The Minnesota Wild guaranteed themselves a postseason appearance with a commanding 5-2 comeback victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday evening in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman both found the net twice to lead the charge.
Kirill Kaprizov contributed one goal and one assist for Minnesota (42-21-12, 96 points), which locked up their playoff position for back-to-back seasons and the sixth time in seven years. Mats Zuccarello recorded two assists, while Filip Gustavsson turned away 30 of 32 shots for the win.
Minnesota found themselves down 2-1 following the opening period but responded with two goals in the middle frame and added two more in the final period to pull away comfortably. The victory made them the third Central Division squad to earn their postseason ticket.
Tom Willander and Jake DeBrusk each tallied once for Vancouver, with Nikita Tolopilo making 34 stops in the losing effort.
Hurricanes 5, Blue Jackets 1
Logan Stankoven found the back of the net twice as Carolina jumped out early and dominated visiting Columbus.
The win secured Carolina’s playoff berth for an eighth straight season. The Hurricanes hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference and have posted a 6-2-0 record over their past eight contests. Sebastian Aho and Taylor Hall each contributed two assists. Alexander Nikishin, Jordan Martinook, and Andrei Svechnikov provided the remaining goals. Frederik Andersen made nine saves on 10 shots.
Columbus has been outscored 19-9 during a five-game winless stretch (0-4-1). This slide has knocked the Blue Jackets out of playoff position in the competitive Eastern Conference race. Denton Mateychuk scored Columbus’s lone goal, and Elvis Merzlikins stopped 16 of 21 attempts.
Golden Knights 6, Flames 3
Mitch Marner recorded a hat trick and added two assists as Vegas mounted a comeback against Calgary in Las Vegas.
The performance marked Marner’s sixth five-point outing and fourth hat trick of his career. Ivan Barbashev tallied one goal and two assists, while Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden also scored for Vegas, which sits three points behind Pacific Division co-leaders Anaheim and Edmonton with six games left.
Shea Theodore registered two assists to reach 400 career points, and Carter Hart, making his first appearance since January 8 after missing 33 games with a lower-body injury, recorded 19 saves. Blake Coleman scored twice and Morgan Frost added another for Calgary, while Dustin Wolf finished with 28 saves.
Canadiens 3, Rangers 2
Cole Caufield scored twice, including the game-winner with 5:05 left in the third period, as Montreal rallied from a blown two-goal lead to extend their season-high winning streak to seven games with a victory over host New York.
Caufield netted his 48th and 49th goals in impressive style as the Canadiens won their seventh consecutive game for the first time since October 18-November 2, 2016. Caufield has scored in four straight games and has nine goals during the winning streak. His next goal will mark Montreal’s first 50-goal season since Stephane Richer scored 51 in 1989-90. Alex Newhook also scored and Jacob Fowler made 22 saves.
Adam Fox and Will Cuylle scored within a five-minute span in the third period to make it a one-goal contest. Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots as New York saw their three-game winning streak end.
Predators 5, Kings 4 (SO)
Jonathan Marchessault recorded a goal and an assist, and Luke Evangelista scored the only goal in an eight-round shootout to lift visiting Nashville past Los Angeles.
Filip Forsberg, Zachary L’Heureux and Steven Stamkos also scored, while Juuse Saros made 29 saves and blanked Los Angeles in the shootout. The Predators snapped a three-game losing streak and moved past the Kings into third place in the Western Conference wild-card race.
Adrian Kempe scored twice, Joel Armia had a goal and an assist, Scott Laughton scored and Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves for Los Angeles, which has dropped six of eight (2-2-4) and sits fourth in the West’s wild-card race.
Panthers 2, Bruins 1
Sergei Bobrovsky turned aside 28 shots to guide Florida past Boston in Sunrise, Florida.
Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Bennett scored for Florida, with Samoskevich extending his career-high goal streak to three games.
Fraser Minten scored and Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves for Boston, which saw their four-game winning streak end but remains the top wild-card team in the Eastern Conference.
Senators 4, Sabres 1
Lars Eller broke a tie early in the third period to push Ottawa to a vital victory against visiting Buffalo.
Dylan Cozens, Ridly Greig and Shane Pinto also scored for the Senators, who climbed back into the second wild-card position in the Eastern Conference. Linus Ullmark made 21 saves.
Mattias Samuelsson scored and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves for Buffalo, which must continue waiting to clinch their first playoff berth since 2011.
Lightning 6, Penguins 3
Anthony Cirelli completed his second career hat trick, Zemgus Girgensons notched his 100th career goal and host Tampa Bay scored five unanswered goals to reach 100 points in a victory over Pittsburgh.
Down 2-1 entering the second period, the Lightning got Cirelli’s short-handed goal, Brayden Point’s tally and Girgensons’ milestone marker to improve to 8-2-2 in their last 12 games and tie Buffalo atop the Atlantic Division 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, powering New Jersey to a victory over Washington in Newark, New Jersey.
Hughes increased his point total to 32 (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 damaged Washington’s postseason hopes. The Capitals trail the final wild-card spot by three points 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 scored for Washington. Logan Thompson allowed six goals on 29 shots.
Mammoth 6, Kraken 2
Logan Cooley scored twice and added an assist, and Dylan Guenther had a goal and two assists as Utah overcame an early two-goal deficit to defeat host Seattle.
Nick Schmaltz added a goal and an assist, JJ Peterka and Michael Carcone also scored and Kailer Yamamoto had two assists for the Mammoth (39-30-6, 84 points), who won their second consecutive game to maintain their five-point lead atop the Western Conference 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 chances continue to fade. Joey Daccord stopped 25 of 31 shots.
Sharks 4, Maple Leafs 1
San Jose extended their winning streak to four games and continued their playoff push with a victory over visiting Toronto.
Zack Ostapchuk, Collin Graf, William Eklund and Adam Gaudette all scored for the Sharks, who are tied with Nashville for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 18 saves.
John Tavares scored for Toronto, which has 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 earned a crucial road victory over Philadelphia.
Lucas Raymond also scored for Detroit, which had dropped four of its last five games, all in regulation. With the victory, the Red Wings moved ahead of Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Tyson Foerster scored for Philadelphia after missing the previous four months with an upper-body injury. Travis Konecny also scored for the Flyers, while Samuel Ersson made 15 saves.
Stars 3, Jets 0
Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for his 15th career shutout as host Dallas defeated Winnipeg.
The shutout was Oettinger’s third this season and marked the sixth time the Jets have been blanked. Arttu Hyry and Adam Erne each had a goal and an assist, and Matt Duchene also scored for Dallas, which ended their two-game losing streak after going 1-4-2 in their previous seven.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 18 shots for Winnipeg, which had won four of their last five and is pursuing a Western Conference wild-card playoff spot.
Oilers 3, Blackhawks 1
Surging Edmonton pulled into a points tie for first place 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 straight victory. Tristan Jarry made 17 saves for Edmonton, which has played one more game than Anaheim, the other team atop the division.
Nick Lardis scored Chicago’s lone goal. Spencer Knight made 31 saves for the Blackhawks. Arvid Soderblom had four saves in a brief replacement of Knight due to a skate issue.
