Jets, Bruins clinch spots in play-offs

WINNIPEG: Kyle Connor recorded his first career hat-trick, Kevin Hayes tallied four points, Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves and the Winnipeg Jets notched a 5-0 shut-out over the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

The victory clinched a postseason berth for Winnipeg, who are in the Stanley Cup play-offs for just the fourth time in the 19-season history of the Thrashers/Jets franchise. Winnipeg (45-26-4, 94 points) also extended their Central Division lead over Nashville to four points as the Jets chase their first-ever division title.

Nashville (42-28-6, 90 points) have lost two in a row and missed a chance to clinch their own play-off spot.

Hellebuyck now has shut-outs in consecutive starts. He improved to 4-0-0 with a .959 save percentage over his last five appearances.

Boston scored five times in the second period en route to defeating hosts Florida 7-3.

With the win, the Bruins surpassed 100 points for the second straight season and clinched a play-off spot for the third straight year.

Boston, who have won four straight games, got goals from Noel Acciari, Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara, Karson Kuhlman, Steven Kampfer, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron (empty-netter). Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak, who took a 5-0 beating from the Panthers on Dec 4, made 31 saves to earn the win.

Vladimir Tarasenko capped a threegoal surge in 75 seconds as hosts St Louis completed a season sweep of Tampa Bay with a 4-3 victory.

Robert Thomas and Alexander Steen also scored in the first period, and Brayden Schenn tallied in the second for the Blues, who improved to 4-0-1 in their last five games. Rookie Jordan Binnington finished with 39 saves.

Brayden Point scored his teamleading 40th goal and Alex Killorn and Steven Stamkos also tallied for the Lightning, whose seven-game Jets left wing Kyle Connor scores against Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne in the second period. winning streak came to an end. Tampa Bay remained four wins shy of Detroit’s NHL record of 62 victories in 1995-96 with six contests to go.

Colin Wilson scored the go-ahead goal on a 5-on-3 advantage in the second period as hosts Colorado beat Chicago 4-2 in Denver in the opener of a home-and-home series.

Colorado (34-29-12, 80 points) moved into sole possession of the Western Conference’s final wild-card spot, with Arizona and Minnesota each a point behind.