Pavel Buchnevich, Rangers shoot for series sweep vs Devils
Buchenvich and the New York Rangers are hoping to have another gift by the time they take the ice Sunday afternoon.
The Rangers will look to complete a four-game series sweep of the host New Jersey Devils when the longtime rivals complete a back-to-back set Sunday afternoon in Newark, N.J.
The host Rangers once again beat the Devils Saturday afternoon, when Buchnevich became the first player in franchise history to collect a hat trick on his birthday as New York earned a 6-3 win.
The hat trick was the first in the NHL for Buchnevich, who turned 26 Saturday. He is the 14th NHL player to score at least three goals on his birthday and the second in fewer than two weeks. The Nashville Predators' Viktor Arvidsson had a hat trick on his 28th birthday on April 8.
Buchnevich's big birthday helped continue an extended roll for the Rangers, who blanked the Devils Tuesday and Thursday and are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games. The win Saturday pulled New York within four points of the idle Boston Bruins in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division.
"We're feeling good," said Rangers left winger Artemi Panarin, who had a goal and three assists Saturday. "Obviously, we're winning a lot, but other teams ahead of us are winning as well. We will keep on winning and we need a little help."
There's a chance the Rangers will get some before faceoff. The Bruins are scheduled to host the Washington Capitals at noon ET.
"We're certainly moving in the right direction," Rangers head coach David Quinn said. "We had our hands full today. We're going to have our hands full again (Sunday). But it's really good to see that we've put ourselves in this position to be playing meaningful hockey."
Those opportunities are disappearing for the Devils, whose 34 points are tied with the Ottawa Senators for the second-fewest points in the NHL. New Jersey has lost nine of 10 (1-7-2) and is 9-18-5 against the East's top five teams.
On Saturday, the Devils trailed 1-0 midway through the opening period but gave up a pair of power-play goals -- one on a 5-on-3 opportunity -- in an 81-second span. They soon fell behind 4-0 before Michael McLeod scored to end a streak of 11 straight goals by the Rangers dating back to Tuesday.
"We came out the way we wanted," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff said. "We had the energy. We were playing the game the right way. But for me, you give that team with that skill a 5-on-3, you're giving them every opportunity to create some momentum."
P.K. Subban and Yegor Sharangovich scored within 64 seconds of each other early in the third to pull the Devils within one goal before Buchnevich and Chris Kreider scored empty-netters.
"I thought we had them on the ropes in the third," Ruff said.
NHL roundup: Panthers come out on top of rival Lightning
Vatrano raced in and beat Vasilevskiy -- the NHL's leader with 26 wins -- with a backhander in the second period as the Lightning netminder ultimately suffered a loss on home ice for the first time in 15 games this season.
Brandon Montour scored his first goal with his new team after being acquired from Buffalo. Patric Hornqvist, Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Duclair also notched goals. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 31 shots as Florida finished its road trip with a 2-3-1 mark following a six-game winning streak.
Tampa Bay's Brayden Point, Erik Cernak and Mathieu Joseph scored goals. Victor Hedman's two assists pushed him past 400 for his career with the Lightning, who are 16-5-0 at home. Vasilevskiy (26-7-1) made 27 saves on 31 shots.
Coyotes 3, Blues 2
Michael Bunting scored the decisive goal as host Arizona rallied past St. Louis in Glendale, Ariz., in a battle for the final West Division playoff spot.
The Coyotes erased a 2-0 deficit to snap a five-game losing streak and climb past the Blues into fourth place by one point. The Blues, who have lost two games in a row, have played two fewer games than the Coyotes.
Clayton Keller and Alex Goligoski also scored for the Coyotes, who won their season series against the Blues 5-2-1. Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 20 saves in his first appearance since March 8. Tyler Bozak and Sammy Blais scored for the Blues and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves.
Stars 5, Blue Jackets 1
Dallas rode a four-goal outburst late in the second period in a home victory over slumping Columbus.
Jamie Benn, Denis Gurianov, Joe Pavelski, John Klingberg and Esa Lindell all collected one goal and one assist in the win. Goaltender Jake Oettinger made 21 saves for the Stars, who are on a 4-0-2 roll.
Vladislav Gavrikov scored the lone goal for the losing side. Starting goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped 12 of 16 shots before being pulled in favor of Elvis Merzlikins. Merzlikins made 15 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost five straight games and are in a 2-10-2 slump.
Wild 5, Sharks 2
Mats Zuccarello had a goal and an assist as Minnesota defeated visiting San Jose in Minneapolis, spoiling the record-equaling night of the Sharks' Patrick Marleau.
Joel Eriksson Ek, Zach Parise, Kirill Kaprisov and Nico Sturm also scored for the Wild, who won their third straight game and improved to 4-1-1 in their past six. Goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves. Brent Burns and Joel Kellman scored for the Sharks and Martin Jones stopped 19 of 24 shots before being pulled after the second period.
Marleau, the 41-year-old center, played in his 1,767th career NHL game, tying the league record held by Gordie Howe. Marleau received an ovation from the hockey-mad Minnesota crowd during a stoppage in play eight minutes into the first period.
Senators 4, Canadiens 0
Drake Batherson had two goals and an assist to lead visiting Ottawa to a shutout win against Montreal.
Matt Murray made 23 saves in the 12th shutout of his NHL career and first since a 3-0 win against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 26, 2019, when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Senators did not have a shutout this season.
Carey Price returned from a six-game absence because of a lower-body injury and made 11 saves for the Canadiens, who are fourth in the North Division, six points ahead of the fifth-place Calgary Flames.
Rangers 6, Devils 3
Pavel Buchnevich collected a hat trick on his birthday for host New York, which remained red-hot with a win over New Jersey.
The hat trick was the first in the NHL for Buchnevich, who turned 26 Saturday. He is the first Rangers player to score a hat trick on his birthday as well as the 14th to do so in NHL history and the second one this month. Viktor Arvidsson did so on his 28th birthday for the Nashville Predators on April 8.
Ryan Strome, Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider also scored Saturday for the Rangers, who have won the first three games of a four-game series against the Devils and have gone 7-1-2 in their past 10 games to move within four points of the idle Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot in the East Division.
Capitals 6, Flyers 3
Captain Alex Ovechkin collected two goals and one assist to lift Washington to a victory over host Philadelphia.
Evgeny Kuznetsov added one goal and two assists and Conor Sheary, Anthony Mantha and defenseman Dmitry Orlov also scored for the Capitals, who have won five straight over the Flyers. Defenseman John Carlson set up four goals for his first career four-assist performance.
