Islanders edge Penguins to tie for wild card
Ducks catch Sharks at top of Pacific Division
>> PITTSBURGH: John Tavares and Anthony Beauvillier scored in the shoot-out to lead the New York Islanders over the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in the NHL on Friday night.
Beauvillier opened the shoot-out with a goal, and Tavares snapped a wrist shot past Marc-Andre Fleury in the next round.
Sidney Crosby scored in the shootout for Pittsburgh, but Jaroslav Halak, making his first start since Dec 29, stopped Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino.
Anders Lee scored his 28th goal of the season, while Brock Nelson got his 17th and Casey Cizikas his eighth for the Islanders, who moved into the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
New York are tied with Boston at 82 points, but the Islanders have a game in hand on the Bruins. The Islanders have 18 wins in 31 games since Doug Weight was named interim coach on Jan 17, replacing Jack Capuano.
Halak, a former All-Star, made 37 saves.
In Dallas, Adam Cracknell scored his first hat-trick in seven NHL seasons and Dallas routed San Jose 6-1.
Cracknell opened the scoring in the first period, capped a three-goal flurry in the second and beat goalie Aaron Dell on a short-handed breakaway in the third for his career-high 10th goal of the season.
The Sharks, who have lost five in a row, entered the game two points ahead of Anaheim and Edmonton in the Pacific Division despite their longest skid of the season. San Jose have been outscored 16-5 during the stretch.
Brett Ritchie, Jamie Benn and John Klingberg also scored for the Stars.
Joe Thornton scored for San Jose on the power play in the second period.
In Anaheim, Andrew Cogliano scored late in the second period and Jonathan Bernier made 17 saves as Anaheim beat Winnipeg 3-1.
Corey Perry and Jakob Silvferberg also scored for Anaheim, which are now tied with San Jose for the lead in the Pacific Division with eight games remaining for both teams.
The Sharks loss in Dallas, giving the Ducks renewed hope of winning the division title for the fifth season in a row.
Josh Morrissey scored a power-play goal and Michael Hutchinson made 32 saves for the Jets.
In Detroit, Nikita Kucherov scored 3:28 minutes into overtime to lift Tampa Bay to a 2-1 win over Detroit.
Situated on the edge of the crease, Kucherov redirected a hard pass from Brayden Point into the net.
The Lightning are one point behind the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders for the final Eastern Conference wild card.