NEW YORK (AP) — Mika Zibanejad had two goals and one assist, Artemi Panarin had one goal and three assists and the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Sunday night.
Chris Kreider and Alexis Lafreniere also scored, and Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves as the Rangers tied the franchise record set in 2014-15 with their 53rd win. New York has won eight of its past nine home games and 13 of its past 16 games.
The Rangers scored 110 points, leading Boston by three, the most in the NHL. New York also ranks first in the metropolitan area with a five-point lead over Carolina. All three teams have four games remaining.
Cole Caulfield and Alex Newhook scored for Montreal, which has lost three straight. Mike Matheson had two assists and Caden Primeau finished with 41 saves.
At 3:59 of the third, Kreider tipped Panarin's shot to tie the score at 1-1. It was Kreider's 38th goal of the season and 109th of his career on the power play, moving him past Rod Gilbert for second in franchise history. Kreider has scored in five of his last six games.
Red Wing 3, Saber 1
DETROIT (AP) — Lucas Raymond, Patrick Kane and Dylan Larkin scored in the first period, Alex Lyon made 37 saves and Detroit defeated Buffalo.
The win gives Detroit 84 points and moves it into second place in the wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, ahead of sparse Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The Washington Capitals have more regular wins than the Red Wings, so they could overtake them if they win against the Ottawa Senators later on Sunday.
Raymond took the lead with his 26th goal of the season 53 seconds into the game. He had five goals and 10 assists in 12 games with the Sabers.
Wild 4, Blackhawks 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov had two goals and an assist, rookie Jesper Wohlstedt made 24 saves for his first shutout in the NHL, and Minnesota defeated Chicago.
Wohlstedt, who allowed seven goals on 34 shots in his NHL debut Jan. 10 in Dallas, earned a shutout win in his first return to the net with the Wild. The Blackhawks suffered their 13th shutout loss this season, the most in the NHL.
The win keeps Minnesota's slim playoff hopes alive. With five games remaining, they have 83 points. The Western Conference's top two wild-card teams, Las Vegas and Nashville, enter Sunday with 92 points.
The Wild scored three points in the second period. Kaprizov started the explosion with a powerful wrist shot from the right crease on the power play 1:06 into the game, reaching the 40-goal mark for the third consecutive season.
Marco Rossi broke away from defenseman Nikita Zaitsev and took one pass from Mats Zuccarello, beating Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom for a 2-0 lead at 12:31. About six minutes later, Frederic Gaudreau was stationed in the slot and deflected a Zach Bogosian drive into Soderblom's right shoulder.
Hurricanes 3, Blue Jackets 0
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Frederik Andersen made 23 saves for his third shutout in the last seven games and Carolina scored two goals in the first inning to beat Columbus in its final home game of the regular season.
Andrei Svechnikov scored 17 seconds into the game after missing one game, and Sebastian Aho also scored early to give the Hurricanes their fourth win in five games. Teuvo Teravainen, who had an assist early on, added another point in the third period.
Andersen suffered his first loss in eight games since returning last month, but returned to the win column. He has been sidelined since November and currently has 27 career shutouts.
Blue Jackets goaltender Malcolm Saban made his season debut in an NHL game and stopped 32 shots, his fifth blank for Columbus this season.
coyote 5, shark 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Lawson Crouse, Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller each had a goal and an assist as Arizona defeated San Jose.
The game was tied at 2-ALL heading into the third, with Dylan Gunter scoring a goal less than five minutes into the game. Keller added another goal with a slap shot at 14:13, and Schmaltz put it into an empty net.
Liam O'Brien also scored for Arizona, and Connor Ingram made 25 saves.
Luke Kunin and Henry Thrun scored for San Jose, and Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23 shots.
The Coyotes began a five-game road trip with the win and ended the season at home against the Edmonton Oilers. The Coyotes are 10-8 since then, after a winless stretch of more than a month from late January to late February that effectively ended Arizona's playoff hopes.
The Sharks had lost 12 of 14 games, but entered the game with a 2-2 record in their last four. The Coyotes defeated the Sharks to win the season series for the second time in franchise history.
Senators 3, Capital 2, OT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Charlie Lindgren allowed three points on 21 shots, the last of which was scored by Jake Sanderson in overtime, and Washington lost its sixth straight game with a loss to Ottawa in the NHL. It was another blow to their late-season playoff hopes.
The Capitals are trailing with five games left despite goals from Max Pacioretty and Aliaksei Protas. They are tied with Detroit for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and tied for third place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind the New York Islanders.
They play the Red Wings on Tuesday night in a potentially pivotal game in their postseason pursuit, but the loss to Ottawa already puts Washington in a difficult position.
This game, like Friday's, fell apart, with the Caps allowing Carolina the go-ahead goal with 1:51 left in regulation. This time, Ridley Greig scored with 7 minutes and 17 seconds left in regulation, and Sanderson was the winner 41 seconds into the 3-on-3 OT.
In addition to losing the game, they also lost defenseman Rasmus Sandin to what the team said was an upper-body injury. His head hit a post after a collision during his final shift.
Predators 3, Devils 2, SO
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Ryan O'Reilly scores the decisive shootout goal to lift Nashville over New Jersey.
Roman Josi and Luke Evangelista scored for the Predators, while Filip Forsberg and O'Reilly each had two assists.
Jack Hughes and Chris Tierney scored in regulation for the Devils.
Evangelista's power play goal with 7:15 left in the third period tied the score at 2-2.
The Devils, who scored a franchise-high 112 points last season, won two straight games but are currently out of the wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with four games remaining. On Saturday, New Jersey defeated Ottawa 4-3.
At 2:11 of the second period, Tierney scored his fourth goal of the season off a feed from Tomas Nosek, giving New Jersey a 2-1 lead.
Jake Allen stopped 29 shots for the Devils.