Defenseman Ivan Provorov, James van Riemsdyk and Wade Allison each scored one goal and captain Claude Giroux notched two assists for the Flyers.
Penguins 3, Sabres 2
Visiting Pittsburgh scored twice in the second period, then held on to beat Buffalo, which was officially eliminated from the playoffs with the loss.
Jared McCann, Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust scored for the Penguins, who held a 3-1 lead after two periods.
Tage Thompson and Casey Mittelstadt each scored for the Sabres, who haven't made the playoffs since 2010-11.
Hurricanes 3, Predators 1
Jani Hakanpaa scored a tie-breaking goal in the third period in just his second game with Carolina in a victory against visiting Nashville in Raleigh, N.C.
Hakanpaa came on board in a trade Monday with the Anaheim Ducks. The defenseman hadn't scored in any of his 42 appearances with the Ducks this season. Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves for the Hurricanes, who finished their longest homestand of the season with a 5-2-1 record.
Nashville goalie Juuse Saros stopped 45 shots. The Predators lost consecutive games for the first time since a three-game streak from March 9-13, with two of those setbacks coming at Carolina.
Oilers 3, Jets 0
Tyson Barrie collected one goal and one assist and goaltender Mike Smith recorded the shutout to give visiting Edmonton a shutout victory over Winnipeg.
Jesse Puljujarvi and Alex Chiasson also scored for the Oilers, who had a week between games. Smith was counted on to make just 26 saves to record his third shutout of the season and 42nd of his career. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl added two assists apiece.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 22 shots for the Jets, who looked very much like a tired team after playing three games in four nights and skating in their first home game after a lengthy road trip.
Blackhawks 4, Red Wings 0
Patrick Kane collected a goal and an assist and Malcolm Subban turned aside all 29 shots he faced to lift visiting Chicago to a shutout win over Detroit.
Alex DeBrincat, Pius Suter and defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk also tallied and Vinnie Hinostroza notched three assists for the Blackhawks, who avenged a 4-1 setback to the Red Wings on Thursday. Chicago finished the season series by winning six of the eight meetings against Detroit.
Jonathan Bernier turned aside 23 shots for the Red Wings, who went 0-for-6 on the power play. Detroit saw its season-high three-game winning streak come to an end after being blanked for the sixth time in 2020-21.
Alex Ovechkin, Capitals battle resurgent Bruins
Heading into Sunday's matinee home clash with the Washington Capitals, the Bruins are riding their first three-game winning streak in more than two months, and a collection of newcomers -- notably the trade-deadline acquisitions of Taylor Hall, Curtis Lazar and Mike Reilly -- are having a big hand in the success.
Hall scored in his second consecutive game, Lazar also tallied and Reilly set up David Pastrnak's game-opening tally in Boston's 3-0 win over the New York Islanders on Friday.
"That's (general manager) Don Sweeney," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Obviously, identified areas of need ... three really good fits for our hockey club. And knowing them for a week, three good people. They wanted to get here in a hurry. They hopped in the car, wanted to get here the next day. Wanted to be a part of it. A real nice deadline day for the Bruins, and credit to Donny and his guys in the pro scouting department."
The Bruins, who have the red-hot New York Rangers nipping at their heels for fourth place in the East Division, have a 3-1-2 record this season against the division-leading Capitals -- although that regulation-time loss was their most recent meeting, an 8-1 Washington victory on April 11.
Boston's strengthened lineup, plus having No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask back from injury, is undoubtedly good news for the Bruins. So was Pastrnak's goal, which snapped a seven-game drought.
"I think I played pretty good the last couple games, was getting chances. Obviously, the puck wouldn't go in for me, but last couple games the chances was there," Pastrnak said. "Frustrating sometimes when you don't score for many games, but especially when they were coming in before. Just gonna stick with it ... work your butt off and get ready for the next game. Try to not let the frustration get in your head."
The Capitals arrive after dropping the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 Saturday afternoon, a game in which Alex Ovechkin scored twice to record his 730rd goal -- which has him one goal behind Marcel Dionne for fifth-most in NHL history -- and John Carlson collected four assists.
The Capitals have won four of five games and have a three-point edge on the Pittsburgh Penguins and four-point bulge on the Islanders for the division's top spot.
Like the Bruins, though, the Capitals are benefiting from their trade-deadline addition. Forward Anthony Mantha, who was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings for a high price, has scored in all three games since joining Washington.
"He's a big body out there, uses his size really well, I think, to protect pucks and hang onto pucks in the offensive zone," coach Peter Laviolette said of Mantha, who has been skating on a line with T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom. "He's got gears in regard to speed, he can really crank it up and is playing with a couple good players. It's a tough line to match up against."
Thanks in big part due to Carlson and Ovechkin, Washington, which leads the league with 158 goals, is thriving on the power play. The Capitals scored twice with the man advantage against Philadelphia, and has a 13-for-36 run going over the last 11 games.
"We all know the importance of it," said Carlson, who leads all defensemen with 42 points and has collected seven assists in the last three outings. "At the end of the day, that's what means the most and it seemed to carry us here through the last 10 or 12 games or so and we have to keep it clicking like it has been."
Stars' second-period explosion downs Blue Jackets
Jamie Benn, Denis Gurianov, Joe Pavelski, John Klingberg and Esa Lindell all collected one goal and one assist in the win. Goaltender Jake Oettinger made 21 saves for the Stars, who are on a 4-0-2 roll.
The win puts Dallas (17-14-12) three points back of the Nashville Predators (24-21-1) in the chase for fourth place in the Central Division. Dallas has three games in hand. The Chicago Blackhawks (21-19-5) are one point ahead of Dallas.
Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz both collected two assists.
Vladislav Gavrikov scored the lone goal for the losing side. Starting goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped 12 of 16 shots before being pulled in favor of Elvis Merzlikins. Merzlikins made 15 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost five straight games and are in a 2-10-2 slump.
With the score tied at the midway point, Gurianov started the onslaught when he and Benn combined on a give-and-go during an odd-man rush at the 10:10 mark of the middle frame. It was the first of four goals in a 5:30 span.
Pavelski made it a 2-1 affair three minutes later when he received a pass from Robertson as he headed to the slot, spun and whipped a backhanded shot into the net for his team-high 18th goal.
On the next shift, Klingberg scored when he elected to shoot on a three-on-one rush, and then Lindell rounded out the scoring when he stepped in from his point position during a flurry and buried a shot with 3:20 remaining in the period.
Gavrikov and Benn traded first-period goals. Gavrikov gave the visitors the lead when he scored at the 6:06 mark, but the Blue Jackets have a miserable 12-9-7 mark when scoring first, and that lead was short-lived.
