Crosby's heroics allowed the Penguins to overcome the second career hat trick of Evgenii Dadonov. The latter's first hat trick also came at the expense of Pittsburgh on Feb. 24, 2018.

The Penguins took advantage of a collision between Dallas defensemen Cody Ceci and Thomas Harley, allowing Danton Heinen to set up Lizotte for a one-timer.

Crosby capped his hat trick by scoring into the empty net for his 13th career 30-goal season.

The superstar captain finished with three goals and an assist to extend his point streak to 12 games. Crosby tied the longest point streak in NHL history by a player age 37 or older.

Bryan Rust scored his 200th career goal and Tristan Jarry made 21 saves for the Penguins (31-34-12, 74 points), who snapped a four-game road losing skid.

After going 17 straight games without a goal, Dadonov scored midway into the first period and converted on the power play in the second before giving Dallas a 3-2 lead at 3:11 of the third. Harley skated along the blue line and shoveled the puck toward the net before Dadonov neatly backhanded a shot past Jarry.

Former Penguin Casey DeSmith finished with 35 saves for the Stars (50-22-4, 104 points), who saw three separate streaks come to a halt. Dallas had won seven in a row in addition to recording a 10-game point streak (8-0-2) and 12-game home point streak (11-0-1).

Crosby flipped a shot that sailed under the crossbar to open the scoring at 4:16 of the first period before Dadonov did the same nearly 6 1/2 minutes later.

Dadonov gave Dallas a 2-1 lead after banging home a backhanded centering feed from Matt Duchene with 7:24 left in the second period. An unmarked Crosby, however, converted a tic-tac-toe passing sequence to forge a tie 20 seconds into the third.

Rust answered Dadonov's third goal by backhanding the puck past DeSmith at 8:49 of the third period.

Defenseman Jake Sanderson had a goal and an assist and Drake Batherson and Matthew Highmore also scored for the Senators (41-29-6, 88 points), who won their second straight and lead the Eastern Conference wild-card race.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots for the Panthers (44-28-4, 92 points), who have lost four in a row (0-3-1) and remained one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay plays at the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.

Ottawa led 2-0 after the first period, despite being outshot 13-7 in the first 20 minutes.

Sanderson opened the scoring 8:39 into the game with a one-timer from the left faceoff circle. It was his third consecutive game with a goal.

The Senators are 32-6 when they score the first goal.

Batherson scored a power-play goal with 5:43 left in the first when he tipped in Dylan Cozens' shot.

Forsberg stopped Jesper Boqvist on a short-handed breakaway a little over two minutes into the second period and made a spectacular pad save on Seth Jones on a 2-on-1 rush eight minutes into the middle period.

An apparent goal by Florida's Evan Rodrigues was immediately waved off because of a high stick with 1:42 left in the second period. Replay confirmed the call.

The Senators went the first 8 1/2 minutes of the second period without a shot and were outshot 12-5 in the period .

Forsberg made a key save on Tomas Nosek's tip attempt early in the third period.

Highmore added an empty-net marker with 2:20 left for his first goal in 34 games and second of the season.

Both captains were out because of upper-body injuries.

The Panthers' Aleksander Barkov missed his second game and also won't play Sunday at the Detroit Red Wings, while the Senators' Brady Tkachuk sat out his third contest.

Brady Tkachuk's brother, Florida's Matthew Tkachuk, remains out with the lower-body injury he suffered in the 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice remains fourth all-time among coaches with 913 wins. He is one shy of tying Barry Trotz for third place.

Almost 38 years later, Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has a chance to ensure another permanent connection between the teams in the NHL's history books.

Ovechkin will attempt to break his tie with Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time leading scorer Sunday afternoon, when the Capitals visit the Islanders in what is sure to be a charged atmosphere in Elmont, N.Y.

Both teams were off Saturday after earning wins at home Friday. Ovechkin scored twice to tie Gretzky's record in the Capitals' 5-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, while the Islanders stopped a six-game losing streak by beating the Minnesota Wild 3-1.

Ovechkin, appearing at home for just the second time in the past six games, tied Gretzky in front of a sellout crowd of 18,573 by collecting his 893rd and 894th goals in his 1,486th career game. Gretzky played one more game in his legendary NHL career.

Gretzky was on hand Friday, sitting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. Ovechkin, after being congratulated by teammates on the ice, stopped to look at Gretzky in his box and then bowed.

Ovechkin opened the scoring at 3:52 of the first period before he collected a power play goal with 6:13 remaining in the game for the Capitals (49-18-9, 107 points), who entered play Saturday 11 points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes in the race for the Metropolitan Division title and the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Toronto Maple Leafs also have 96 points in the race for the East's top seed.

"I still can't believe it," Ovechkin, 39, said. "It's history. It's great for the game, it's great to do it here. It's special."

Ovechkin had several chances to break the record in the waning minutes. With no desire to break the record on an empty-netter, he declined to take the ice when the Blackhawks pulled goalie Spencer Knight. Ovechkin then missed four shots in the final 78 seconds after Knight returned to the ice following an empty-netter by Ryan Leonard.

"I'll take every empty-net goal I can get," said Gretzky, who joined Ovechkin for a press conference and is expected to attend the Sunday game with Bettman.

