SUNDAY’s OTHER NHL GAMES

Rangers 4, Flyers 3

NEW YORK

Oscar Lindberg and Chris Kreider scored 2:09 apart midway through the third period, and New York held on for its first home win in six weeks. Mika Zibanejad and Brendan Smith scored in the first period, and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 20 shots to help the Rangers win at Madison Square Garden for the first time since beating Washington on Feb. 19. New York was 0-5-3 on home ice since. The Rangers are guaranteed to fall no lower than the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. They are fourth in the Metropolitan Division, trailing third-place Columbus by six points. New York has three games remaining and Columbus has four. Valtteri Filppula had two goals and Brayden Schenn also scored for Philadelphia. Anthony Stolarz finished with 20 saves.

Blues 4, Predators 1

ST. LOUIS

Alexander Steen scored the tiebreaking goal early in the second period, David Perron had a goal and two assists, and St. Louis prevented Nashville from clinching a playoff berth. Vladimir Tarasenko and Joel Edmundson also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 35 shots as St. Louis earned at least at point for the ninth straight game (7-0-2). Allen improved to 9-1-2 with two shutouts and 16 goals allowed his past 12 starts. Ryan Johansen scored for Nashville and Juuse Saros finished with 21 saves.

Islanders 4, Sabres 2

BUFFALO, N.Y.

Anders Lee scored third-period goals a little more than five minutes apart, and New York overcame the absence of captain John Tavares to stay in the playoff hunt. Cal Clutterbuck and Joshua Ho-Sang also scored and Jaroslav Halak stopped 35 shots to improve to 3-1 since being recalled from the minors. With four games left, New York earned its 86th point to inch within five of Ottawa for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card. It was the Islanders’ first game since Tavares was sidelined by a left hamstring injury in a 2-1 win over New Jersey on Friday.

Bruins 3, Blackhawks 2

CHICAGO

Backup goalie Anton Khudobin made 41 saves and Boston held on for its fifth straight win. Ryan Spooner, Patrice Bergeron and Kevan Miller scored for the Bruins, who jumped over idle Toronto and Ottawa into second place in the Atlantic Division. Boston began the day in wild-card position, four points ahead of Tampa Bay for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Chicago’s Artemi Panarin extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with his 29th. Jordin Tootoo also scored for the Blackhawks, who got 26 saves from Corey Crawford in their final regular-season home game.

Lightning 6, Stars 3

TAMPA, FLA.

Adam Erne scored twice and Ondrej Palat added a power-play goal and two assists as Tampa Bay beat Dallas. Brayden Point scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to break a 2-2 tie, and Braydon Coburn and Anton Stralman also had goals for Tampa Bay. Backup Peter Budaj made 23 saves to help the Lightning move within three points of the idle Ottawa Senators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Gemel Smith, Jason Spezza and Brett Ritchie scored for Dallas, and Esa Lindell assisted on all three goals.

Wild 5, Avalanche 2

ST. PAUL, MINN.

Erik Haula had a goal and assist, Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots and Minnesota beat Colorado. Martin Hanzal, Jared Spurgeon, Zach Parise and Jordan Schroeder also scored for Minnesota, which recovered from a tough 3-0 loss at Nashville a day earlier with a resounding win against the NHL’s worst team. Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen scored for Colorado, which has lost eight of nine overall and 10 in a row on the road. Calvin Pickard started in goal for Colorado but was pulled after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Jeremy Smith made 11 saves in relief.

Sharks 3, Canucks 1

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Tomas Hertl scored twice in the first period and Martin Jones made 29 saves as San Jose beat Vancouver after losing Joe Thornton to an apparent injury to his left leg. Patrick Marleau scored an empty-netter and Jannik Hansen picked up an assist in his return to Vancouver for the Sharks, who have won 11 straight regular-season games at Rogers Arena dating back to Jan. 21, 2012. Sven Baertschi scored for the Canucks and Ryan Miller finished with 22 saves.

Associated Press