Benn tied the game at 12:35 by burying a rebound opportunity, which sent the hosts on their way to a second consecutive win over the Blue Jackets.
Wild defeat Sharks, spoiling Patrick Marleau's historic night
Joel Erikkson Ek, Zach Parise, Kirill Kaprisov and Nico Sturm also scored for the Wild, who won their third consecutive game and improved to 4-1-1 in their past six. Goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen made 26 saves.
Brent Burns and Joel Kellman scored and Martin Jones stopped 19 of 24 shots before being pulled after the second period for the Sharks, who have lost five consecutive games and six out of seven to see their postseason hopes dwindle.
Marleau, the 41-year-old center, played in his 1,767th career NHL game, tying the league record held by Gordie Howe. Marleau received an ovation from the hockey-mad Minnesota crowd during a stoppage in play eight minutes into the first period.
Burns gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 12:02 of the first period on a wrist shot through traffic from the right point.
The Wild overcame the early deficit with three goals in a span of 1:12.
Zuccarello tied the score with a power-play goal at 14:35 of the first after nearly fanning on his shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle. The puck slowly slid across the crease and off Burns' skate and into the net.
The second goal, at 15:11, was also a bit of a fluke. Jones stopped Jordan Greenway's shot, but the puck corralled off Erikkson Ek's left shoulder and into the net.
Parise made it 3-0 at 15:47, between Jones between the leg pads on a wrister from the left faceoff circle on a two-on-one break.
Kaprizov added to the lead at 1:14 of the second with a one-timer from between the faceoff circles and Sturm scored on a wraparound at 19:11 to give Minnesota a 5-1 lead heading into the final period.
Kellman capped the scoring at 17:45 of the third.
Oilers too much for weary Flames, 3-0
Jesse Puljujarvi and Alex Chiasson also scored for the Oilers, who had a week between games. Smith was counted on to make just 26 saves to record his third shutout of the season and 42nd of his career.
Edmonton star Connor McDavid, who leads the league's point-scoring race, collected a pair of assists to surpass the 70-point mark. He has collected 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) in seven games against the Jets this season. McDavid has collected at least two points every game against Winnipeg this season. Leon Draisaitl, who is second in the league with 63 points, also netted two helpers.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 22 shots for the Jets, who looked very much like a tired team after playing three games in four nights and skating in their first home game after a lengthy road trip.
The Oilers, who have won five of the seven meetings with the Jets this season, pulled themselves to three points behind Winnipeg for second spot in the North Division. Edmonton also has two games in hand. The teams have two more meetings remaining on the schedule.
Barrie opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 12-minute mark of the second period. Barrie set up for the shot at the right slot and blasted a one-timer for his sixth goal of the season.
Puljujarvi's 10th goal of the season doubled the lead at 6:37 of the third period. While a pair of defenders chased McDavid, Puljujarvi was left alone in the slot and made no mistake with the golden chance.
Chiasson's power-play goal six minutes later made it a 3-0 affair. Chiasson was parked in front of the net when he deflected Barrie's point shot to net his first goal in a month.
From there, the Oilers clamped down defensively for Smith to record the shutout.
Despite the final score, Hellebuyck gave his team a chance, especially in the first period when he stopped both Kailer Yamamoto and Chiasson on breakaway chances midway through the opening frame.
Panthers earn key victory over rival Lightning, 5-3
Vatrano raced in and beat Vasilevskiy -- the NHL's leader with 26 wins -- with a backhander in the second period as the Lightning netminder ultimately suffered a loss on home ice for the first time in 15 games.
Aleksander Barkov tallied his team-leading 19th goal, Brandon Montour scored his first with his new team and Jonathan Huberdeau and Anthony Duclair notched goals.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 31 shots as Florida finished its road trip with a 2-3-1 mark following a six-game winning streak.
Making his Panthers debut after Monday's trade with Calgary, Sam Bennett provided two assists while centering the second line between Huberdeau and Duclair.
Tampa Bay's Brayden Point, Erik Cernak and Mathieu Joseph scored goals. Victor Hedman's two assists pushed him past 400 for his career with the Lightning, who are 16-5-0 at home.
Vasilevskiy (26-7-1) made 27 saves on 31 shots.
Playing his third game with the Lightning, former Columbus defenseman David Savard skated in his 600th NHL game.
After Duclair drove the puck into the offensive end in the first period, Bennett dished a pass back to Montour, who fired a long shot that hit Cernak and went in for his sixth goal at 8:41.
Bennett and Montour -- the latter acquired from Buffalo -- recorded their first points for Florida with the helpers.
On the Panthers' first power play, Barkov fired his own rebound into traffic and rattled it in at 12:31, but Point scored his Lightning-leading 18th just 69 seconds later to trim the deficit to 2-1.
However, Huberdeau gave Florida momentum when he banged home a rebound with only eight seconds left as the visitors headed to the dressing room with a 3-1 edge.
In the second, Vatrano scored his 15th at 17:34, but Cernak slashed it to 4-2 with a blast with 45 seconds remaining in the frame.
Early in the third, Joseph redirected in his 11th at 1:53, but Bobrovsky stopped Point's backhander on a breakaway with just over four minutes remaining to keep the game at 4-3.
With Tampa Bay's net empty, Duclair iced the win by slicing through and outracing the defense for an empty-netter in the last minute to move Florida to 3-2-1 against the Lightning.
Hurricanes come alive late to top Predators
Hakanpaa came on board in a trade Monday with the Anaheim Ducks. The defenseman hadn't scored in any of his 42 appearances with the Ducks this season. This marked just his second goal in 49 career NHL games.
The go-ahead goal came with 11:05 remaining directly off a face-off won by Carolina's Vincent Trocheck.
Jaccob Slavin scored Carolina's first goal and Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net goal with 1:51 to play. Roman Josi matched that with a second-period goal for Nashville.
Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves for the Hurricanes, who finished their longest homestand of the season with a 5-2-1 record.
Nedeljkovic hadn't played since recording a shutout of the Florida Panthers on April 8 as the Hurricanes sort through three available goalies.
Nashville goalie Juuse Saros stopped 45 shots.
The Predators lost consecutive games for the first time since March 11 and 13, with one of those setbacks coming at Carolina.
Defensemen also recorded the first goals for each team.
Carolina had a torrid offensive pace in the opening period, but it didn't find the net until Slavin converted with the team's 24th shot on goal. Morgan Geekie patiently controlled the puck on the right side until Slavin cut toward the slot and was open for a shot that produced his second goal of the season.