The two-goal game Friday continued a remarkable sprint to the record by Ovechkin, who has scored in each of his past four games and has 41 goals in just 60 games this season -- including 26 in 42 games since Dec. 28, when he returned from a 16-game absence due to a broken leg.

Ovechkin has 44 goals in 71 career regular-season games against the Islanders but has never scored against Ilya Sorokin, who is expected to start at goalie Sunday afternoon.

"It's game-by-game, it's shift-by-shift," Ovechkin said. "You never know what's going to happen."

Preventing Ovechkin from breaking the record Sunday might help the Islanders (33-32-10, 76 points) maintain their flickering playoff hopes. Casey Cizikas, Simon Holmstrom and Noah Dobson scored Friday for New York, which entered play Saturday five points behind the Montreal Canadiens in the race for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

The Islanders, who mounted late surges to reach the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, will need to do that again with just seven games remaining. They have one each against the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets, teams they would need to leap over to earn a wild card.

"Our focus is on these last games and what's at stake," Cizikas said. "Anything can happen in this league. We've got to focus on what we can control and give ourselves the best fighting chance."

Assistant coach Todd Richards led the team's on-ice activities during Saturday's practice.

The Tennessean reported Richards would handle the head coaching responsibilities on Sunday should Brunette be unable to attend Nashville's home game against the Montreal Canadiens.

Brunette, 51, has guided the Predators to a 27-41-8 record this season.

A finalist for the 2024 Jack Adams Award, Brunette owns a 125-89-19 coaching record with the Florida Panthers (2021-22) and Predators.

Meier's power-play goal and Bratt's short-handed marker gave the Devils (41-29-7, 89 points) their third win over the Rangers in four matchups this season. New Jersey won its third straight and for the fourth time in five games.

Meier added his second goal of the contest with 4:59 remaining to effectively seal matters for the Devils. Nico Hischier scored an empty-net goal with 3:48 left after setting up New Jersey's first two tallies.

Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves, including four on New York's first power play in the second period shortly before the Devils went ahead. Markstrom notched his fourth shutout this season and second over the Rangers.

The Rangers (36-33-7, 79 points) were denied their first three-game winning streak since Nov. 14-19. New York failed to win three straight for the eighth time since mid-November and its path to the postseason may become murkier.

The Rangers began the day trailing the Montreal Canadiens by two points for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Montreal is playing a back-to-back set this weekend against the Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators before New York hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.

New York's Igor Shesterkin stopped 12 shots as the Rangers were blanked for the second time by New Jersey.

Four seconds into an interference penalty on the Rangers' Sam Carrick, the Devils took the lead with 9:04 left.

Hischier won an offensive zone faceoff from Vincent Trocheck and sent the puck to Luke Hughes. Hughes quickly moved it to the right circle for Meier, who blasted a one-timer over Shesterkin before J.T. Miller could get in position to block the shot.

The Devils scored again following a blocked shot by Brenden Dillon. After Dillon blocked a shot by Artemi Panarin, the puck caromed to the right corner and New York's Chris Kreider tried to get the puck to a teammate behind the net.

Instead, Dillon beat Panarin and Miller to the loose puck and found Bratt just below the blue line in the defensive zone. Bratt made a quick pass to Hischier and was uncovered along the left side for the return feed which he easily lifted over Shesterkin with 7:37 remaining.

After Meier jammed in a loose puck, Markstrom made two pad stops on Will Cuylle before Hischier finished it off shortly after Shesterkin was pulled for the extra attacker.

It's the second night of a back-to-back for the Hurricanes.

Carolina (46-25-4, 96 points) took a 5-3 Friday loss to the Detroit Red Wings in the opener of a four-game trip. The defeat was only its third in the last 15 games and snapped a three-game win streak.

Despite having clinched their seventh straight Stanley Cup playoffs berth, the Hurricanes' ride has not been completely smooth this season as they fell back following a 16-5-1 start before going 11-3-0 in March.

"There's been a lot more, or maybe a few, extra ups and downs throughout the year that added a little more adversity in some situations," Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. "There hasn't been too much cruise control."

Now, though, the Canes have an opportunity to sweep three games from Boston after winning the first two by a combined 11-4 count, including a dominant 8-2 Halloween victory.

The Hurricanes will have to do it without Andrei Svechnikov (undisclosed injury), who joined Jordan Staal (lower body) and Dmitry Orlov (undisclosed) on the shelf in Detroit. Svechnikov will miss the entirety of the trip, which continues next week in Buffalo and Washington.

"I didn't think it was gonna be serious and I still don't," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said of Svechnikov's injury. "I think it's similar to what we're doing with (Staal). Just precautionary really, but he pulled himself out of the game. Didn't feel great the other night."

Jackson Blake, Eric Robinson and Brent Burns scored goals and Jaccob Slavin had two assists for Carolina in Friday's game. Seth Jarvis is on a six-game point streak after recording an assist.

With the injuries, 22-year-old center Justin Robidas made his NHL debut, setting up Robinson's second-period goal.

"He's a great kid and he's kind of earned the call-up," Brind'Amour said. "That's kind of how we look at it. Had a good year (for AHL Chicago), did everything that they asked him to do down there and I think we're rewarding him with this call-up."

The Bruins (30-37-9, 69 points) find themselves in a rare position, having dropped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference by losing 10 in a row (0-9-1) for the first time since 2010 following a 4-1 Thursday setback to the Montreal Canadiens.

