Around the League notebook for Thursday, March 5

THURSDAY'S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps

Calgary 4, BOSTON 3 (SO)

PHILADELPHIA 3, St. Louis 1

Minnesota 2, WASHINGTON 1

TAMPA BAY 4, Toronto 2

Dallas 4, FLORIDA 3 (SO)

NY Islanders 4, NASHVILLE 3

ARIZONA 3, Vancouver 2 (SO)

LOS ANGELES 4, Montreal 3 (SO)

CLOSE GAMES HIGHLIGHT THURSDAY ACTION

All eight games contested Thursday either were tied or within one goal entering the third period. Each game also featured either a tying goal or game-winning goal scored in the third period. Of the eight games:

* Five featured a tying goal in the final 10 minutes of the third period, including two in the final minute of regulation (Radim Vrbata at 19:06 for VAN and Marian Gaborik at 19:15 for LAK).

* Four required overtime, with each decided in a shootout. The Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings were the only teams to win after scoring to force overtime.

* Four games saw a team overcome a third-period deficit to pick up a victory (PHI, MIN, DAL, LAK).

SCHLEMKO SPARKS FLAMES IN DEBUT

Playing in his first game with the Calgary Flames, David Schlemko scored a highlight-reel goal in the eighth round of the shootout to lift his new club to a 4-3 win against the Boston Bruins, its second straight win and first win in Boston since Dec. 18, 2003.

* The Flames (35-25-4, 74 points) moved within two points of the Vancouver Canucks (36-24-4, 76 points), who lost in a shootout, for second place in the Pacific Division.

* Schlemko, who was claimed off waivers from the Stars on Sunday, has scored on each of his two career attempts in the shootout, both game-deciding goals.

* Johnny Gaudreau, who played three seasons with Boston College and won the Hobey Baker Award in 2014, scored in his first NHL game in Beantown. He helped the Eagles win the 2012 Hockey East Tournament at TD Garden, tallying 2-1—3 in the championship game to capture tournament MVP honors.

* It was Gaudreau's first goal since Jan. 27 vs. BUF, snapping a 15-game drought. He ranks second among rookies with 16-30—46 in 63 GP.

* Jiri Hudler (1-1—2) had his 15th multipoint game of the season. He leads the Flames with 21-31—52 this season (61 GP), two points shy of his total from 2013-14 and five off his career high.

* Sean Monahan scored his team-leading 23rd goal, surpassing his rookie total from last season.

* Kris Russell and Dennis Wideman each had two assists and blocked 15 and eight shots, respectively. The Elias Sports Bureau says Russell's 15 blocked shots were the highest single-game total in NHL history, besting the previous mark of 12 last achieved by Brett Clark on Nov. 6, 2009 (w/ COL vs. CHI).

* Russell leads the NHL with 218 blocked shots this season; Roman Josi is the next closest with 175. Wideman (147) and teammate TJ Brodie (141) rank sixth and eighth, respectively.

* The Flames improved to 13-4 past regulation this season (OT: 9-3, SO: 4-1), tying the Ducks for the most wins in overtime/shootouts.

POMINVILLE LIFTS WILD INTO FIRST WILD CARD SPOT

Jason Pominville scored twice in the third period to rally the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals for their fifth straight road win and a 7-1-0 record in their past eight games.

* With the victory, the Wild (35-22-7, 77 points) passed the idle Winnipeg Jets (32-21-12, 76 points) into the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. They also pulled within four points of the idle Chicago Blackhawks (38-21-5, 81 points) for third place in the Central Division. The Wild face each team once more this season: April 6 vs. WPG and April 7 at CHI.

* The Wild have strung together five consecutive road wins for the first time since an equal stretch from March 9-25, 2013. It also was their second all-time win in Washington (2-5-1; also Nov. 21, 2002, 4-3 W); the Capitals have never won in Minnesota (0-6-1).

* The Wild lead the NHL with 15 wins and 31 points in 18 games since the All-Star break, allowing two goals or fewer in 15 of those games.

* Pominville had his 22nd career multigoal game and first since April 8, 2014 vs. BOS (2-1—3). He has 29 career game-winners, including three this season.

* Zach Parise had the primary assist on both goals; he (25-23—48) and Pominville (15-29—44) lead the Wild in scoring.

* Extending his franchise record with his 22nd straight start, Devan Dubnyk made 24 saves, including all 10 he faced in the third period, to improve to 17-3-1 in a Wild uniform. He ranks second in the NHL with a 2.11 goals-against average and is tied for third with a .927 save percentage (41 GP).

