TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Alex Killorn broke a tie midway through the third period and the Tampa Bay Lightning scored the final four goals to rally past the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh and Nikita Kucherov also scored as Tampa Bay reached 50 wins for the second time in franchise history. Yanni Gourde had two assists for the Atlantic Division leaders, who moved five points ahead of second-place Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves and set a Lightning record with his 41st victory of the season.
James van Riemsdyk scored twice for Toronto, which fell to 28-2-2 when leading after two periods. Fredrik Andersen returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury and stopped 21 shots.
The Lightning played the final two periods without forward Ryan Callahan, who exited at 16:04 of the first favoring his right arm and shoulder area.
AVALANCHE 5, BLACKHAWKS 1
CHICAGO (AP) - Nathan MacKinnon had two assists, extending his point streak to a career high-tying 13 games, and Colorado beat Chicago.
Alexander Kerfoot scored twice and Semyon Varlamov made 44 saves as Colorado won for the fifth time in six games and improved to 8-1-3 in their last 12. Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Barrie each had a goal and an assist, and Erik Johnson added an empty-netter.
The Avalanche (40-25-8) snapped a tie with Anaheim for the top spot in the Western Conference wild-card race and moved within two points of Minnesota for third place in the Central Division.
Chicago (30-35-9) lost for the sixth time in seven games. Defenseman Brent Seabrook scored his fifth goal of the season for the Blackhawks, and Anton Forsberg made 35 stops in his first start since he was pulled in the first period of Thursday night’s 6-2 loss at Winnipeg.
The last-place Blackhawks were eliminated from postseason contention with the loss. They had made the playoffs in nine straight seasons, winning three Stanley Cups.
CAPITALS 4, STARS 3
WASHINGTON (AP) - John Carlson scored with five minutes remaining to help Washington beat Dallas and extend its lead atop the Metropolitan Division.
T.J. Oshie, Matt Niskanen and Alex Ovechkin also scored for Washington, which leads the tight Metropolitan by four points over Pittsburgh and Columbus. The Capitals are on pace for their third consecutive division title and playoff appearance with nine games remaining.
Carlson’s goal tied him with the Stars’ John Klingberg for the NHL lead among defensemen with 61 points. It was also a dagger to Dallas’ fading playoff hopes. The Stars finished their road trip 0-4-2 and sit outside the final playoff position in the Western Conference and could need 14 of a possible 18 points before the end of the season to get in.
Braden Holtby stopped 24 of the 27 shots he faced.
BLUE JACKETS 5, RANGERS 3
NEW YORK (AP) - Artemi Panarin had three goals and an assist, Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves and Columbus extended its winning streak to nine games with a victory over New York.
Markus Nutivaara and Alexander Wennberg also scored for the Blue Jackets, who have surged into playoff position in the Eastern Conference. It is Columbus’ longest winning streak since its 16-game run last season from Nov. 29, 2016, to Jan. 3, 2017.
Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad scored power-play goals and Kevin Hayes had a short-handed goal for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves in his first start since March 10 against Florida.
ISLANDERS 4, PENGUINS 1
NEW YORK (AP) - Mathew Barzal and Adam Pelech scored in the first period and New York went on to beat Pittsburgh.
Anders Lee had a goal in the third period and Jordan Eberle added an empty-netter to help the Islanders snap a three-game skid with just their second win in 13 games (2-7-4).
Christopher Gibson, pulled in his last start after giving up five goals on 12 shots against Washington last Thursday, stopped 36 shots and has both wins for New York during its recent stretch.
Conor Sheary scored for Pittsburgh, which was 5-1-1 in its previous seven but fell four points behind first-place Washington in the tight Metropolitan Division. Columbus pulled into a tie with the Penguins for second at 87 points - Pittsburgh holds the tiebreaker over the Blue Jackets.
Matt Murray, returning after missing nine games due to a concussion, finished with 36 saves for the Penguins.
RED WINGS 5, FLYERS 4, SO
DETROIT (AP) - Frans Nielsen scored his NHL-record 22nd shootout winner and Detroit edged Philadelphia to end its 10-game losing streak.
Dylan Larkin scored twice, Luke Glendending had a goal and Evgeny Svechnikov got his first in the NHL for the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard made 27 saves through overtime and stopped all three attempts he faced in the shootout.