Goaltender Jeremy Swayman and the rest of interim coach Joe Sacco's team came ready to play, but it fell off in the second period as Montreal scored twice and had a 17-2 shot advantage.

Finding more wins down the stretch is going to take a more complete effort for Boston, which has not won since March 11 against the Florida Panthers.

"I think we have moments where we play well, but not long enough during the course of a game," Sacco said. "We have to be able to sustain more of a 60-minute effort and I think that's what it's going to take. And we have to just understand that we have to pull out of this together."

As defenseman Nikita Zadorov sees it, the effort will need to be harder as well.

"The other teams are just hungrier than ours," Zadorov said. "They want to win more, that's the bottom line. We're just not hard on the puck. We're easy to play against."

Morgan Geekie has been a bright spot for Boston this season, ranking second to David Pastrnak on the team with 27 goals. An assist on Elias Lindholm's lone goal in Montreal moved Geekie's point streak to five games.

The pair gives the Capitals captain 894 goals, matching Gretzky's mark. A capacity crowd, including Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, was on hand. Ovechkin's second goal came from the left faceoff circle off a pass from John Carlson that beat sliding goalie Spencer Knight to the lower left on a power play at 6:13 of the third period, giving the Capitals a 4-3 lead.

Dylan Strome scored and assisted on Ovechkin's first goal. Martin Fehervary also scored for Washington, and Ryan Leonard notched his first career goal. Carlson tied his season high with three assists. Charlie Lindgren stopped 19 shots as Washington won for the second time in three games.

Frank Nazar finished with a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks. Philipp Kurashev and Tyler Bertuzzi also scored. Oliver Moore earned his first NHL points with a pair of assists, and Landon Slaggert posted two as well. Knight made 25 saves but could not keep Chicago from its fifth straight defeat.

Red Wings 5, Hurricanes 3

Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist to lead Detroit to a win over visiting Carolina.

Ben Chiarot, Marco Kasper, Patrick Kane and Michael Rasmussen also scored for Detroit. Dylan Larkin logged two assists, and Cam Talbot made 30 saves. The Red Wings moved within four points of the Montreal Canadiens for the second and final Eastern Conference wild-card spot and snapped a six-game losing streak against the Hurricanes.

Carolina got goals from Jackson Blake, Eric Robinson and Brent Burns but lost for just the third time in 15 games. Jaccob Slavin notched two assists while Pyotr Kochetkov turned aside 16 shots.

Islanders 3, Wild 1

Defenseman Noah Dobson had a goal and an assist to lead New York to a win over Minnesota in Elmont, N.Y.

Casey Cizikas and Simon Holmstrom also scored for the Islanders, who snapped a six-game losing streak (0-4-2). Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves.

Mats Zuccarello provided the offense for the Wild, who lost their fourth in a row (0-2-2). Filip Gustavsson stopped 24 shots.

Casey Cizikas and Simon Holmstrom also scored for the Islanders (33-32-10, 76 points), who snapped a six-game losing streak. Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves.

Mats Zuccarello provided the offense for the Wild (41-29-7, 89 points), who lost their fourth in a row (0-3-1). Filip Gustavsson stopped 24 shots.

After a scoreless first period, the teams combined for three goals in the first five minutes of the second. The result was a 2-1 New York lead.

Zuccarello, however, got the game's first goal when he banked a shot in off Sorokin's head from behind the net 1:42 into the middle period.

But it only took 36 seconds for the Islanders to answer when Cizikas tipped in Dobson's shot from the right point.

Holmstrom gave New York the 2-1 lead 4:02 into the second when, off the rush, his intended pass went into the net off Minnesota's Frederick Gaudreau.

Dobson's power-play goal gave the Islanders a two-goal lead 3:36 into the third period. He scored on a one-time slap shot from above the left circle for his first power-play marker of the season.

Wild defenseman Jake Middleton had to be helped off the ice and to the locker room after he was pushed into the boards behind the Minnesota net headfirst by Bo Horvat, who was assessed a boarding minor (two minutes) with 8:56 left in the second period. Middleton did not return.

Minnesota outshot New York 11-4 in the first period and had the last seven shots of the period.

Sorokin was forced to make a good stop on Yakov Trenin's tip late in the first, and Gustavsson thwarted Holmstrom cutting off the right wing a little more than four minutes into the contest.

Ovechkin scored the historic goal with 13:47 left in regulation to give the Capitals a 4-3 lead. The power-play goal came from the left faceoff circle. The capacity crowd at Capital One Arena gave him a standing ovation that lasted a couple of minutes as he and his teammates celebrated.

He scored his first goal with 16:08 remaining in the first period, blasting a shot from just inside the right faceoff circle that beat Blackhawks goalie Spencer Knight in the upper left corner. That goal, his 40th this season, extended his record of 40-goal seasons to 14. Gretzky is second with 12.

Ovechkin remains an elite scorer in the league even at 39 years old. Only two players (Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl with 52 and Toronto's William Nylander with 42) entered Friday with 40 or more goals this season. Ovechkin also has played in just 60 games this season, having missed 16 contests in November and December due to a broken leg.

