Panthers clinch postseason spot with a win over Sabres
BUFFALO, N.Y. » Jonathan Huberdeau set Florida’s single-season points record, and the Panthers clinched a playoff berth with a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
Huberdeau scored his 24th goal to extend his point streak to eight games and raise his season total to 97, one more than teammate Aleksander Barkov’s record set in 2019.
Anthony Duclair scored twice as the Panthers (4815-6) established a franchise record for victories. Winning for the seventh time in eight games, Florida closed a two-game trip by improving to 20-9-6 on the road.
MacKenzie Weegar had a goal and an assist for Florida. Anton Lundell also scored, and Spencer Knight made 26 saves.
Jeff Skinner had a goal and an assist for the Sabres, who are on the cusp of missing the playoffs for an NHL-record 11th consecutive season. Tage Thompson and Kyle Okposo also scored, and Dustin Tokarski stopped 35 shots. Buffalo lost an eight-game point streak (5-0-3), its longest in three seasons.
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Josh Norris scored three goals for his first career hat trick and Ottawa completed a sweep of its homeand-home series with Detroit.
Artem Zub and Nikita Zaitsev also scored for the Senators, and Anton Forsberg made 30 saves.
The 22-year-old Norris, who reached the 30-goal milestone for the first time in his young NHL career, also scored in Ottawa’s 5-2 victory in Detroit on Friday night.
Michael Rasmussen and Dylan Larkin scored for the Red Wings, who have lost six straight. Thomas Greiss stopped 31 shots.
The Senators honored late owner Eugene Melnyk before the game. Melnyk, 62, died last Monday after a lengthy illness.
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Jean-Gabriel Pageau had three goals and an assist, and New York held off New Jersey to extend its winning streak to a seasonhigh four straight games.
Former Devil Cory Schneider made 27 saves in his first NHL start since March 6, 2020. The 36-year-old goaltender was recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League last month with Ilya Sorokin sidelined and Semyon Varlamov needing a break.
Kyle Palmieri added New York’s other goal and added two assists, and defenseman Adam Pelech matched his career best with three assists as the Islanders improved to 11-3-1 in their last 14.
FLYERS 4, RANGERS 3, SO » Kevin Hayes scored the only goal of the shootout and Martin Jones made 43 saves to lift Philadelphia over New York.
Hayes lifted the puck past Igor Shesterkin as the Flyers got just their ninth road win in 34 games this season.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, CANUCKS 2, OT » Shea Theodore scored 2:05 into overtime, leading Vegas to its fifth straight win.
Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and assist, and Alex Pietrangelo also scored in regulation for Vegas. Robin Lehner returned from a lower-body injury to make 26 saves in his first start since March 8.
WILD 5, CAPITALS 1 » Joel Eriksson Ek scored his career-best 20th and 21st goals of the season and added an assist, and Minnesota cruised past Washington.
Marcus Foligno built on one career high with his 20th goal and set another with his 16th assist for the Wild, who have won nine of their last 10 while earning a point in the other. Tyson Jost and Nicolas Deslauriers also scored as secondplace Minnesota extended its lead to five points over third-place St. Louis in the Central Division. Jordan Greenway had three assists and Cam Talbot made 25 saves to extend his point streak to nine games.
COYOTES 3, BLACKHAWKS 2, OT » Shayne Gostisbehere scored on a deflection with 14.7 seconds left in overtime, Michael Carcone and Travis Boyd also
scored, and Arizona beat Chicago.
The win was only struggling Arizona’s second in the last nine games (2-6-1). The slumping Blackhawks lost their fifth straight (03-2) after a two-game winning streak.
OILERS 6, DUCKS 1 » Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists to extend his point streak to 13 games, Leon Draisaitl scored his 50th goal of the season, and the Edmonton Oilers won their fourth straight game with a victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
Tyson Barrie and Brett Kulak each had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist as the Oilers pulled within one point of Los Angeles for second place in the Pacific Division with a game in hand. Jesse Puljujarvi also scored, and Mike Smith made 31 saves.
KRAKEN 4, STARS 1 » Jared McCann scored a shorthanded goal in the first period, Ryan Donato converted on a breakaway early in the third period, and the Seattle Kraken beat the Dallas Stars.
McCann’s early goal was his 25th of the season and Donato added a beautiful finish five minutes into the third period to give the Kraken a cushion. It was Donato’s 14th of the season, tying his career-high.