GABORIK'S GOALS HELP KINGS INCH CLOSER OT JETS

Marian Gaborik scored twice in regulation and once in the shootout to rally the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens for their second straight win and sixth victory in their past seven games at Staples Center.

* The Kings (31-21-12, 74 points) pulled within two points of the idle Jets (32-21-12, 76 points) for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Los Angeles holds one game in hand and owns the ROW tiebreaker (LAK: 29, WPG: 26). Winnipeg earned a 5-2 win in their final meeting of the season on Sunday (LAK: 1-1-1, WPG: 2-1-0).

* The Kings opened a 2-0 lead early in the first period but yielded three straight goals before Gaborik forced overtime with just 45 seconds left in regulation.

* Each of Gaborik's goals came with the man advantage, the second time this season he has scored two power-play goals in a game (also Dec. 18, 2014). He leads the Kings with nine power-play goals and shares second with 19 goals.

* Playing in his 700th NHL game (200th w/ LAK), Jeff Carter scored his team-leading 22nd goal and 50th point of the season. Justin Williams assisted on the goal while appearing in his 900th game.

* Carter and Anze Kopitar scored in the shootout as the Kings scored three times on four attempts to improve to 2-7 in the shootout in 2014-15. Prior to Thursday, Los Angeles had converted on only 2 of 28 attempts this season.

* Jonathan Quick made 15 saves and denied two shootout attempts to record his 27th win of the season.

ISLANDERS SURVIVE PREDATORS RALLY TO RECLAIM TOP SPOT IN DIVISION

The Nashville Predators tied the game with two goals in a span of 31 seconds midway through the third period, but Brock Nelson notched the game-winner just 3:05 later to lift the New York Islanders to a 4-3 win and a sweep of their two-game season series.

* At 42-21-3 (87 points), the Islanders passed the idle New York Rangers (39-17-7, 85 points) for first place in the Metropolitan Division and moved within one point of the Canadiens (41-18-6, 88 points), who lost in a shootout, for top spot in the Eastern Conference, where the top five teams are separated by five points.

* Nelson scored his fourth career game-winner and third this season (also Oct. 14 at NYR, Feb. 17 at CAR). He ranks third on the Islanders in goals (18) and fourth in points (38).

* John Tavares matched a career high with his 31st goal (also 2011-12) and added one assist to move into a share of first in the NHL with 67 points, including 7-9—16 since Feb. 14 (11 GP).

* Anders Lee scored his 22nd goal, to move within one of Mike Hoffman for the rookie scoring lead. Lee also shares fifth in rookie points with 22-13—35, including 7-9—16 in his past 14 outings.

* Nick Leddy (1-1—2) and Johnny Boychuk (0-2—2) each had multiple points in both games against the Predators this season (1-2—3 and 1-1—2, respectively on Feb. 19). Prior to this season, Leddy had 2-4—6 in his first 20 games vs. NSH.

* Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves, including 14 in the first period, to improve to 34-13-1 in 48 appearances. His 34 victories rank third in the League behind Carey Price (36) and Pekka Rinne (35).

STAMKOS, LIGHTNING EYE TOP SPOT IN ATLANTIC

Steven Stamkos had 0-2—2 and Vladislav Namestnikov scored the game-winning goal to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 4-2 win against the Maple Leafs for their third straight win at Amalie Arena.

* The Lightning (40-20-6, 86 points) pulled within two points of the Canadiens (41-18-6, 88 points) for first place in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. Montreal holds one game in hand, but Tampa Bay owns the ROW tiebreaker (TBL: 38, MTL: 35).

* Stamkos had his 14th multipoint game of 2014-15 to stretch his point streak to four games (4-2—6). He has compiled 9-6—15 in his past 14 games and 36-25—61 this season.

* Stamkos stretched his point streak against the Maple Leafs to six games (6-5—11); he has 15-16—31 in 24 games vs. TOR.

* Namestnikov scored his fourth career goal and second game-winner (also Oct. 24 at WPG); he has 4-4—8 in 31 games.

* Ryan Callahan, Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn scored the other Lightning goals. Tampa Bay improved to 22-2-0 when Callahan finds the back of the net dating to his acquisition at the 2014 NHL Trade Deadline.

* Making his 50th appearance of the season, Ben Bishop made 25 saves to pick up his 32nd win, fourth in the League and five shy of his career high set last season (63 GP).

* The Lightning improved to 14-2-0 in their past 16 games at Amalie Arena. At 25-6-1 (51 points), they rank second in the NHL in home wins and points, behind the Predators (26-6-1, 53 points).