Ovechkin has a history of reaching historic milestones against the Blackhawks. On Dec. 13, 2022, his hat trick in Chicago gave him 800 goals, making him only the third NHL player to reach that plateau.

Gretzky, considered the greatest hockey player of all time, held the record for 31 years since scoring his 802nd goal, breaking Gordie Howe's mark, against the Vancouver Canucks on March 23, 1994. In 20 NHL seasons, Gretzky needed 1,487 games to tally 894 goals. Ovechkin matched the Great One in the 1,486th game of his career.

Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman attended Friday's game in Washington. They will travel along with the team until the Capitals icon breaks the record.

But they'd have to win all six, starting with Saturday night's contest at the San Jose Sharks.

The Kraken (32-38-6, 70 points) have shown they're capable, defeating visiting Edmonton 6-1 last week and dealing a blow to Vancouver's postseason hopes with a 5-0 road victory Wednesday, sandwiched around a pair of losses to playoff-bound Dallas.

But it won't be easy. After the game against the cellar-dwelling Sharks, the Kraken have two games left against Los Angeles and one apiece versus Utah, Vegas and St. Louis. Only Utah currently sits below the playoff line.

"Obviously, it sucks that we're not the ones fighting for the playoff spot," said Kraken forward Shane Wright, who scored against the Canucks. "But anytime you can take out a division rival in a game important for them, it always feels good, for sure."

Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist in Vancouver, Jared McCann added three helpers -- giving him a team-leading 55 points -- and Joey Daccord made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season.

"I always say a shutout is a team result," Daccord said. "Goalie is going to make saves every game, but when the guys do an amazing job like they did (Wednesday), blocking shots, keeping guys to the outside, eliminating the grade-As, it makes my life a lot easier. They do a good job getting a lot of traffic in front of the net so sometimes you need a block and we got them, so it was fun to watch."

This will be the fourth and final meeting between the Kraken and the Sharks (20-45-10, 50 points) this season. San Jose won back-to-back games Nov. 29-30 by 8-5 and 4-2 scorelines in a home-and-home series, followed by the host Kraken's 6-2 victory Jan. 30.

The Sharks entered Friday's play in last place in the NHL's overall standings, giving them the best odds of winning the draft lottery. However, they're just two points behind Chicago, which played Friday at Eastern Conference-leading Washington.

The Sharks, led by William Eklund's 55 points, are coming off a 3-2 home loss Thursday to Edmonton.

Jack Thompson and Tyler Toffoli scored for the Sharks, who are winless in their past four games (0-3-1). Mario Ferraro had two assists and Georgi Romanov stopped 35 shots.

Thompson's goal was the 51st scored by a Sharks rookie this season, the most in the NHL. Anaheim is second in that category with 31.

"I liked our effort," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "I thought we were competing, I thought we were doing the things that we've talked about here lately. It just wasn't enough."

Warsofsky was named Friday as the head coach for Team USA at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Championships, which begin May 9 in Sweden.

"Ryan is an exceptional young coach," U.S. men's national team general manager Jeff Kealty said of the 37-year-old Warsofky, the youngest coach in the NHL. "He connects well with players and is a great fit to lead our team in the world championship as we strive to bring home the gold medal."

Thanks to a two-game losing skid, the Golden Knights (45-22-8, 98 points) have seen their lead on the Los Angeles Kings in the Pacific Division standings fall to three points.

Their latest setback was a sub-standard performance in a 4-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.

"We had a really good stretch of hockey, and now we've lost two in a row," captain Mark Stone said. "So, you can feel sorry for yourselves, or you can pick yourself off the mat and get back to work and put in your best effort on Saturday night. We're playing a desperate team that is still fighting and clawing to try and make the playoffs. So, we have to be at our best."

Vegas was riding a six-game winning streak before they dropped both parts of a two-game homestand. After suffering a 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, they floundered through much of the Winnipeg loss, managing more than half of their shots on goal during an attempted third-period comeback.

"We've got to get that part of our game in order. The style of play we need to play, to excel if we want to get to where we want to go," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It's that simple. So, (Thursday's game) wasn't good enough. The players, if they haven't acknowledged it, they should. They're a very honest group. Self-analyze well. So, we've got to correct that."

The Flames (36-27-12, 84 points) are in the mix to claim a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs but have almost zero margin for error.

Calgary, which captured a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, is five points back of the Minnesota Wild for the Western Conference's second wild-card spot with seven games remaining. Calgary has one game in hand on the Wild.

"It was a game we needed. We need them all," said forward Blake Coleman, who scored twice against the Ducks. "Guys showed up, played well, a good home game. We got to turn the page here pretty quick but can build off that game. Especially the second and third (periods), I thought we really took over."

Now to see whether the emotional boost of winning for only the second time in five outings is enough to help springboard the Flames to pull a little closer to the playoffs amidst the strain of playing so many "must-win" games.

"It's never easy to be in that position, where you feel like you've got to win the game, but we're certainly getting used to that," forward Nazem Kadri said.

"We got to take care of home ice, that's just how it's got to be, and we're prepared to do that," Kadri added. "Of course, I don't think there's a question on whether we're losing hope or not. We're believing, I feel like we've played some great hockey over the last handful of games, and some days haven't gotten the result we wanted, so it was nice to get the two points (against Anaheim)."

The pair gives the Capitals captain 894 goals, matching Gretzky's mark.

