PITTSBURGH: Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary scored power-play goals and Scott Wilson picked up his eight of the season as the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 on Sunday.
Matt Murray finished with 33 saves for the Penguins, who moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division with a week to go in the regular season.
Jeff Skinner collected his 33rd goal of the season for Carolina and Justin Faulk’s 17th of the year halfway through the third period gave the Hurricanes momentum but Pittsburgh tightened up in front of Murray to beat Carolina for the seventh straight time.
Eddie Lack made 23 stops for the Hurricanes in his first start since being taken to the hospital with a strained neck last week. The loss inched Carolina closer to missing the playoffs for an eighth consecutive season.
Capitals 3 Blue Jackets 2: In Columbus, Ohio, Braden Holtby stopped 35 shots, Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist and Washington held on to beat Columbus.
T.J. Oshie and Matt Niskanen also scored for the Capitals, who improved to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. Washington, with a league-best 112 points, leads Pittsburgh by five points in the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets are another point back in third.
Holtby’s 41st win of the season also tied him with his Blue Jackets counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky for best in the league.
Bobrovsky finished with 27 saves, and Jack Johnson and Kyle Quincey scored in the third period for Columbus, which has lost three straight games for the first time this season.
Blues 4 Predators 1: In St. Louis, Alexander Steen scored the tiebreaking goal early in the second period, David Perron had a goal and two assists, and St. Louis prevented Nashville from clinching a playoff berth.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Joel Edmundson also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 35 shots as St. Louis earned at least at point for the ninth straight game (7-0-2). Allen improved to 9-1-2 with two shutouts and 16 goals allowed his past 12 starts.
Ryan Johansen scored for Nashville and Juuse Saros finished with 21 saves. The Predators had won four of the last five meetings with St. Louis. Nashville needed one point in the game to clinch a postseason spot, but can still qualify if Los Angeles doesn’t win against Arizona later Sunday.
Islanders 4 Sabres 2: In Buffalo, New York, Anders Lee scored third-period goals a little more than five minutes apart, and New York overcame the absence of captain John Tavares to stay in the playoff hunt.
Cal Clutterbuck and Joshua Ho-Sang also scored and Jaroslav Halak stopped 35 shots to improve to 3-1 since being recalled from the minors.
With four games left, New York earned its 86th point to inch within five of Ottawa for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card.
Bruins 3 Blackhawks 2: In Chicago, backup goalie Anton Khudobin made 41 saves and Boston held on for its fifth straight win.
Ryan Spooner, Patrice Bergeron and Kevan Miller scored for the Bruins, who jumped over idle Toronto and Ottawa into second place in the Atlantic Division. Boston began the day in wild-card position, four points ahead of Tampa Bay for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Chicago’s Artemi Panarin extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with his 29th. Jordin Tootoo also scored for the Blackhawks, who got 26 saves from Corey Crawford in their final regular-season home game.
The Blackhawks clinched first place in the Central Division and Western Conference on Saturday when Minnesota lost at Nashville. Chicago is assured of home-ice advantage through the first three playoff rounds.
Lightning 6 Stars 3: In Tampa, Florida, Adam Erne scored twice and Ondrej Palat added a power-play goal and two assists as Tampa Bay beat Dallas.
Brayden Point scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to break a 2-2 tie, and Braydon Coburn and Anton Stralman also had goals for Tampa Bay. Backup Peter Budaj made 23 saves to help the Lightning move within three points of the idle Ottawa Senators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Wild 5 Avalanche 2: In St. Paul, Minnesota, Erik Haula had a goal and assist, Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots and Minnesota beat Colorado.
Martin Hanzal, Jared Spurgeon, Zach Parise and Jordan Schroeder also scored for Minnesota, which recovered from a tough 3-0 loss at Nashville a day earlier with a resounding win against the NHL’s worst team.
The Wild remained seven points ahead of St. Louis for second place in the Central Division and closed to within seven points of first-place Chicago.
Matt Murray finished with 33 saves for the Penguins, who moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division with a week to go in the regular season.
Jeff Skinner collected his 33rd goal of the season for Carolina and Justin Faulk’s 17th of the year halfway through the third period gave the Hurricanes momentum but Pittsburgh tightened up in front of Murray to beat Carolina for the seventh straight time.
Eddie Lack made 23 stops for the Hurricanes in his first start since being taken to the hospital with a strained neck last week. The loss inched Carolina closer to missing the playoffs for an eighth consecutive season.
Capitals 3 Blue Jackets 2: In Columbus, Ohio, Braden Holtby stopped 35 shots, Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist and Washington held on to beat Columbus.
T.J. Oshie and Matt Niskanen also scored for the Capitals, who improved to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. Washington, with a league-best 112 points, leads Pittsburgh by five points in the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets are another point back in third.
Holtby’s 41st win of the season also tied him with his Blue Jackets counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky for best in the league.
Bobrovsky finished with 27 saves, and Jack Johnson and Kyle Quincey scored in the third period for Columbus, which has lost three straight games for the first time this season.
Blues 4 Predators 1: In St. Louis, Alexander Steen scored the tiebreaking goal early in the second period, David Perron had a goal and two assists, and St. Louis prevented Nashville from clinching a playoff berth.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Joel Edmundson also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 35 shots as St. Louis earned at least at point for the ninth straight game (7-0-2). Allen improved to 9-1-2 with two shutouts and 16 goals allowed his past 12 starts.
Ryan Johansen scored for Nashville and Juuse Saros finished with 21 saves. The Predators had won four of the last five meetings with St. Louis. Nashville needed one point in the game to clinch a postseason spot, but can still qualify if Los Angeles doesn’t win against Arizona later Sunday.
Islanders 4 Sabres 2: In Buffalo, New York, Anders Lee scored third-period goals a little more than five minutes apart, and New York overcame the absence of captain John Tavares to stay in the playoff hunt.
Cal Clutterbuck and Joshua Ho-Sang also scored and Jaroslav Halak stopped 35 shots to improve to 3-1 since being recalled from the minors.
With four games left, New York earned its 86th point to inch within five of Ottawa for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card.
Bruins 3 Blackhawks 2: In Chicago, backup goalie Anton Khudobin made 41 saves and Boston held on for its fifth straight win.
Ryan Spooner, Patrice Bergeron and Kevan Miller scored for the Bruins, who jumped over idle Toronto and Ottawa into second place in the Atlantic Division. Boston began the day in wild-card position, four points ahead of Tampa Bay for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Chicago’s Artemi Panarin extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with his 29th. Jordin Tootoo also scored for the Blackhawks, who got 26 saves from Corey Crawford in their final regular-season home game.
The Blackhawks clinched first place in the Central Division and Western Conference on Saturday when Minnesota lost at Nashville. Chicago is assured of home-ice advantage through the first three playoff rounds.
Lightning 6 Stars 3: In Tampa, Florida, Adam Erne scored twice and Ondrej Palat added a power-play goal and two assists as Tampa Bay beat Dallas.
Brayden Point scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to break a 2-2 tie, and Braydon Coburn and Anton Stralman also had goals for Tampa Bay. Backup Peter Budaj made 23 saves to help the Lightning move within three points of the idle Ottawa Senators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Wild 5 Avalanche 2: In St. Paul, Minnesota, Erik Haula had a goal and assist, Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots and Minnesota beat Colorado.
Martin Hanzal, Jared Spurgeon, Zach Parise and Jordan Schroeder also scored for Minnesota, which recovered from a tough 3-0 loss at Nashville a day earlier with a resounding win against the NHL’s worst team.
The Wild remained seven points ahead of St. Louis for second place in the Central Division and closed to within seven points of first-place Chicago.