The 24 first-period shots were the most for the Hurricanes in any period since November 2018.
After Nashville killed a Hurricanes power play, the Predators posted the tying goal on Josi's spinning move.
Defenseman Erik Gudbranson made his Predators debut after arriving from the Ottawa Senators in a trade earlier in the week. Nashville also had center Matt Duchene back in action following a 22-game absence with a lower-body injury.
Coyotes surpass Blues in playoff race with win
The Coyotes erased a 2-0 deficit to snap a five-game losing streak and climb past the Blues into fourth place by one point.
The Blues, who have lost two games in a row, have played two fewer games than the Coyotes.
Clayton Keller and Alex Goligoski also scored for the Coyotes, who won their season series against the Blues 5-2-1.
Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 20 saves in his first appearance since March 8. He had been sidelined by a lower-body injury.
Tyler Bozak and Sammy Blais scored for the Blues and Jordan Binnington made 26 saves.
The Blues scored just 83 seconds into the game to take a 1-0 lead. Blais joined the rush as the trailer and buried a snap shot off Colton Parayko's drop pass to the middle.
Bozak doubled the lead to 2-0 at 8:14 of the first period on the power play. Mike Hoffman gained the offensive zone off the rush to set up Bozak, who converted his own rebound with second effort.
The Coyotes cut that lead to 2-1 at 1:41 of the second period. Goligoski stepped into the slot to bury a centering pass from Nick Schmaltz from behind the net.
Keller tied the game 2-2 with a power-play goal midway through the period. He ripped a shot past Binnington from the right circle for his fourth goal against the Blues this season.
The Coyotes kept the pressure on in the third period. Bunting deflected Jakob Chychrun's slap shot from the right point to put the Coyotes up 3-2 at the 4-minute mark.
That was Bunting's seventh goal in just 10 games this season.
Binnington stopped a Phil Kessel breakaway to keep the Blues within a goal, but they failed to tie the game while playing 6-on-5 with an empty net in the final 2 minutes.
Drake Batherson helps Senators blank Canadiens
Matt Murray made 23 saves in the 12th shutout of his NHL career and first since a 3-0 win against the Dallas Stars on Oct. 26, 2019, when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Senators did not have a shutout this season.
Carey Price returned from a six-game absence because of a lower-body injury and made 11 saves for the Canadiens, who are fourth in the North Division, six points ahead of the fifth-place Calgary Flames.
Ottawa scored on its first shot of the game.
Batherson's shot from just above the right circle hit Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson up high. Batherson got the puck back and passed it into the high slot from below the goal line, where Artem Zub scored on a one-timer for a 1-0 lead at 3:03 of the first period.
Both teams combined for just eight shots on goal in the first period.
Batherson made it 2-0 at 13:12 of the second period.
Josh Norris intercepted a pass from Paul Byron in the offensive zone and passed the puck ahead to Brady Tkachuk. He fed Batherson, who scored between Price's pads.
Batherson scored again on a power play to make it 3-0 at 15:26 of the third period. Batherson has a team-leading 15 goals on the season, one more than Tkachuk and Connor Brown.
Nikita Zaitsev scored 19 seconds later to make it 4-0.
The Senators had a recent top draft pick make his NHL debut for the second straight game on Saturday.
Shane Pinto, the first pick in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft, assisted on Zaitsev's goal for his first NHL point.
Jacob Bernard-Docker, the 26th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut in a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.
Bernard-Docker and Pinto were teammates at the University of North Dakota the past two seasons.
Surging Penguins power past Sabres
Jared McCann, Evan Rodrigues and Bryan Rust scored for Pittsburgh, which held a 3-1 lead after two periods. The Penguins are 4-0-1 in their past five games and are 5-0-0 this season against the Sabres.
Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry made 28 saves to improve to 10-1-2 in his past 13 starts.
Tage Thompson and Casey Mittelstadt each scored for Buffalo, which is 5-3-2 in its past 10 games.
Dustin Tokarski made 38 saves while playing in the absence of Linus Ullmark, who is out week-to-week because of an injury.
The Sabres played without winger Kyle Okposo, who had season-ending surgery to repair a broken bone in his cheek.
McCann opened the scoring at 10:30 of the first period.
Tokarski steered Mike Matheson's shot from the left point toward the corner. McCann got the puck as it caromed off the end boards and sent a no-look pass from behind the goal line toward the net. It banked in off Tokarski's side for a 1-0 Pittsburgh lead.
Rodrigues upped the Penguins' lead to 2-0 at 5:57 of the second period. Buffalo's Dylan Cozens turned the puck over behind his net. Pittsburgh's Teddy Blueger grabbed it and fed Rodrigues in the lower part of the left circle for the goal.
Thompson answered 44 seconds later to halve the deficit. His turning shot from the slot went between Jarry's pads for his fifth goal in the last nine games.
On a Penguins power play, Rust scored to increase the lead to 3-1. Captain Sidney Crosby aimed for Rust's stick in the low slot, and the latter deflected the puck past Tokarski's glove.
Mittelstadt closed it to 3-2 with a power play goal at 11:44 of the third. From the slot, he one-timed a setup from defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen that sailed over Jarry's left shoulder.
Golden Knights eye sweep of Ducks, tie for first in West
Vegas, which has a five-game winning streak, already has swept nine two-game back-to-backs this season. The Golden Knights enter Sunday's game coming off a dominating 4-0 victory over the Ducks on Friday night and trail first-place Colorado by two points.
Both Vegas and the Avalanche have played 43 of their 56 regular-season games and have 30 victories apiece, the only two teams in the NHL to hit that win mark. But with Colorado in a COVID-related pause until at least Thursday, the Golden Knights, who return home to play San Jose on Monday and Wednesday, are in position to take over the top spot.
"I mean, it's huge," Vegas center William Karlsson said when asked how important it would be for his team to overtake the Avalanche. "We need to win pretty much every game, I feel like. We've got two games coming up against them, too, which will probably decide who is going to be No. 1 and No. 2. They've played really, really well lately. We've got to be on top of our toes every game."
There was no denying that the Golden Knights were on their toes in Friday night's victory, outshooting Anaheim 38-9 over the first two periods, including 23-3 in the second while matching their season high with 51 shots on goal. Goaltender Robin Lehner barely broke a sweat while posting his first shutout of the season, stopping 16 shots.
"I think that needs to be part of our identity, really," said Karlsson, whose goal nine seconds into the second period proved to be the game-winner. "I know that's going to frustrate a lot of other teams as well if we play like that where they get no shots or chances, really. If we can keep playing like that, then we're going to be a tough team to beat."
