Avs first to 50 wins, clinch playoff spot

The Colorado Avalanche clinched a playoff spot with the help of two goals from Nathan MacKinnon in a 6-4 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.

It's the fifth straight playoff berth for the Avs, who also became the first NHL team to 50 wins this season and have ripped off nine wins in 11 games.

MacKinnon scored his 23rd and 24th of the season, while J.T. Compher got his his 14th of the year. Darren Helm, Josh Manson and Artturi Lehkonen also scored. Darcy Kuemper won his 33rd game and stopped 41 shots.

Bryan Rust, Evan Rodrigues, Jake Guentzel and Mike Matheson all scored for the host Penguins, but they lost for the second time in as many games against Colorado.

PANTHERS 7, MAPLE LEAFS 6 >> Jonathan Huberdeau scored his second goal of the game in overtime and also had three assists, helping Florida overcome a four-goal deficit to beat visiting Toronto.

The Atlantic Divisionleading Panthers trailed 5-1 midway through the second period before roaring back. Sam Reinhart scored twice, Aleksander Barkov had a goal and three assists, Claude Giroux got his first goal with Florida and Radko Gudas also scored.

Huberdeau took a pass from Barkov in overtime and poked it past Jack Campbell for his 102nd point this season. The Panthers improved to 49-15-6, setting a franchise record with their 104th point. SABRES 4, HURRICANES 2 >> Victor Olofsson had a goal and an assist in the third period to lead Buffalo past Carolina. Earning a point for the ninth time in 10 games (6-1-3), Buffalo held off being eliminated from the playoffs for an NHL-record 11th consecutive season.

RANGERS 3, DEVILS 1 >> Artemi Panarin set up two first-period power-play goals for his 64th and 65th assists of the season and New York won at rival New Jersey.