered their third straight loss and saw their postseason hopes continue to dwindle. Joey Daccord stopped 25 of 31 shots.
Sharks 4, Maple Leafs 1
San Jose ran its winning streak to four games and continued their push for a playoff spot with a victory over visiting Toronto.
Zack Ostapchuk, Collin Graf, William Eklund and Adam Gaudette all scored for the Sharks, who are tied with the Predators in the Western Conference for the second wild-card spot. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 18 saves.
John Tavares scored for the Maple Leafs, who have dropped two of three games on their four-game road trip that concludes in Los Angeles on Saturday. Goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 21 shots.
Red Wings 4, Flyers 2
Alex DeBrincat scored twice and Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists as Detroit posted a critical road win over Philadelphia.
Lucas Raymond also scored for Detroit, which had lost four of its last five games, all in regulation. With the win, the Red Wings jumped ahead of the Flyers in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Tyson Foerster scored for the Flyers after missing the previous four months with an upper-body injury. Travis Konecny also scored for Philadelphia, while Samuel Ersson made 15 saves.
Stars 3, Jets 0
Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for his 15th career shutout and host Dallas defeated Winnipeg.
It was Oettinger’s third shutout of the season and the sixth time the Jets have been shut out. Arttu Hyry and Adam Erne had a goal and an assist each and Matt Duchene also scored for the Stars, who snapped their two-game losing streak and had been 1-4-2 in their previous seven.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 18 shots for the Jets, who had won four out of their last five and are chasing a Western Conference wild-card playoff spot.
Oilers 3, Blackhawks 1
Streaking Edmonton pulled into a tie in points for the top spot in the Pacific Division after earning a home victory over Chicago.
Adam Henrique scored for the first time in 51 games, while Matt Savoie and Vasily Podkolzin also tallied for the Oilers en route to their season-best fifth consecutive victory. Tristan Jarry made 17 saves for Edmonton, which has played one more game than Anaheim, the other team atop the division.
Nick Lardis tallied the Blackhawks’ lone goal. Spencer Knight made 31 saves for Chicago. Arvid Soderblom had four saves in a brief replacement of Knight due to a skate issue.
–Field Level Media
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