Vegas entered Friday's game off a 6-2 win at Los Angeles that saw the Golden Knights outshoot the Kings 24-10 over the last two periods.
"I like how we're playing," said Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer. "I don't know if (Friday's win) was our most complete (game), but I think we're starting to feel like our game is going for longer periods in the right direction. We're starting to dictate games pretty consistently here, which is what you want to do down the stretch."
Anaheim had come in off an impressive back-to-back road sweep against San Jose, winning 4-0 and 4-1.
"I think this was a tough game for us," Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg said. "We were coming off two good games in San Jose and feeling pretty good about our game. But obviously tonight is a step in the wrong direction. We kind of played slow. We got stuck out there. Long shifts, just because we couldn't make plays with the puck."
"To me, Vegas is the hardest-working team in our division," added Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins. "They are relentless on loose pucks. They're strong on puck battles, and that's why they're one of the elite teams in the League."
Alex Ovechkin, Capitals too strong for Flyers
Ovechkin has 730 career goals, one shy of tying Hall of Famer Marcel Dionne for fifth place all-time in NHL history.
Evgeny Kuznetsov added one goal and two assists and Conor Sheary, Anthony Mantha and defenseman Dmitry Orlov also scored for the Capitals, who have won five straight over the Flyers.
Defenseman John Carlson set up four goals for his first career four-assist performance.
Capitals goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 22 saves in the win.
Defenseman Ivan Provorov, James van Riemsdyk and Wade Allison each scored one goal and captain Claude Giroux notched two assists for the Flyers.
Philadelphia goaltender Carter Hart was a late scratch with a lower-body injury. Alex Lyon received the start and made 35 saves.
The Capitals jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Ovechkin blasted a slap shot on the power play past Lyon at 3:38 of the first period. The puck appeared to ricochet off the skate of Philadelphia defenseman Philippe Myers. Ovechkin has scored in all six games against the Flyers this season.
Provorov's goal from the point with one second left in the first forged a tie at 1. It was Provorov's 50th career goal.
Washington went ahead 2-1 just 33 seconds into the second after Orlov scored.
Philadelphia tied the game at 2 after van Riemsdyk broke free on a line change and scored at 5:28. The goal snapped a 17-game goalless streak for van Riemsdyk.
Seconds after Nicolas Aube-Kubel was called for a penalty, Ovechkin responded with another power-play goal to give Washington a 3-2 Washington at 6:15.
The Capitals' aggressive play in the offensive zone continued as Kuznetsov scored at 15:02 of the second for a 4-2 advantage.
Allison recorded his first career goal on the power play at 7:02 of the third, but Sheary responded quickly by redirecting a shot past Lyon for a 5-3 advantage at 9:15.
Mantha's empty-net goal at 18:48 sealed the win for the Capitals.
Pavel Buchnevich's hat trick lifts Rangers over Devils
The hat trick was the first in the NHL for Buchnevich, who turned 26 Saturday. He is the first Rangers player to score a hat trick on his birthday as well as the 14th to do so in NHL history and the second one this month. Viktor Arvidsson did so on his 28th birthday for the Nashville Predators on Apr. 8.
Ryan Strome, Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider also scored Saturday for the Rangers, who have won the first three games of a four-game series against the Devils and have gone 7-1-2 in their last 10 games to move within four points of the idle Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot in the East Division.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin, who recorded shutouts of the Devils in the previous two games, made 30 saves.
The Rangers raced out to a 4-0 lead before Michael McLeod snapped Shesterkin's shutout streak at 152 minutes and 37 seconds -- the longest shutout streak by a Rangers rookie goalie since Lorne Chabot had a trio of longer streaks in 1926-27, the franchise's first season -- by scoring late in the second for the Devils, who have lost five straight and nine of 10 (1-7-2).
P.K. Subban and Yegor Sharangovich scored early in the third to pull the Devils within 4-3. Goalie Aaron Dell recorded 24 saves.
Buchnevich took a feed from Mika Zibanejad to end a 2-on-1 rush at 7:26 of the first. Strome scored on a 5-on-3 power play at 10:27 and Buchnevich scored another man advantage goal 81 seconds later. Panarin extended the lead to 4-0 just 32 seconds into the middle period.
The Devils outshot the Rangers 9-4 in the second before finally breaking through against Shesterkin when McLeod put back a third-chance opportunity at 12:37. Subban fired a slapshot over Shesterkin's right shoulder at the 5:34 mark of the third and Sharangovich pulled New Jersey within one 64 seconds later. Dell was pulled with under two minutes left, when Buchnevich and Kreider scored their empty netters.
Malcolm Subban, Blackhawks shut out Red Wings
Alex DeBrincat, Pius Suter and defenseman Wyatt Kalynuk also tallied and Vinnie Hinostroza notched three assists for the Blackhawks, who avenged a 4-1 setback to the Red Wings on Thursday. Chicago has won six of the eight meetings against Detroit this season.
Kane and DeBrincat have both tormented the Red Wings this season. Kane has recorded 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the season series while DeBrincat has collected 11 points (four goals, seven assists).
Subban preserved his second shutout of the season and third of his career by finishing with nine saves in the third period. He was making his first start since recording 28 saves in a 3-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on March 28.
Jonathan Bernier turned aside 23 shots for the Red Wings, who went 0-for-6 on the power play. Detroit saw its season-high three-game winning streak come to an end after being blanked for the sixth time in 2020-21.
Chicago thwarted three power plays by Detroit before taking advantage of a late misstep to open the scoring with 21 seconds remaining in the first period.
Vinnie Hinostroza stripped defenseman Troy Stecher of the puck and sent a backhanded centering feed to Kane, who converted into a gaping net for his 15th goal of the season.
DeBrincat benefited from a fortuitous bounce to double the advantage at 12:40 of the second period.
Defenseman Connor Murphy's blast from the point hit teammate Brandon Hagel in the stomach in front of the net. The puck squirted right to DeBrincat, who scored into the empty net for his team-leading 22nd goal of the season.
Hinostroza set up Kalynuk in front at 1:16 of the third period for his second goal of the season.
Suter capped the scoring by converting into an empty net with 4:33 remaining in the third period.
Sabres' Kyle Okposo undergoes surgery, out for season
Okposo, 33, sustained the injury when he was hit by a dump-in attempt during the first period of the Sabres' 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday.
The Sabres' alternate captain recorded 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 35 games this season, with 10 (two goals, eight assists) coming in the last 13 contests.
Okposo has recorded 519 points (198 goals, 321 assists) in 835 career games with the New York Islanders and Sabres. He was selected by the Islanders with the seventh overall pick of the 2006 NHL Draft.