A capacity crowd, including Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, was on hand to watch Ovechkin, and he gave a show. His second goal of the night came from the left faceoff circle off a pass from John Carlson that beat sliding goalie Spencer Knight to the lower left on a power play at 6:13 of the third period, giving the Capitals a 4-3 lead.

Dylan Strome scored and assisted on Ovechkin's first goal. Martin Fehervary also scored for Washington, and Ryan Leonard notched his first career goal. Carlson tied his season high with three assists.

Charlie Lindgren stopped 19 shots as Washington (49-18-9, 107 points) won for the second time in three games.

Frank Nazar finished with a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (21-45-10, 52 points). Philipp Kurashev and Tyler Bertuzzi also scored. Oliver Moore earned his first NHL points with a pair of assists, and Landon Slaggert posted two as well. Knight made 24 saves but could not keep Chicago from its fifth straight defeat.

Ovechkin opened the scoring at 3:52 of the first period with his 40th goal of the season.

Bertuzzi tied the game 10 minutes later, capitalizing on a loose puck in the crease with Lindgren on the other side of the net. Nazar gave the Blackhawks the lead 31 seconds into the second period.

Fehervary tied the game with 12:51 left in the second, beating Chicago's Connor Murphy to a puck that got past Knight thanks to a shot from Connor McMichael. However, the Blackhawks reclaimed the lead 10 seconds later when Kurashev scored after the ensuing faceoff.

Strome was credited with a power-play goal with 16:14 left in regulation. It looked as if Ovechkin would get to it, but it was Murphy who knocked it into his team's net.

After Ovechkin's record-tying tally, Chicago pulled Knight, and that led to Leonard's first goal in his third career game with 1:36 left. Ovechkin had his chances after that, shooting four times. Only one of those was on the net, and Knight saved that, drawing boos from the crowd.

Logan Thompson, Washington's top goalie, did not play Friday due to an upper-body injury he sustained in a loss Wednesday at Carolina. In addition, Aliaksei Protas, a 30-goal-scoring forward for the Capitals, left the game midway through the third period.

Ben Chiarot, Marco Kasper, Patrick Kane and Michael Rasmussen also scored for Detroit. Dylan Larkin logged two assists, and Cam Talbot made 30 saves.

The Red Wings (35-33-7, 77 points) moved within four points of the Montreal Canadiens for the second and final Eastern Conference wild-card spot and snapped a six-game losing streak against the Hurricanes.

Carolina (46-25-4, 96 points) got goals from Jackson Blake, Eric Robinson and Brent Burns but lost for just the third time in 15 games. Jaccob Slavin notched two assists while Pyotr Kochetkov turned aside 17 shots.

Detroit opened the scoring with 10:57 remaining in the first period on a goal by Chiarot, who took a loose puck in the left faceoff circle and rifled a slap shot above Kochetkov's glove.

The Red Wings struck again just 26 seconds later, taking a 2-0 lead when Kasper pounced on a loose puck in the Carolina crease and backhanded the puck into a vacated goal.

Carolina answered 1:57 into the second period, cutting the Detroit lead to 2-1. Seth Jarvis stole a pass from Detroit defenseman Justin Holl behind the Red Wings' net and fed a pass out in front to Blake, who fired a shot underneath the crossbar and in.

The Red Wings then took a 4-1 lead on goals 21 seconds apart later in the second.

First, Kane scored on a breakaway with 10:55 left in the second, and then Rasmussen got free in front of the Carolina goal and backhanded a shot past Kochetkov.

Carolina got one back with 7:24 to go in the second, when Robinson tipped a shot past Talbot.

The Hurricanes pulled within 4-3 when Burns' shot got past Talbot with 7:16 remaining in the game.

The Hurricanes pulled Kochetkov with 2:08 remaining for an extra attacker but couldn't get the equalizer. DeBrincat scored an empty-net goal just before the final buzzer sounded.

With a postseason spot already clinched, the Jets (52-20-4, 108 points) lead the Dallas Stars by just four points in the Central Division race, though the Stars have a game in hand and are riding a seven-game win streak to keep pressure on Winnipeg.

Winnipeg brushed off that pressure Thursday while blanking Vegas 4-0, which snapped an eight-game regular-season losing slide to the Golden Knights.

"We really got off, all the lines, the (defense), everybody got running right away," said Jets coach Scott Arniel after the victory in Las Vegas. "When you can get up a couple of goals like that, it certainly makes them change their game a little bit."

Scoring first has been a major key for the Jets all season long. They boast a 32-3-3 record when getting on the board first.

"The messaging in our room and from (Arniel) is just about the process and taking care of that and the results will follow," said Jets captain Adam Lowry on Thursday. "Real happy with the result. (We will) review it... tweak some things and get right back at it."

Utah, meanwhile, limited visiting Los Angeles to just nine shots in the first two periods Thursday night. Alas, the Kings only needed two shots in the third - goals scored 44 seconds apart by Kevin Fiala and Trevor Moore -- to secure a 4-2 victory.

The loss dropped Utah (34-30-12, 80 points) nine points behind the Minnesota Wild, who hold the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. While not yet mathematically eliminated, their playoff chances are now slim.