FLYERS, STARS RALLY TO KEEP PACE

The Philadelphia Flyers and Stars each overcame a third period deficit to improve their positions in their respective playoff pushes.

* Down a goal midway through the third period, Michael Del Zotto and Wayne Simmonds scored less than two minutes apart to rally the Flyers past the St. Louis Blues 3-1, giving them a 2-0-1 record in their past three games.

* The Flyers (28-25-12, 68 points) pulled within four points of the Bruins (31-22-10, 72 points), who lost in a shootout, for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The teams will meet for the final time this season in a matinee Saturday at TD Garden (1 p.m. ET, NHLN-US, SN1, TVA Sports).

* Del Zotto scored his ninth goal of the season (53 GP), one shy of his career high set in 77 games with the Rangers in 2011-12. He has 4-5—9 in his past 10 games.

* Simmonds scored his team-leading sixth game-winner and 26th goal. Michael Raffl also scored for the Flyers, while Luke Schenn and Matt Read each had two assists.

* Steve Mason made 28 saves to improve to 7-1-2 with a 1.54 GAA, .948 save percentage and one shutout in his past 10 decisions.

* Up two goals midway through the first period, the Stars yielded three straight Florida Panthers goals before Alex Goligoski tied the game in the third period and Colton Sceviour scored the lone shootout goal to lift the Stars to a 4-3 win, their second straight.

* At 29-26-10 (68 points), the Stars moved within eight points of the idle Jets (32-21-12, 76 points) for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

* Jhonas Enroth made 10 saves in relief and denied all three shootout attempts to earn his first win in a Stars uniform and first victory since Feb. 7 vs. DAL (w/ BUF).

* Shawn Horcoff and Curtis McKenzie scored in regulation. Horcoff had an assist for his third multipoint game of the season.

COYOTES SNAP SKID ON THROWBACK NIGHT IN ARIZONA

On a night when the club was celebrating its inaugural season in Arizona, Sam Gagner (0-1—1) scored the lone goal of the shootout to help the Coyotes defeat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2, halting a 10-game skid and earning their first home win since Jan. 8.

* Tobias Rieder and B.J. Crombeen helped Arizona take a 2-0 lead, but the Canucks tied the game with two goals late in the third period, including the tying marker at 19:06 by former Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata.

* Mike Smith made 32 saves and denied all three shootout attempts to earn his first win since Feb. 9. He also wore a new throwback mask, which includes a portrait of rock star and longtime Coyotes supporter Alice Cooper. Cooper attended the game and posed with the mask before puck drop.

With the @ArizonaCoyotes to help #MikeSmith scare the puck out of the @VanCanucks with his new mask by @darrigoart! pic.twitter.com/AgGWHwbSQa

— Alice Cooper (@RealAliceCooper) March 6, 2015

* Wearing the black Kachina jersey that the team used from 1996-03, captain Shane Doan played in his 1,378th NHL game, all with the Jets/Coyotes franchise, to tie Joe Sakic, Vincent Damphousse and Dean Prentice for 39th in NHL history.

19 years later one thing remains the same: 19 Thank you Captain! #ThrowbackInBlack pic.twitter.com/L6nzv5NvcS

— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) March 6, 2015

* ICYMI: Coyotes alumni Keith Carney, Greg Adams, Craig Janney, Nikolai Khabibulin, Sean Burke and Jeremy Roenick dropped the ceremonial puck as part of the throwback festivities.

LOOSE PUCKS

The Bruins (31-22-10, 72 points) and Panthers (28-23-14, 70 points) each earned a point to keep pace in the Eastern Conference wild-card race. The Bruins maintain the final playoff spot, while the Panthers are the first team behind them . . . Dan Ellis made 29 saves for the Panthers in his first NHL game since April 8, 2014. It marked the first time he earned a point since a 2-0 win at ANA on Feb. 1 with Dallas, the team he faced Thursday . . . New acquisition Curtis Glencross scored his first goal in his second game with the Capitals . . . Predators forward Colin Wilson reached 20 goals and 40 points for the first time in his career . . . Lightning forward Tyler Johnson had his 39th assist and 63rd point of the season to stretch his point streak to five games (2-5—7) for the fourth time this season . . . Kings coach Darryl Sutter was behind the bench for his 1,103rd game, moving into 16th place in NHL history . . . The NHL fined Maple Leafs forward Richard Panik $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment) . . . ICYMI: Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was a guest Thursday on LIVE with Kelly and Michael . . . The Capitals wore special camouflage jerseys during warm-ups and United States Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Michael Davis, captain of the USA Warriors standing hockey team, dropped the ceremonial puck as part of Salute to the Military Night at the MIN-WSH game.