Sharks' Patrick Marleau can tie games record vs. Wild
Most of those in hockey belong to Wayne Gretzky.
But one of the most revered belongs to Gordie Howe, who played in 1,767 career games.
San Jose's Patrick Marleau can equal that mark Saturday when the Sharks play the Minnesota Wild in Saint Paul, Minn.
Marleau, a 41-year-old center, pulled within a game of the immortal Howe in a 3-2 loss to the host Wild on Friday night.
"I still feel good," Marleau said. "I'd like to keep playing as long as I can, as long as my family is willing to keep supporting me and see me off on road trips and welcome me home coming back. We'll try and keep it going as long as we can."
Opponents have already started to congratulate Marleau on the impending record.
After the Sharks played Los Angeles last Saturday, Kings coach Todd McLellan, assistant Marco Sturm and captain Anze Kopitar all shook Marleau's hand. McLellan was Marleau's coach in San Jose from 2008-15.
The same thing happened Wednesday after a game against Anaheim, as veteran Ducks goaltender Ryan Miller and captain Ryan Getzlaf offered congratulations.
"I don't take that lightly," said Marleau, the No. 2 overall selection in the 1997 NHL draft. "That obviously means a lot to me. ... Those are quick little moments at the end of the game, but there's a lot of history behind those handshakes that I cherish."
The Sharks have lost four consecutive games and five out of six to see their postseason hopes dwindle. They're in sixth place in the West Division, four points behind fourth-place St. Louis.
San Jose hasn't scored more than two goals in any of their recent losses.
"I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win (Friday)," Sharks captain Logan Couture said. "I thought defensively we were pretty good. We didn't give up much, but there wasn't much out there offensively. But we've got to find a way to do more. We only scored one or two over the last three or four games, so we need to find some offense."
Nick Bonino had a goal and an assist as the Wild, who are solidly in third place, won their second consecutive game and improved to 3-1-1 in their past five.
Zach Parise and Mats Zuccarello also scored for Minnesota and Cam Talbot made 20 saves.
The fourth line of Parise, Nico Sturm and Bonino have combined for nine points (four goals, five assists) in the past two games.
"They aren't a fourth line," Wild coach Dean Evason said. "They played great. ...They're giving us a real boost, for sure.
"I mean, clearly it's an asset to have the depth. ... There's no question when you can just roll, and guys are trusting and making those changes at the proper time because they trust that their teammate coming out is going to have a good chance to get the job done as he is, it's a good feeling for the group, for sure."
NHL roundup: Bruins' Jeremy Swayman shuts out Isles
Curtis Lazar added an empty-netter with 1:12 left for the Bruins, who have won three straight since acquiring Hall and Lazar from the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
The win Friday, coupled with the Bruins' 4-1 victory over the Islanders on Thursday, pulled fourth-place Boston within four points of second-place New York in the East Division. The Bruins extended their lead over the idle New York Rangers to six points in the race for the final playoff spot in the East.
Swayman, pressed into duty earlier this month with starting goalie Tuukka Rask battling an injury and Jaroslav Halak sidelined due to COVID-19 protocol, stopped 25 shots as the Bruins killed off five power plays. Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves for the Islanders, who have lost back-to-back games by multiple goals for the first time this season.
Golden Knights 4, Ducks 0
William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson both scored in the first five minutes of the second period and Vegas extended its winning streak to five games by shutting out host Anaheim.
Goaltender Robin Lehner made 16 saves in his first shutout of the season as Vegas won for the fifth time in its past six road games and improved to 3-0-0 on a four-game trip to Los Angeles and Anaheim.
Nicolas Roy and Brayden McNabb also had goals for Vegas, while Mark Stone had two assists to give him a team-leading 34. Ducks goaltender John Gibson had 47 saves in his return after Anthony Stolarz played the previous two games.
Canadiens 2, Flames 1
Tyler Toffoli scored two goals and Jake Allen made 28 saves as Montreal edged visiting Calgary.
With the score tied 1-1 in the third period, Joel Armia won a race to the puck behind the Flames' net. Armia immediately passed in front to Toffoli, who redirected the puck over the line at 15:45 for his second goal of the game. Toffoli notched his fifth multi-goal game of the season and ended his personal six-game scoring drought.
The win increased fourth-place Montreal's lead to six points over fifth-place Calgary in the race for the final North Division playoff berth. The Flames entered the game on a three-game win streak, including a 4-1 win at Montreal on Wednesday. Elias Lindholm scored Calgary's only goal.
Wild 3, Sharks 2
Fourth-liner Nick Bonino stayed hot with a goal and an assist in Minnesota's win over San Jose in Saint Paul, Minn.
Bonino and linemates Zach Parise (goal) and Nico Sturm finished plus-5 as the Wild boosted their record to 20-7-3 since Feb. 18. Mats Zuccarello scored for the third time in two games, and Cam Talbot allowed two goals on 22 shots to go to 10-2-2 in 14 starts since March 12.
Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane netted goals and Martin Jones made 15 saves for the Sharks, who lost their fourth straight and are 3-5-0 in April. Patrick Marleau skated in his 1,766th career game -- one short of tying Hall of Famer Gordie Howe for the most games played in NHL history.
Tyler Toffoli-led Canadiens look to hold off rival Senators
Toffoli will try to lead the Canadiens to another victory when they host the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon.
Toffoli scored both goals in a 2-1 win against the Calgary Flames on Friday, giving him a team-high 21 on the season.
Montreal is fourth in the North Division, six points ahead of the fifth-place Flames, and the Canadiens have played three fewer games than Calgary.
The Canadiens are 19-13-9 this season, and 9-2-4 when Toffoli scores at least one goal.
"He's just got that knack for the net. He's a smart hockey player," Montreal goalie Jake Allen said. "He's not the fastest guy in the world by any means, but if you have a better mind that way, you don't need to be fast, you just need to know where the puck is."
An Ottawa player will make his team debut for a third straight game when Shane Pinto makes his NHL debut against Montreal.
Pinto, a center, was the first pick in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft. He recently finished his sophomore season at the University of North Dakota, totaling 15 goals and 17 assists in 28 games.
"Everybody is just so good and there's not going to be many mistakes out there," the 20-year-old Pinto said of the NHL. "Just the speed part of it, and just making plays, is going to be faster. Other than that, I think our conference did a great job preparing us, so it's not going to be anything too crazy to make the jump."
Jacob Bernard-Docker, Pinto's teammate at North Dakota the past two seasons, made his NHL debut in a 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.
Bernard-Docker, a defenseman, was the 26th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.
