MONDAY’S NHL GAMES

Jets 4, Blackhawks 3, OT

CHICAGO

Kevin Hayes scored at 3:38 of overtime and Winnipeg beat Chicago to snap a three-game slide and move into sole possession of first place in the Central Division. Hayes cut to the net off the right side, got past Dylan Strome and tucked a shot past Corey Crawford. Winnipeg improved to 96 points, two ahead of St. Louis and Nashville atop the crowded division race. Strome scored his second goal of the game with 2:20 left in the third period to tie it at 3. By earning a point, Chicago avoided being eliminated from playoff contention for the second straight season — for now. Strome, who also had an assist, beat goalie Connor Hellebuyck on the stick side from the slot after taking a centering pass from Jonathan Toews. Crawford was on the bench for an extra attacker. Jack Roslovic scored two goals to end a 22-game drought, and Adam Lowry also had a goal for the Jets. Roslovic scored for the first time since Feb. 2 when he netted a hat trick versus Anaheim. Toews had a goal and an assist for Chicago and set a career high for points with 78. The 30-year-old Chicago captain’s 34th goal tied his mark for one season, set in 2008-09.

Maple Leafs 2, Islanders 1

UNIONDALE, N.Y.

John Tavares scored against his former team and Toronto clinched a playoff berth with a victory the New York. Calle Rosen also had a goal for Toronto, which needed just one point to secure its postseason spot and won for the fourth time in 11 games (4-5-2). Frederik Andersen stopped 28 shots. Tavares, held without a point while the Maple Leafs lost by a combined 10-1 margin in his first two games against the Islanders since leaving them last summer to sign with his hometown team, broke through off a pass from Mitch Marner from the inside edge of the left circle to make it 2-0 at 3:50 of the third period. Tavares extended his career best with his 46th goal and set a career high with his 87th point. Jordan Eberle scored and Robin Lehner finished with 36 saves for the playoff-bound Islanders, who were playing their final regular-season home game. New York squandered a chance to pull within a point of first-place Washington in the Metropolitan Division. Instead, the Islanders remained three points behind the Capitals and two ahead of third-place Pittsburgh.

Lightning 5, Senators 2

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

Yanni Gourde had two goals and an assist and Tampa Bay became just the third team in NHL history to win 60 games in a season. Mikhail Sergachev, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos also scored for the Lightning (60-15-4), while Nikita Kucherov had two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves. The other teams to win at least 60 regular-season games in a season are the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens (60-8-12) and the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings (62-13-7). Brady Tkachuk and Max Veronneau scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson, playing in his 400th game with the Senators, stopped 21 shots.

Blues 3, Avalanche 2, SO

ST. LOUIS

Ryan O’Reilly scored the only goal in a shootout and St. Louis slowed Colorado’s playoff push. Trying to hold onto the final postseason spot in the Western Conference, the Avalanche had won four straight and were 6-0-1 in their previous seven games. They earned one point to move two ahead of Arizona for the second wild card in the West. Both teams have three games remaining. Colorado is three points behind Dallas for the top wild card. By getting to 86 points, the Avalanche eliminated Edmonton from playoff contention. Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in regulation for the Blues, who improved to 7-1-0 in their last eight games. St. Louis has already wrapped up a playoff berth and still has a chance to win the Central Division. Jordan Binnington made 24 saves in his 22nd win of the season, tying Jake Allen for the most by a Blues rookie goaltender.

Panthers 5, Capitals 3

SUNRISE, FLA.

Vincent Trocheck scored two goals, including his 100th in the NHL, and Florida withstood a late surge to beat the Washington. Troy Brouwer, Jonathan Huberdeau and Frank Vatrano also scored for the Panthers, and Aleksander Barkov had three assists. Barkov has 94 points this season, tying Pavel Bure for the franchise record set in 1999-00. Roberto Luongo made 27 saves as the Panthers won their third straight game. Jakub Vrana, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for Washington, and Pheonix Copley stopped 29 shots in his first start since March 19. T.J. Oshie had two assists and Alex Ovechkin added an assist.

Devils 4, Rangers 2

NEWARK, N.J.

Defenseman Connor Carrick scored with 4:10 left to break a tie and New Jersey beat New York to avoid being swept in their season series by their longtime rivals. Myles Wood and Travis Zajac also scored in the Devils’ regular-season home finale. Joey Anderson added an empty-net goal to ice the game and MacKenzie Blackwood made 32 saves. Brett Howden and Filip Chytil scored for the Rangers, who won the first three meetings. Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves in losing his fifth straight decision. There have been only three regular-season sweeps in the series since the Devils moved to New Jersey in 1982. The Rangers had the most recent one in 2014-15, the year they won the Presidents’ Trophy. The winning goal was set up Drew Stafford. He stripped the puck from Vladislav Nemestnikov near the Rangers’ blue line and found Carrick between the circles for his first goal since being acquired from Dallas at the trade deadline.

Associated Press