Despite taking a 6-2 loss to the host Washington Capitals on Saturday, the Buffalo Sabres ended their NHL-record 14-year postseason drought on Saturday thanks to Detroit’s regulation loss to the New York Rangers earlier in the day.
Logan Thompson made 37 saves for Washington in the convincing win.
Jakob Chychrun, Aliaksei Protas and Connor McMichael each had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won four of their past five games. Washington took a 3-0 lead in just over two and a half minutes early in the first.
Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and an assist and Beck Malenstyn scored for the Sabres, who are even on points for second place in the Atlantic Division.
Canadiens 4, Devils 3 (SO)
Oliver Kapanen scored in the fifth round of the shootout to extend Montreal’s win streak to eight games with a victory over New Jersey in Newark, N.J.
Cole Caufield failed to find his 50th goal of the season, but tallied a pair of assists in the win. Ivan Demidov, Jayden Struble, and Lane Hutson all scored for the Canadiens, who got 35 saves from Jakub Dobes.
Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer all scored for the Devils, with Jake Allen stopping 26 shots.
Avalanche 2, Stars 0
Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon scored goals in the final 9:21 to break a scoreless tie and help visiting Colorado blank Dallas in a battle of the top two Western Conference teams.
MacKinnon added to his league lead with his 52nd goal on an empty-netter after Necas netted his career-high 36th goal. Scott Wedgewood made 17 saves for his third shutout of the season.
Casey DeSmith made 20 saves for the Stars, who fell to 3-6-2 since a 14-0-1 run skyrocketed them up the standings.
Kings 7, Maple Leafs 6 (OT)
Quinton Byfield scored his second goal of the game at 2:33 of overtime to lift Los Angeles past visiting Toronto.
The Kings took a 6-4 lead with three goals in 1:36 of the third period, and Toronto rallied to tie the game. Adrian Kempe had two goals and two assists for the Kings. Artemi Panarin added a goal and two assists while Samuel Helenius and Alex Laferriere also scored.
Matthew Knies had two goals and an assist and John Tavares had a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs. Steven Lorentz, Easton Cowan and Nicholas Robertson also scored. Joseph Woll made 33 saves.
Penguins 9, Panthers 4
Evgeni Malkin recorded his first hat trick in more than four years, Sidney Crosby climbed ahead of Steve Yzerman in the record books and a six-goal second period moved Pittsburgh two points closer to a playoff spot as the Penguins walloped visiting Florida.
A dozen players registered at least a point for Pittsburgh, with Crosby’s two assists giving him 1,756 career points, placing him one ahead of Yzerman for seventh on the NHL all-time points list. Malkin’s hat trick was the 14th of his career. Arturs Silovs stopped 19 shots for the Penguins.
A.J. Greer had a goal and an assist, while Seth Jones, Noah Gregor and Mackie Samoskevich also scored for the Panthers, whose three-peat hopes officially came to an end as they became the first Stanley Cup defending champion to miss the ensuing season’s playoffs since the Los Angeles Kings in 2015.
Jets 2, Blue Jackets 1
Kyle Connor scored twice as visiting Winnipeg defeated Columbus. The loss prevented the Blue Jackets from gaining ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race, leaving them tied with Ottawa, Detroit and Philadelphia, with the Senators holding the tiebreaker for the final wild-card spot on regulation wins.
Conversely, the victory kept the Jets firmly in the mix for the Western Conference’s final wild-card spot. Mark Scheifele picked up both primary assists for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck made 15 saves for the Jets.
Ivan Provorov scored the lone goal for the Blue Jackets, who have lost six straight games. Columbus’ Jet Greaves made 23 stops.
Golden Knights 5, Oilers 1
Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon and forward Brett Howden had a goal and an assist each to lead Vegas to a win over host Edmonton which moved the Golden Knights just a point back of the Pacific Division lead.
Colton Sissons, captain Mark Stone and defenseman Rasmus Andersson also scored for the Golden Knights, who won their third straight under new coach John Tortorella thanks in part to 31 saves from Carter Hart.
Defenseman Evan Bouchard got the goal for the Oilers, who had their five-game winning streak snapped and remain tied on points for the Pacific Division lead with the Anaheim Ducks.