"It was pretty special," Bernard-Docker said of his first NHL game. "That was just something that I was trying to soak in. That's what all the guys have been saying to me, they were just telling me to enjoy it and play with confidence."
The Senators became thin on their blue line when they traded defensemen Mike Reilly and Braydon Coburn on Sunday and Erik Gudbranson on Monday.
Victor Mete began this week as a member of the Canadiens, but he'll finish the week playing against them.
Mete was claimed by the Senators on Monday, less than 24 hours after the 22-year-old defenseman was put on waivers by the Canadiens.
Mete has already played two games with Ottawa, and he said he's settling in nicely.
"I wouldn't say there were any nerves," Mete said. "I would just say I was excited to kind of start fresh here and just take off hopefully. The only thing with the systems, it's a little different."
Mete isn't even the youngest defenseman for the Senators, whose blue line corps also includes 21-year-old Erik Brannstrom and 20-year-old Bernard-Docker.
The Canadiens welcomed back defenseman Ben Chiarot on Friday after he missed 15 games with a fractured hand.
Montreal is also hopeful to have veteran goalie Carey Price back after he missed the past six games with a lower-body injury. The Canadiens recalled Cayden Primeau from their AHL affiliate on Friday just in case Price is not ready.
Allen made 28 saves in Friday's win.
Streaking Golden Knights shut out Ducks
Goaltender Robin Lehner made 16 saves in his first shutout of the season as Vegas won for the fifth time in its past six road games and improved to 3-0-0 on a four-game trip to Los Angeles and Anaheim.
Nicolas Roy and Brayden McNabb also had goals for Vegas, while Mark Stone had two assists to give him a team-leading 34.
The second-place Golden Knights inched within two points of the West Division-leading Colorado Avalanche, who had their next three games postponed because of COVID-19 concerns.
Playing in front of fans for the first time in more than a year, the Ducks hardly gave the crowd of 2,000 anything to cheer about as Anaheim's modest two-game winning streak came to an end.
Ducks goaltender John Gibson had 47 saves in his return after Anthony Stolarz played the previous two games. Gibson saved a penalty shot by Stephenson with 5:27 to play.
After a scoreless first period in which Vegas had a 15-6 advantage on shots, the Golden Knights needed just nine seconds of the second period to get on the scoreboard. Karlsson picked up a loose puck in front of the Anaheim crease, after Reilly Smith lost possession in traffic, and scored his 11th of the season into a wide-open goal.
Just over four minutes later, Stephenson made it 2-0 with his 10th of the season. Stone fed a charging Stephenson just inside the blue line, and the center flipped a shot inside the left post and past Gibson.
Roy completed a three-goal second period for the Golden Knights when he scored with 22 seconds remaining before the second intermission. Roy stole the puck from the Ducks' Max Comtois, moved in on goal and beat Gibson over his right shoulder. It was Roy's fourth goal of the season.
McNabb's second of the campaign came at the eight-minute mark of the third period off assists from Stephenson and Stone.
The teams will complete a two-game set Sunday at Anaheim. Vegas can move into a tie for first place in the West with a victory.
Nick Bonino helps Wild get by Sharks
Bonino and linemates Zach Parise (goal) and Nico Sturm finished plus-5 as the Wild boosted their record to 20-7-3 since Feb. 18.
Mats Zuccarello scored for the third time in two games, and Cam Talbot (14-6-3) allowed two goals on 22 shots to go to 10-2-2 in his last 14 starts since March 12.
Minnesota moved to 16-4-0 at home -- an .800 winning percentage. The 2006-07 club owns the franchise record with a .768 mark.
San Jose's Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane netted goals, and Martin Jones made 15 saves for the Sharks, who lost their fourth straight and are 3-5-0 in April.
Patrick Marleau skated in his 1,766th career game -- one short of tying Hall of Famer Gordie Howe for the most games played in NHL history.
In the first of back-to-back games in Minnesota, the Sharks went up 1-0 when Hertl sailed through the neutral zone, banked a pass to himself off the side boards and snapped home his 13th from the left dot 3:32 into the teams' sixth meeting.
The Wild started sluggishly -- outshot 6-1 over nine minutes into the first -- and did not produce much until a San Jose miscue near Jones led to a free puck that Bonino whacked from the high slot.
The shot fluttered by Jones and found the twine to even the score at 1-1 at 9:30. Unassisted on the tally, Bonino scored for the sixth time.
In the second, Minnesota went up 2-1 after a faceoff win by Victor Rask, who kicked the puck over to Zuccarello for his ninth marker at 2:15.
Just 65 seconds later, the fourth line was at it as Parise started a play by banking a pass in the offensive zone back to Bonino, who posted a marker and two helpers in Wednesday's 5-2 victory over visiting Arizona. Parise swooped around the net and chipped in his sixth goal off a pass wide of Jones from Matt Dumba.
Kane stole a puck in San Jose's defensive end and raced in for a short-handed goal to cut it to 3-2 at 13:43 of the third, but Minnesota held on for the win.
Bruins' Jeremy Swayman blanks Isles for first shutout
Curtis Lazar added an empty-netter with 1:12 left for the Bruins, who have won three straight since acquiring Hall and Lazar from the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
The win Friday, coupled with the Bruins' 4-1 victory over the Islanders on Thursday, pulled fourth-place Boston within four points of second-place New York in the East Division.
The Bruins extended their lead over the idle New York Rangers to six points in the race for the final playoff spot in the East.
Swayman, pressed into duty earlier this month with starting goalie Tuukka Rask battling an upper-body injury and Jaroslav Halak sidelined due to COVID-19 protocol, stopped 25 shots as the Bruins killed off five Islanders power plays.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves for the Islanders, who have lost back-to-back games by multiple goals for the first time this season.
The Bruins took the lead in the waning seconds of the first when Patrice Bergeron fired the puck to Mike Reilly, who was stationed behind the net. Reilly tucked a pass through the legs of Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield to Pastrnak, who flicked a shot off the top post and into the net with 2.4 seconds left.
A nifty exchange between Hall and David Krejci capped an end-to-end rush in the first minute of the second period.
Hall took a pass from Steven Kampfer and passed to Krejci as Mayfield tried picking off the puck. Hall then sprinted ahead of Mayfield as Krejci passed into the crease, where Hall got his stick on the puck and fired it past Sorokin 47 seconds after faceoff.
It was the second goal in as many games for Hall, who had just two goals in 37 games for the Sabres.
The Islanders pulled Sorokin with under two minutes left but didn't mount a serious threat before Lazar scored the empty-netter.