Sean Couturier, Matt Read, Shayne Gostisbehere and Travis Konecny scored for the Flyers. Ex-Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek was pulled after allowing three goals on 19 shots.
JETS 2, KINGS 1, OT
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - Kyle Connor scored his second goal of the game 1:37 into overtime to lift Winnipeg over Los Angeles losing Patrik Laine to a lower-body injury.
Connor fired the winner past goalie Jack Campbell to help the Jets set a franchise record for wins at 44 (44-19-10). Winnipeg had 43 wins in 2014-15, and the Atlanta Thrashers hit the same mark in 2006-07 before the franchise relocated in 2011.
Laine was helped down the tunnel to the dressing room about a minute and half into the second period. He wasn’t putting any weight on his left foot after blocking a shot by Kings defenseman Alec Martinez that hit him in the lower leg.
The injury halted the sophomore forward’s 15-game point streak (18 goals, eight assists). That was the longest active streak in the NHL and a record for a teenager.
PANTHERS 7, SENATORS 2
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Jared McCann had a goal and two assists to lead Florida while Ottawa captain Erik Karlsson sat out following the death of his son.
The team announced the death of Karlsson’s son before the game. Erik and Melinda Karlsson were married last year and announced in November they were expecting their first child in the spring. The team released a statement offering its “collective thoughts and prayers” and requested privacy for the family.
Keith Yandle, Nick Bjugstad, Evgeni Dadonov, Jamie McGinn and Frank Vatrano each had a goal and an assist for Florida. Colton Sceviour had the other goal while James Reimer made 33 saves.
Patrick Sieloff and Marian Gaborik scored for the Senators, who lost their second straight. Craig Anderson started in goal but was replaced by Mike Condon after allowing four goals on 17 shots. Condon made 19 saves.
OILERS 7, HURRICANES 3
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists and Edmonton rode three-goal first period to a victory over Carolina.
Drake Caggiula, Matt Benning and Ryan Strome scored in a span of 4:24 in the opening period after Carolina jumped to a 1-0 lead, and Edmonton led the rest of the way. Pontus Aberg, Yohann Auvitu and Jesse Puljujarvi also scored as the Oilers got six goals on their first 22 shots. Cam Talbot made 30 saves for Edmonton.
Brock McGinn, Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen scored for the Hurricanes, who have lost six of eight. Scott Darling allowed three goals on his first nine shots and six on 22 but was left in the game. He finished with 23 saves.
SHARKS 6, DEVILS 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Jannik Hansen scored his first goal of the season and fellow fourth-liners Eric Fehr and Barclay Goodrow also scored to help San Jose beat New Jersey for its season-high fifth straight win.
Logan Couture added his 30th goal, and Joe Pavelski and Mikkel Boedker also scored to give the second-place Sharks a four-point lead over Los Angeles in the Pacific Division with one game in hand.
Brent Burns added three assists and Martin Jones made 26 saves.
The scoring barrage by San Jose spoiled Cory Schneider’s return to net for the Devils. Schneider allowed four goals on 14 shots before getting pulled midway through the second period of his first start since March 8. Schneider has lost 11 starts in a row since his last win for the Devils on Dec. 27.
Taylor Hall got his 32nd goal and Blake Coleman also scored for the Devils, who lead Florida by one point for the final Eastern Conference wild card. The Panthers have two games in hand.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, CANUCKS 1
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Jonathan Marchessault scored his 23rd goal and Vegas defeated Vancouver.
Cody Eakin, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tomas Tatar also scored for the Golden Knights, who rank second in the league with 245 goals.
The Canucks have dropped seven straight since losing 21-year-old rookie star Brock Boeser to a potential season-ending back injury.
Marc-Andre Fleury played just one period but was credited with the victory after making seven saves to improve to 27-11-3. The 14-year veteran took over sole possession of 12th place on the NHL’s career wins list with 402.
Malcolm Subban took over in net at the start of the second, making his first appearance since Feb. 2. It was unclear why Fleury exited the game, although he took a shot from Brandon Sutter off the mask midway through the first. Subban made 22 saves.
The Canucks got a goal from Sutter, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 shots while losing his fifth straight start.
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