David Pastrnak and Danton Heinen each had a goal and an assist in the first period and the Boston beat Carolina Hurricanes 4-1.
Brad Marchand had the game’s first goal, Hampus Lindholm added an empty-netter and Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves for Boston.
The Bruins won their third game in a row and moved four points in front of the Hurricanes, who have a game in hand, in a matchup of Eastern Conference playoff-bound teams. Boston finished a six-game road stretch at 4-2-0.
Carolina’s Jake Guentzel scored on a 5-on-3 power play in the second period, but the Hurricanes were left without a point for just the second time in their last 11 games.
PENGUINS 4, CAPITALS 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ryan Shea scored his first NHL goal and Michael Bunting his fourth with his new team, Alex Nedjelkovic made 30 saves and Pittsburgh beat Washington Capitals to move closer to a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Shea’s goal 25 games into his rookie season was also his first point in the league.
Despite Alex Ovechkin scoring on the power play for his 27th goal of the season and 849th of his career, the Capitals’ losing streak reached four, further endangering their chances of playing beyond the regular season. Charlie Lindgren, whose goaltending has carried them for the past month or so, struggled in allowing three goals on 23 shots with his heaviest workload in the NHL appearing to take a toll.
PANTHERS 6, SENATORS 0
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves for his fifth shutout of the season, Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists and Florida Panthers routed Ottawa.
Nick Cousins, Dmitry Kulikov, Anton Lundell, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored to help Florida improve to 48-24-5. Panthers coach Paul Maurice moved into sole possession of fourth place on the NHL victory list with 865.
Joonas Korpisalo allowed four goals on 17 shots for Ottawa. Anton Forsberg gave up two on 14 shots in relief.
ISLANDERS 4, BLUE JACKETS 2
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Noah Dobson scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the New York Islanders stayed alive in their quest for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot with a 4-2 win over Columbus.
Pierre Engvall and Bo Horvat scored first-period goals, and Ilya Sorokin stopped 25 shots for the Islanders, who have won three straight.
Kirill Marchenko had a goal and an assist, and Dmitri Voronkov also scored for Columbus, which had won its last two. Daniil Tarasov stopped 13 shots before leaving game with 2:07 left in the first period after a collision by the net. Jet Greaves made 24 stops in relief.
LIGHTNING 7, CANADIENS 4
MONTREAL (AP) — NHL points leader Nikita Kucherov scored his 43rd goal of the season and had two assists, Steven Stamkos and Nicholas Paul each scored twice and Tampa Bay beat Montreal Canadiens.
Holding the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, the Lightning improved to 43-26-7.
Matt Tomkins, a 29-year-old making only his fourth NHL start and the first since Nov. 7, made 26 saves for the victory. He has a 2-2-0 record, with both of his wins coming against the Canadiens in Montreal.
Michael Eyssimont and Brandon Hagel also scored for Tampa Bay.
PREDATORS 6, BLUES 3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Filip Forsberg had two goals and an assist, Juuse Saros made 44 saves and Nashville beat the St. Louis to snap a three-game losing streak.
Roman Josi, Anthony Beauvillier, Michael McCarron and Mark Jankowski also scored goals and Gustav Nyquist had three assists for Nashville.
Brandon Saad, Jake Neighbours and Jordan Kyrou scored and Jordan Binnington made 25 saves for St. Louis, losers of two of their last three.
AVALANCHE 5, WILD 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, Justus Annunen made a career-high 44 saves and Colorado moved closer to first place in the Central Division with a 5-2 win over Minnesota.
Jonathan Drouin scored twice and added an assist as the playoff-bound Avalanche bounced back from a vexing loss Monday at Columbus, last in the Eastern Conference. Second-place Colorado is three points behind idle Dallas.
Artturi Lehkonen and Mikko Rantanen also scored for the Avs.
Annunen thwarted chance after chance in his 16th career game. The native of Finland won a Stanley Cup with Colorado while serving as the team’s backup goalie for part of the 2022 playoffs.
Vinni Lettieri and Declan Chisholm scored for Minnesota. Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson stopped 31 shots.
JETS 5, FLAMES 2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Gabe Vilardi had a hat trick and Winnipeg wrapped up a playoff spot and eliminated Calgary from the wild-card race.
Vilardi scored his third goal of the game and 19th of the season into an empty net with 1:04 left. Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist, Tyler Toffoli also scored and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 31 shots to help the Jets improve to 46-24-6.
Martin Pospisil and MacKenzie Weegar scored for Calgary. Dustin Wolf made 40 saves.
KINGS 2, SHARKS 1
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Akil Thomas scored his first NHL goal and David Rittich stopped 15 shots as Los Angeles beat San Jose Sharks to improve their playoff position.
Adrian Kempe also scored for the Kings, who are 7-0-1 in their last eight games against San Jose. Los Angeles moved seven points ahead of St. Louis for the second Western Conference wild card with six games remaining.
The Kings also stayed one point behind Nashville for the top wild card and climbed within one point of Vegas for third place in the Pacific Division.
Klim Kostin scored for the last-place Sharks, who have lost 11 of 12. Mikael Granlund had an assist to extend his point streak to six games.
Mackenzie Blackwood made 25 saves in the loss.
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