"I don't think you change it," said forward Dylan Guenther when asked how to approach the final stretch with the playoffs now highly doubtful. "If we were in last or first place, you're always playing for something. These next seven games can give us momentum into the next season, so they're all big."

After taking a puck to the face Tuesday against Calgary, Guenther played Thursday night with a bubble cage to protect his two black eyes and nine stitches.

That level of ruggedness was no surprise to his coach.

"There's not many guys in any locker room in the NHL at this point of the year that don't have something wrong," said Utah coach Andre Tourigny. "It's a tough sport. There are tough players. They go through a lot and they demand a lot of their bodies over 82 games ... (Guenther) and others, (I have) a ton of respect."

The Jets are dealing with several other injuries. Forward Nikolaj Ehlers is day-to-day after being hit by several pucks in Thursday's game in Las Vegas. Center Rasmus Kupari has re-entered concussion protocol, while winger Gabriel Vilardi is week-to-week with an upper-body injury and hasn't practiced yet. Defenseman Neal Pionk is skating again after missing the last 10 games with an undisclosed injury, but there's no timeline for his return.

Montreal (36-30-9, 81 points) enters the weekend two points up on the New York Rangers and four on Columbus, although the Blue Jackets have one game in hand.

The Canadiens stretched their win streak to three games with a 4-1 victory Thursday night over the visiting Boston Bruins. Captain Nick Suzuki and Brendan Gallagher each had a goal and an assist while Christian Dvorak and Cole Caufield also scored for Montreal, which is 6-3-3 over its last 12 games.

"It's been too long," Gallagher said of earning a playoff spot. "Really, it makes you appreciate this building, this atmosphere and everything that comes with being a Montreal Canadien. So it's special coming to the rink. It's definitely given us a boost right now. The crowd's unbelievable and I'm really happy that the guys are getting to experience it that maybe haven't seen it before."

Sam Montembeault made 18 saves for the Canadiens, who are 20-12-5 on home ice this season. Montembeault is 28-23-6 with a .900 save percentage and a 2.86 goals-against average in 57 games.

Suzuki owns a three-game multi-point streak (four goals, three assists) for the fourth time this season. He paces the Canadiens with 81 points in 75 games.

Caufield, who has a team-leading 35 goals in 75 games, is the first Montreal player to score at least that many in a season since Max Pacioretty reached that number during the 2016-17 season.

The Canadiens and Flyers split their first two meetings this season. Montreal edged Philadelphia 4-3 on Oct. 27 while the Flyers picked up a 6-4 win last Thursday.

Philadelphia travels to Montreal riding a three-game win streak under interim coach Brad Shaw.

The Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points) have been off since Monday, when they completed a sweep of their three-game homestand with a 2-1 win over Nashville. Philadelphia sits 10 points behind Montreal with six games remaining.

Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale scored for the Flyers in the win over the Predators as Philadelphia improved to 4-5-1 over its last 10.

Goaltender Ivan Fedotov made 28 saves to improve to 6-13-3 with an .881 save percentage and a 3.12 GAA in 25 games this season.

Travis Konecny and Matvei Michkov each had a pair of assists in the win. The linemates have combined for 19 points over their last six games.

"I think they're realizing they're a little on the same wavelength as far as how they can create offense once they're crossing the offensive blue line, and they've shown a patience and ability to get open for the other guy," Shaw said. "That's a really nice thing to see because they're making something out of nothing sometimes. They're keeping the offense going later, longer than the defense can withstand it and they're getting some glorious chances because of it."

Konecny paces the Flyers with 49 assists and 73 points in 76 games, while Konecny and Michkov share the team lead with 24 goals apiece.

That all changed on Feb. 8, when they began an 18-2-2 run that vaulted them into playoff position in the Western Conference. The Blues (42-28-7, 91 points) bring a team record-tying 11-game winning streak into Saturday's home game with the Colorado Avalanche (47-26-4, 98 points).

St. Louis has matched the 11-game winning streak put together by the 2018-19 club, which went on to win the Stanley Cup.

They also have edged ever closer to clinching a wild-card playoff berth with this late-season surge.

"It's been a fun ride," said Blues forward Robert Thomas. "We've beaten some really good teams and we're playing really good hockey. We just got to consistently be there every single night and that's what makes a great team and that's what we're on our way to be."

The Blues are triggering flashbacks to their 2019 Stanley Cup run, when they rose from the conference cellar, reached the playoff bracket and just kept winning.

"I feel like we're really starting to build something here that's become something very special," said Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist. "We're enjoying it every day and we're just going to keep going and see how far this can take us."

The Blues took a hit in Thursday's 5-4 overtime home victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins when forward Dylan Holloway suffered a lower-body injury. But they also got a lift from former University of Minnesota star Jimmy Snuggerud, who earned his first NHL point, an assist, in his second game.

"He's been making a lot of plays," said Blues coach Jim Montgomery. "I think once he gets used to the speed, strength and less time and space in the NHL, he's going to be a real good player for us. He's already playing well."

While the Blues still have work to do to secure a postseason berth, the Avalanche clinched their postseason spot Thursday with a 7-4 road victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"We're obviously really happy that we secured that spot," said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. "That's the first step and the first goal that you kind of set in training camp, and it takes a long time to get here and a lot of hard work, but proud of our guys for accomplishing that and doing it in under tough circumstances, coming in here (Thursday night) on the back-to-back."

