TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Jason Zucker scored all three of Minnesota’s goals for his first career hat trick, Devan Dubnyk made 25 saves for his second shutout of the season and the Wild beat Tampa Bay 3-0 on Thursday night to deny the Lightning a chance to become the first NHL team to clinch a playoff spot.
Ryan Donato had a pair of assists for Minnesota, which blocked 18 shots by Tampa Bay. The Wild are 6-0-2 in their last eight games and are in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff race.
Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 27 saves, but had his 10-game winning streak snapped one game short of tying the franchise record set by Louis Domingue earlier this season.
A victory by the Lightning would have clinched a playoff spot after Columbus loss to Pittsburgh earlier in Thursday night.
Tampa Bay lost for the second time in four games after a 12-0-2 stretch in the previous 14, and was shut out for the second time this season - first in regulation.
ISLANDERS 4, SENATORS 2
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) - Valtteri Filppula scored twice to lead the New York past Ottawa and into a tie for first place in the Metropolitan Division with the Washington Capitals.
Anthony Beauvillier and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders. Thomas Greiss stopped 35 shots.
Brady Tkachuk and Oscar Lindberg scored for the Senators, while Anders Nilsson made 27 saves.
BRUINS 4, PANTHERS 3
BOSTON (AP) - Patrice Bergeron scored twice, including the winner with 7.2 seconds remaining as Boston scored twice in the final minute to beat Florida and extend its points streak to 18 games.
David Krejci and Matt Grzelcyk also scored for the Bruins, who are 14-0-4 during their points streak. It matched the second-longest points streak in team history after a similar run last season and 15-0-3 mark in the 1940-41 season. Tuukka Rask made 22 saves to extend his personal points streak to 18 games (15-0-3).
Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice and Aleksander Barkov also had a goal for the Panthers, who lost their sixth straight (0-2-4). Roberto Luongo finished with 24 saves.
RED WINS 3, RANGERS 2
DETROIT (AP) - Andreas Athanasiou scored in the third period and had the only goal in a shootout as Detroit snapped an eight-game losing streak with a win over New York.
Tyler Bertuzzi also scored and Jimmy Howard made 32 saves for the Red Wings, who ended their longest skid of the season.
Detroit played without leading scorer Dylan Larkin and top-scoring defenseman Mike Green. Larkin was out with a back injury and Green will miss the rest of the season because of a virus.
New York’s Pavel Buchnevich made it 2-all with 5:31 left in the third by scoring his second goal of the game on a breakaway. The Rangers have lost a season-high six straight.
PENGUINS 3, BLUE JACKETS 0
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Matt Murray stopped 25 shots for his 10th career shutout and Pittsburgh won the opener of a pivotal home-and-home with Columbus.
Phil Kessel scored for the first time in 17 games for the Penguins. Nick Bjugstad collected his ninth of the season for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby took a high stick from Columbus’ Boone Jenner in the third period but returned to add an empty-net goal and extend his goal streak to six consecutive games for the Penguins.
The Penguins have won eight straight over Columbus and moved into third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Joonas Korpisalo received a surprise start and finished with 28 saves for Columbus.
STARS 4, AVALANCHE 0
DALLAS (AP) - Alexander Radulov recorded his first career hat trick in his return after missing the previous game for disciplinary reasons, and Ben Bishop stopped 31 shots in his second consecutive shutout for Dallas.
Jamie Benn added his 25th goal of the season for the Stars, who hold the first wild card in the Western Conference. Benn also assisted on Radulov’s first goal.
Radulov earned his first hat trick in his six NHL seasons. He has 20 goals this season.
With its fourth win in a row, Dallas has 75 points and moved five points ahead of the Avalanche, who started the night the first team out of the second wild card.
BLACKHAWKS 5, SABRES 4
CHICAGO (AP) - Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat beat Carter Hutton during a perfect shootout as Chicago beat Buffalo.
Artem Anisimov scored twice for Chicago, which had dropped four of five. Duncan Keith and Brendan Perlini also scored, and Corey Crawford made 35 saves.
Zach Bogosian scored a short-handed goal in the second period for Buffalo, which lost for the fifth time in six games. Vladimir Sobotka, Brandon Montour and Kyle Okposo also scored.
COYOTES 2, FLAMES 0
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves to shut out Western Conference-leading Calgary.
Clayton Keller and Jakob Chychrun scored goals for the Coyotes, who sent the suddenly struggling Flames to their fourth straight defeat.
Kuemper improved to 16-4-3 in goal since Jan. 1. Arizona has won seven of eight and kept pace with wild-card leaders Dallas and Minnesota. The Coyotes are three points out of the second wild-card spot in the West.
The Flames were shut out for the first time since losing 2-0 at Dallas on Dec. 18, and were held scoreless for the fourth time this season.
OILERS 3, CANUCKS 2
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - Connor McDavid had two assists, Mikko Koskinen made 35 saves and Edmonton kept up its playoff push by beating Vancouver.
Alex Chiasson, Zack Kassian and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for the Oilers (30-30-7), who have won four straight games and are 6-1-2 in their last nine to move within seven points of Minnesota for the second wild card in the Western Conference.
Jay Beagle and Alexander Edler scored for the Canucks (28-31-9), who have lost four of five.
SHARKS 5, CANADIENS 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Tomas Hertl scored his career-high 30th goal of the season, Martin Jones made 37 saves and San Jose extended its two-decade home dominance over Montreal.
The Sharks haven’t lost at home to the Canadiens since Nov. 23, 1999, winning 12 straight. San Jose won its eighth straight overall in the series.
Marcus Sorensen and Timo Meier each scored for the third game in a row, Joe Thornton also had a goal and Gustav Nyquist added an empty-netter.
Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Shaw scored for the Canadiens. Antti Niemi made 20 saves.
BLUES 4, KINGS 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist, Jake Allen stopped 28 shots for his 19th career shutout and St. Louis beat Los Angeles.
Tyler Bozak, Ryan O’Reilly and Ivan Barbashev also scored for Blues, who won back-to-back games against Anaheim and Los Angeles to open their three-game California trip. Brayden Schenn had two assists. Allen’s shutout was his third this season.
Jonathan Quick made 28 saves for the Kings, who have lost 12 of their past 13 games.
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