Tyler Toffoli tallies twice as Habs edge Flames
With the score tied 1-1 in the third period, Joel Armia won a race to the puck behind the Flames' net. Armia immediately passed in front to Toffoli, who redirected the puck over the line at 15:45 for his second goal of the game.
Toffoli notched his fifth multi-goal game of the season and ended his personal six-game scoring drought.
The win increased fourth-place Montreal's lead to six points over fifth-place Calgary in the race for the final North Division playoff berth.
The Flames entered the game on a three-game win streak, including a 4-1 win at Montreal on Wednesday.
Nick Suzuki assisted on both of Toffoli's goals.
Elias Lindholm scored Calgary's only goal. Lindholm has seven points (three goals, four assists) over a five-game points streak.
Calgary outshot Montreal by a 29-20 margin, but Allen withstood the pressure. Allen's night was highlighted by a huge stick save to deny Lindholm on an open-net chance at the 7:45 mark of the second period.
Allen also received some major help from his goalposts. Calgary's Rasmus Andersson, Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk all hit the iron within a three-minute span late in the second period.
After a scoreless first period, the Canadiens took the lead at 9:32 of the second. Suzuki sent a pass from behind the net to a wide-open Toffoli cruising into the slot, and Toffoli's well-aimed wrist shot sailed just under the crossbar.
While Lindholm was unlucky to be denied by Allen's big stick save, the Calgary forward got some good fortune in scoring the equalizer 6:30 into the third period.
After misfiring on a one-timer attempt from the slot, Lindholm sent a backhanded shot from his knees that deflected off Montreal defenseman Ben Chiarot and past Allen.
Chiarot returned to the lineup after missing the previous 15 games due to a broken hand.
Jacob Markstrom stopped 18 shots to lose for the first time in five starts against the Canadiens this season.
Oilers return to action on road at Jets
So, the Oilers will return to action Saturday on the road against the Winnipeg Jets, giving them a full week between games since they lost 5-0 to the Calgary Flames on April 10.
"It's tough to feel bad for ourselves," captain Connor McDavid said of the change-up his team faced. "There are people not even allowed to go into work, not even allowed to go to school and not allowed to do all the things that they'd normally do."
"We're obviously very fortunate to come into work and to get to live a fairly normal life so I think it would be hard for us to complain about some scheduling issues and stuff like that," McDavid added.
The Oilers have 14 games remaining in the regular season and head into Saturday's clash five points behind the Jets for the second spot in the North Division, albeit with two games in hand. Edmonton, which will be without top-six forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, will return home after the game to face the Montreal Canadiens for a pair of clashes and then return to Winnipeg for two more tilts.
The Oilers have won four of the six meetings with the Jets so far this season, and they know the rest received over the past week will help them down the stretch.
"We've had good focus the last couple of days," coach Dave Tippett said. "We had some good meetings, some good practices about trying to continue to build our game. This is the real stretch drive here. We've got to play well to get in the playoffs and then we want to be playing well if we get in the playoffs. That's our mindset here. The last 14 games are very important about how we prepare, how we play each night to build our game."
The Jets return home on the heels of a 5-2 win over the division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday and have won five of six games.
"We grinded the whole game," said forward Mark Scheifele, who collected one goal and three points in Toronto and is riding a six-game streak in which he has eight points. "We didn't like our whole game, but we definitely answered the call when we needed to. That's a big win to end a long, long road trip."
After playing 17 of 22 games on the road, the Jets have five straight home games to make a push for the top spot in the division.
"It will be nice to sleep in our own beds. That's for sure," Scheifele added. "You feel like you're lying in a hotel room pretty much all day. It's just a matter of getting our rest, and when we come to the rink, come with a purpose and that's what we need to do, we know, coming forward."
Winnipeg has played a league-high 25 road games and also leads with 16 road victories.
"When I looked at the schedule, that block from March 8 to the 19th of April for me we were either going to sink or swim on that," coach Paul Maurice said. "Maybe what's happened is we found our identity in that. I fired it out on purpose a lot of times so that people would fully appreciate this hasn't been easy, and this team's done a good job."
Stars look to continue playoff push vs. Blue Jackets
With 14 games remaining in the season, the Stars sit five points back of the Nashville Predators for the fourth spot in the Central Division, and they hold three games in hand.
Dallas is also five points ahead of the Blue Jackets, whom they defeated 4-1 on Thursday.
Dallas, which reached the Stanley Cup Final last season in a surprising run before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning, is on a 3-0-2 roll because the team is starting to fire on all cylinders.
The Stars' top line Joe Pavelski, Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson has been playing well, but the trio of Jamie Benn, Jason Dickinson and Denis Gurianov is breaking out over the past couple of weeks. Gurianov, a 20-goal rookie last season, scored twice and added an assist in the comeback victory over the Blue Jackets, snapping a 10-game goal drought.
"We won the game and we got two points. It's important points for us," Gurianov said. "We are fighting for the playoffs. It feels good to score two goals and help my team to win."
Heading into their final clash with Columbus this season, Dallas has won four of the seven meetings (4-2-1) and is looking forward to a favorable schedule ahead, with the next four clashes against the last-place Detroit Red Wings.
"With this group, I think, if we get one goal we are going to get more," Benn said after Thursday's win. "Denis got us going and we just kept rolling from there."
The Blue Jackets have lost four straight games and are in a 2-9-2 swoon that's all but officially quashed their hopes for a trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
It would be an understatement to say the disappointment is mounting for a Columbus team with 11 games remaining on the schedule.
"We made some plays (where) we hurt ourselves," coach John Tortorella said of his team's latest loss. "For the life of me, we just don't understand situational play. It's something we speak on constantly, and we just don't understand situational play, and we're just not able to sustain enough offense."
Columbus has scored first in 27 of 45 games but has a disappointing 12-8-7 record in those contests. It happened yet again Thursday in Dallas. Jack Roslovic gave the Blue Jackets an early lead -- giving him three goals and seven points in his last five games -- but the visitors managed only 11 shots on goal in the final two periods.
"That's just the way it is right now," said defenseman Michael Del Zotto, whose next game will be the 700th regular-season clash of his career. "We're having a tough time scoring goals, so you have to pay that much more attention to the details and checking."
Instead of extending a lead, the Blue Jackets saw their lead disappear with a pair of Dallas goals 79 seconds apart late in the second period and never threatened to take it back.
"They score and then the next shift, we turn one over instead of just getting it in, and it's another goal. That's the frustrating part," Tortorella said. "It's been going on for quite a while now with a number of people, and I'm not sure if it's stubbornness, I'm not sure if it's a lack of understanding, but we're going to continue to work at it."