The Avalanche earned a 3-2 shootout victory over the Blackhawks on Wednesday night in Chicago. Then they stepped on the gas in their victory at Columbus.

"Guys played well, played smart hockey game, got rewarded for it," Bednar said. "Good for them, got rewarded for the hard work."

Colorado wingers Jonathan Drouin (lower-body injury) and Martin Necas (undisclosed injury) are questionable for this game. They didn't play in Columbus after getting hurt against the Blackhawks on Wednesday. Miles Wood and Jimmy Vesey replaced them.

Colorado is 6-1-1 in its last eight games. That one loss came to the Blues, 2-1, on March 29 in Denver. Jordan Binnington made 28 saves to earn the victory.

Since Joel Hofer played Thursday night against the Penguins, Binnington will likely get the call Saturday.

Earlier this season, the Avalanche defeated the Blues 5-0 on Jan. 31 in Denver with Mackenzie Blackwood earning a 19-save shutout. The Blues defeated the Avalanche 3-1 on Feb. 23 with Binnington making 28 saves.

The Maple Leafs (46-25-4, 96 points) clinched a playoff spot and solidified their grasp of first place in the Atlantic Division on Wednesday with a 3-2 home victory over the Florida Panthers.

The Blue Jackets (34-31-9, 77 points), however, must make up for Thursday's 7-3 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The defeat left the Blue Jackets four points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with one game in hand.

The Blue Jackets were pumped when they led 3-2 midway through the second period on Thursday. They were deflated when the Avalanche reeled off five straight goals, starting at 12:39 of the second when Charlie Coyle scored the tying goal.

"We just can't shoot ourselves in key situations, where the game's still sitting there," Columbus coach Dean Evason said, "and we're still in the spot and we do something kind of uncharacteristic and systematically that we don't do, and it ends up in our net, or flips the momentum of the hockey game, and think that third goal probably did that."

"We kind of did it to ourselves," said Columbus forward Sean Monahan, who scored his 17th goal of the season. "We gave them looks they probably shouldn't have had, but I didn't think we played a terrible game. It's unfortunate and we've got to bounce back."

"We have lots of belief in this group," said Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner. "That's exactly what we're going to. ... reset, and we have a huge back-to-back coming up on the road. Huge points for us."

The Blue Jackets visit the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. The Senators won 3-2 when the teams played in Ottawa on March 29.

The Maple Leafs played a solid game Wednesday with goaltender Anthony Stolarz making key saves against his former team. He finished with 29 saves against the Panthers for his fourth win in a row -- and he got to celebrate the Leafs' postseason-clinching victory.

"It's hard to make the playoffs, it's tight, it's a tough league," said Toronto coach Craig Berube. "I've talked before that coaching the Leafs is a real opportunity for me, a thrill. I love working with the players, the staff, the organization.

"The team has been very consistent and done a really good job of changing our style of play and adapting to it over time. It takes a while, but they've figured it out with different areas of the game, scoring, things like that."

Toronto stands three points ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning and four ahead of the Panthers.

The Maple Leafs visit the Panthers and Lightning next Tuesday and Wednesday.

"It's not the end-all, be-all," Berube said. "We're just going to focus on Columbus on Saturday night. I mean, yeah, first place in our division would be great, but that's a ways off yet."

The style Toronto is playing was reflected by Mitchell Marner, who not only had a goal and an assist but made a key defensive play to clear the puck and help relieve Panthers pressure late in the game.

"Our big guys, they're not just there to score," Berube said. "They're there to play 200-foot hockey, whether it's penalty-killing, protecting the lead, just playing good defense."

Berube said that Jake McCabe and David Kampf are listed as day-to-day and will not play on Saturday.

Tampa Bay (44-26-5, 93 points) begins the day in second place in the Atlantic Division, three points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs with seven games remaining. The reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers are just one point behind the Lightning in the battle for home-ice advantage during the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Tampa Bay may have a slight scheduling edge down the stretch. After Saturday's game with the Sabres, the Lightning play four of their last six games at home where they are a sparkling 27-8-2. The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, play four of their last six on the road that includes a difficult back-to-back with Florida and Tampa Bay on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Lightning come in off a 2-1 loss Thursday at Ottawa that snapped a four-game winning streak. Tampa Bay lost despite outshooting the Senators 32-19 overall and 11-3 in the final period, but the Lightning ran into a hot goaltender in 2023 Vezina winner Linus Ullmark. He made 31 saves, including one on a short-handed breakaway by Brandon Hagel six minutes into the final period. Anthony Cirelli hit the crossbar on another short-handed rush.

"The goalie made the saves he had to make and they blocked the shots they had to block and that was it," said Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper. "If you ask me, ‘Hey, are you unhappy with your team tonight?' No, I'm not. Sometimes you just don't win those games, and we've won a lot of them, and tonight we didn't."

"We had our looks," said Lightning forward Yanni Gourde. "I thought overall we played pretty good. We got our chances. We missed a couple. I missed one on the back door there. We had good looks."

Buffalo (32-36-6, 70 points) brings a four-game home winning streak into the contest. The Sabres have won two in a row overall and five of their last six after Tuesday's 5-2 win at Ottawa. James Reimer made 33 saves for his fifth straight win and Tage Thompson scored his 39th goal, which tied him with Alex Ovechkin for third in the league.