Hurricanes 4, Islanders 3
Seth Jarvis scored two goals to go with an assist in host Carolina’s victory against New York.
The Hurricanes never led until Sebastian Aho’s short-handed goal with 3:43 remaining in the second period. Jackson Blake also scored for the Canes and K’Andre Miller had two assists. Brandon Bussi made 13 saves to improve his record to 29-6-1.
Marc Gatcomb, Max Shabanov and Anders Lee had the goals for the Islanders, who have a four-game losing streak for the first time this season. llya Sorokin, playing in his 11th consecutive game, stopped 36 shots.
Predators 6, Sharks 3
Tyson Jost set up the game winner, the insurance marker and added an empty-netter in the third period as visiting Nashville doubled up San Jose to move into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Filip Forsberg scored twice and added an assist, while Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly and Erik Haula also scored for the Predators. Juuse Saros made 24 saves.
Nick Leddy scored and added an assist, and Macklin Celebrini and Alexander Wennberg scored for the Sharks, who erased a 3-0 first-period deficit but had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Lightning 3, Bruins 1
Darren Raddysh’s game winner also broke a franchise record as Tampa Bay closed its seven-game homestand with a three-goal third period in a win over Boston.
Raddysh netted his 21st goal with 5:31 remaining, marking the most goals by a Lightning defenseman in a single season. Tampa Bay, which also got 21 saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy, clinched its ninth straight playoff appearance before taking the ice due to other Saturday results.
Casey Mittelstadt tallied for the Bruins, who are 0-2-0 on their four-game road trip. Goalie Jeremy Swayman stopped 20 shots.
Blackhawks 4, Kraken 2
Sacha Boisvert scored his first NHL goal as Chicago defeated host Seattle, further damaging the Kraken’s dwindling playoff hopes.
Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and an assist, Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi also tallied, and Wyatt Kaiser had two assists for the Blackhawks, reduced to the role of spoiler after being eliminated from postseason contention with a 3-1 loss Thursday at Edmonton. Goaltender Arvid Soderblom made 25 saves.
Jaden Schwartz had a goal and an assist and Kaapo Kakko also scored for the Kraken, who lost their fourth in a row and for the eighth time in their past nine games to drop into seventh place in the Western Conference’s wild-card playoff race, six points out of the final spot.
Mammoth 7, Canucks 4
Clayton Keller collected his third career hat trick in a four-point game to lead visiting Utah to a victory over cellar-dwelling Vancouver.
Dylan Guenther and Lawson Crouse both scored once and added an assist for the Mammoth, who pulled closer to clinching a playoff berth.
Linus Karlsson scored twice while Jake DeBrusk and Marco Rossi added single tallies for the Canucks, who have lost eight of nine games.
Flames 5, Ducks 3
Morgan Frost scored twice while Joel Farabee and Matvei Gridin both collected one goal and one assist to lead visiting Calgary to an upset of slumping Anaheim.
Goaltender Devin Cooley made 36 saves and held strong while the Ducks frantically pushed for the equalizer in a comeback that fell short after the Flames scored four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead into the third period.
Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish scored for Anaheim, which is winless in five games (0-4-1) and squandered a chance to move back atop the Pacific Division.
Rangers 4, Red Wings 1
Rookie Gabe Perreault scored twice in the third period to deliver his first career hat trick as New York shut down visiting Detroit.
Jaroslav Chmelar also scored a goal, Adam Fox had two assists and Jonathan Quick narrowly missed a shutout, making 31 saves for the Rangers and allowing his only goal with 33 seconds left.
David Perron scored a goal and John Gibson made 16 saves for the Red Wings, who have lost five of seven to hinder their playoff chances.
Wild 4, Senators 1
Ryan Hartman scored twice for Minnesota in a win against Ottawa in Saint Paul, Minn.
Jonas Brodin and Jake Middleton also scored, Mats Zuccarello had two assists and Jesper Wallstedt made 33 saves for the Wild, who have won two straight for the first time in a month.
Drake Batherson scored a late goal and Linus Ullmark made 19 saves for the Senators, who remain in the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference despite having lost four of five.
