NHL roundup: Stars, Hurricanes win, seal playoff bids
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Jamie Benn's power-play goal broke a tie late in the third period and helped give the visiting Dallas Stars a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks and a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Roope Hintz netted one goal and two assists while Jason Robertson and Benn collected one goal and one assist for the Stars, who sit atop the Western Conference standings. Goaltender Jake Oettinger made 27 saves and Joe Pavelski collected two assists.
Benn's goal was his seventh in a six-game goal streak and his 18th of the season. He also extended his point streak to eight games, in which he's collected seven goals and 12 points. His assist on Hintz's first-period goal gave him 900 career points.
J.T. Miller scored for the Pacific Division-leading Canucks, who have lost two straight in regulation. Goalie Casey DeSmith made 31 saves.
Hurricanes 4, Red Wings 0
Frederik Andersen made 24 saves for his second shutout in five games and Carolina clinched a playoff berth by ripping Detroit in Raleigh, N.C.
Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis both provided a goal and two assists. Andersen is 7-0-0 since returning to action following an absence of more than four months caused by blood-clotting issues. Martin Necas and Brady Skjei scored Carolina's other goals.
The Red Wings have lost three consecutive games (0-2-1) and are 0-7-1 in their last eight road contests. James Reimer made 29 saves.
Rangers 3, Avalanche 2 (SO)
Igor Shesterkin made 39 saves and two more in the shootout, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck scored the only goals in the shootout, and New York beat Colorado in Denver.
Kaapo Kakko and Chris Kreider scored regulation goals for the Rangers, who earned their fourth win in a row.
Devon Toews and Casey Mittelstadt each had a goal and Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves through overtime for the Avalanche. Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon had his 19-game point streak end and he went without a point at home for the first time in 36 games this season.
Coyotes 8, Predators 4
An offensive second period powered Arizona's victory in Tempe, Ariz., snapping Nashville's franchise-record 18-game point streak in the process.
Nick Bjugstad scored the eventual winning goal for Arizona at the 12:36 mark of the second period, while the Coyotes used a four-goal second period to push them to victory, aided by empty-net goals from Matias Maccelli and Logan Cooley in the final frame. Cooley completed the first hat trick of his career.
Nashville's Jason Zucker, who was traded from the Coyotes to the Predators on March 8 in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick, scored twice in the opening 5:11 for his new team.
Wild 3, Sharks 1
Matt Boldy scored the go-ahead goal in the first minute of the third period, and Minnesota pulled away for a win over San Jose in Saint Paul, Minn.
Joel Eriksson Ek and Ryan Hartman also scored for the Wild, who snapped a two-game skid. Boldy added an assist and Kirill Kaprizov finished with two assists.
Mikael Granlund scored the lone goal for San Jose, which fell to 0-8-1 in its past nine games. Jan Rutta and Marc-Edouard Vlasic tallied one assist apiece for the Sharks, who have the worst record in the NHL.
Maple Leafs 5, Capitals 1
Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice as Toronto defeated visiting Washington, sweeping the three-game season series.
Mark Giordano, Connor Dewar and Bobby McMann also scored for the Maple Leafs, who had lost their two previous games. Joseph Woll made 24 saves for Toronto.
Nic Dowd scored for the Capitals, who had won six of their previous seven games. Charlie Lindgren stopped 43 shots for Washington, which still holds the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Penguins 3, Blue Jackets 2
Drew O'Connor's go-ahead goal early in the third complemented Evgeni Malkin's two power-play goals as host Pittsburgh defeated Columbus for the 11th time in the teams' past 12 meetings.
Sidney Crosby added two assists — moving him into 11th place all-time in NHL history with 1,580 career points — for the Penguins, who have won two in a row. Pittsburgh goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 17 saves. Pittsburgh defenseman Ryan Graves did not return after the first period for what the team later announced was an upper-body injury.
Cole Sillinger had a goal and an assist and Mathieu Olivier also scored for the Blue Jackets, who have lost six in a row (0-5-1). Columbus goaltender Danil Tarasov made 33 saves.
Canadiens 4, Flyers 1
Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist in Montreal's win over visiting Philadelphia.
Jesse Ylonen, Joel Armia and Jake Evans also scored, Mike Matheson had three assists, and Cayden Primeau made 29 saves for the Canadiens, who have won three in a row.
Owen Tippett scored, and Samuel Ersson made 13 saves for the Flyers, who have lost four of their past five games.
Islanders 3, Panthers 2
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the go-ahead goal in the second period to help New York rally for a win in Sunrise, Fla.
It was just the second win in the past nine games (2-6-1) for the Islanders. New York is four points out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Panthers have lost six of their past seven games (1-5-1) but clinched a playoff spot when the Detroit Red Wings lost to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Senators 2, Blackhawks 0
Anton Forsberg made 18 saves and host Ottawa won its fourth game in a row, beating Chicago.
Forsberg, who surrendered a combined 11 goals in his previous two starts, recorded his second shutout of the season and fifth of his nine-year NHL career, all coming in the past three seasons. Claude Giroux and Parker Kelly scored first-period goals.
Petr Mrazek made 32 saves for the Blackhawks, who won their previous two games. Chicago still has not recorded a three-game winning streak this season.
Blues 5, Flames 3
Pavel Buchnevich scored twice to lead St. Louis past visiting Calgary.
Jake Neighbours had a goal and an assist for the Blues, who are 7-1-1 in their past nine games. Zack Bolduc and Brandon Saad also scored and Torey Krug had two assists.
Andrei Kuzmenko scored twice for the Flames, who have lost five consecutive games. Jonathan Huberdeau also scored, MacKenzie Weegar had two assists and Dustin Wolf made 14 saves.
Golden Knights 4, Jets 1
Ivan Barbashev scored twice in the third period and Logan Thompson made 39 saves to lead Vegas to a victory at Winnipeg.
Pavel Dorofeyev and Jack Eichel also scored goals and William Karlsson had two assists for Vegas, which extended its points streak to five games (4-0-1) while completing its second straight regular-season series sweep of the Jets. Thompson won his fourth consecutive start, allowing just one goal in each game.
Sean Monahan scored for Winnipeg, which lost its fifth straight game (0-4-1). Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 of 25 shots. It was Monahan's 23rd goal and 10th since joining the Jets in a Feb. 2 trade from the Canadiens.
Oilers 4, Kings 1
Connor McDavid scored a goal and contributed two assists to lead Edmonton to a win against visiting Los Angeles.
Edmonton leads the Golden Knights by four points for second place in the Pacific Division, while Los Angeles is one point behind Vegas.
Evan Bouchard had a goal and an assist for the Oilers, who have won four of six. Cody Ceci and Adam Henrique netted goals, Leon Draisaitl had three assists and Stuart Skinner made 32 saves, including 14 in the third. Arthur Kaliyev scored for the Kings, who had won four straight. Cam Talbot stopped 16 shots.
Kraken 4, Ducks 2
Tye Kartye scored the go-ahead goal with 6:57 left and Jared McCann had three assists to lead Seattle past visiting Anaheim.
Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist and Jaden Schwartz and Matty Beniers also scored for the Kraken, who won their second straight game after losing eight in a row. Philipp Grubauer made 21 saves to snap a personal four-start losing streak (0-3-1).
Isac Lundestrom and Jakob Silfverberg scored short-handed goals just 44 seconds apart early in the third period for Anaheim. Lukas Dostal finished with 24 saves as the Ducks lost their third straight and 10th in 11 games (1-9-1).
—Field Level Media