Thompson has scored five goals in his last five games while Alex Tuch has a four-game goal streak. The Sabres are 11 points behind Montreal for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with just eight games remaining.

"Obviously, too little too late this year, but I think we're learning how to close out games," Thompson said. "At the beginning of the season, you'd see us panic when games meant something. We'd have a lead and kind of blow it, but I think right now there's no panic on the bench. I think there's a lot of confidence that we can close games out."

This is the second of three regular-season games between Tampa Bay and Buffalo. The Lightning, behind a hat trick by Jake Guentzel, rallied to win the first one, 6-5, in Tampa on March 6. The two teams also meet April 13 in Tampa.

The third-place Oilers (44-26-5, 93 points) reside two points in back of the Kings (43-23-9, 95 points) in the Pacific Division. Edmonton defeated Los Angeles in five games during the teams' Western Conference first-round series last spring.

Each team carries a three-game win streak into Saturday's contest.

The Oilers have posted 3-2 decisions in each of their last three games. They defeated the Calgary Flames in overtime on March 29 before toppling the first-place Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday and San Jose Sharks on Thursday.

Jeff Skinner scored and set up a goal versus the Sharks and defenseman Evan Bouchard notched a pair of assists. Viktor Arvidsson extended his goal streak to three games and Calvin Pickard made 27 saves in the win.

Unfortunately for the Oilers, the victory wasn't the lead story from Thursday's game as Leon Draisaitl left the contest in the second period with an undisclosed injury.

The victory over the Sharks was just Draisaitl's third game back in action after missing four games with an undefined ailment.

"No, I don't (have an update). I haven't seen our training staff yet," Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said following the game.

The Oilers also are without superstar captain Connor McDavid, who has been sidelined since March 20 with a lower-body injury.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner also is expected to miss the remaining two contests of their current four-game road swing with a head injury.

"You never want to miss those guys," Knoblauch said. "You never want your top players not to play because every time they're not in, it decreases your chances of winning because they are good players. What happens is other guys have some opportunities, get some confidence, hopefully score some goals, because we're going to need them."

Los Angeles' three-game win streak has consisted of home victories over the Sharks and Winnipeg Jets and, most recently, a 4-2 road win Thursday over the Utah Hockey Club.

Adrian Kempe and Trevor Moore each extended their goal streaks to three games. Defenseman Drew Doughty and Kevin Fiala both tallied for the Kings, who earned their 12th win over their past 15 outings.

Saturday's crucial clash marks the beginning of a four-game homestand for Los Angeles.

"We've played them a lot over the last few years," said Moore, when asked about their upcoming match with the Oilers. "They're probably a first-round opponent. So, we're going to be giving it our all and, like we always do against those guys, it's a tough game."

The Oilers have bested the Kings in the first round of the playoffs on three consecutive occasions. Edmonton held home-ice advantage in each of the three encounters.

These Pacific Division rivals conclude their season series April 14 in Edmonton.

Subpar play by the Ducks and Canucks, combined with a monumental surge by the St. Louis Blues, has left the Pacific Division rivals mopping up what's left of their seasons heading into their final matchup Saturday afternoon in Vancouver.

The Canucks (34-28-13, 81 points) held the Western Conference's second-wild card spot heading into a matchup in St. Louis on March 20, but the Blues won 4-3 in overtime to leapfrog Vancouver.

That was the Blues' fourth straight win and they haven't lost since, running their win streak to 11 straight with a 5-4 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.

Coupled with Vancouver's current three-game losing streak, the Canucks find themselves eight points out of the second wild-card spot now occupied by the Minnesota Wild. The good news? The Wild also lost three in a row heading into their Friday night matchup at the New York Islanders.

"We've got to pick ourselves back up and get back into the fight," said Canucks forward Elias Pettersson.

The Ducks (33-34-8, 74 points) had a couple of chances to get within four points of a playoff spot last month, but lost to the Blues twice in nine days and that helped lead to their postseason elimination with a 4-1 loss Thursday night at the Calgary Flames.

Anaheim has not made the playoffs since 2018, but will finish with one of the most improved point totals in the NHL this season. The Ducks managed just 59 points last season.

"As much as it's disappointing (getting eliminated), I think from the big picture we took a step in the right direction," said Ducks captain Radko Gudas. "You can see the guys here that are young and want to get better. They want to get better every game we play. I thought for us, obviously not a successful year because of (missing) the playoffs, but I think it was a step in the right direction for the organization and the future is going to be bright if we can keep this group together."

The Ducks would like to finish off their two-game Canadian swing with a better effort against the Canucks.

Anaheim seemed to lose its legs Tuesday after the first period of a 4-3 shootout win against the visiting San Jose Sharks -- and that seemed to carry over to the game in Calgary.

"We looked a little tired or something, not really competing like we need to be," Ducks defenseman Olen Zellweger said. "Obviously, because of that, we're giving up way too many chances against. There were a few good moments throughout the game, but overall we have to be way better, way more competitive and complete. It's unfortunate, our effort in that game."

The Canucks could be without defenseman Tyler Myers, who did not play the final 11:47 of the third period in Wednesday's 5-0 loss to the Seattle Kraken.

"He got banged up," Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. "He wanted to keep going, but I shut him down."