Canadiens headed back to playoffs

CANADIENS PUNCH TICKET TO THE POSTSEASON

* Paul Byron scored two goals to bring his season total to 22 (76 GP). Prior to 2016-17, Byron had scored 28 goals in his first 200 NHL games.

THURSDAY'S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps
PHILADELPHIA 6, NY Islanders 3
CAROLINA 2, Columbus 1 (OT)
BOSTON 2, Dallas 0
MONTREAL 6, Florida 2
TAMPA BAY 5, Detroit 3
Toronto 3, NASHVILLE 1
MINNESOTA 5, Ottawa 1
WINNIPEG 4, Anaheim 3 (OT)
EDMONTON 3, San Jose 2

OILERS EARN SEVENTH STRAIGHT HOME WIN, CLIMB IN PACIFIC DIVISION

Pat Maroon (2-0-2) and Connor McDavid (1-1-2) combined for all three goals to help the Edmonton Oilers defeat the San Jose Sharks for their seventh consecutive win at Rogers Place.
* At 43-25-9 (95 points), the Oilers moved past the Sharks (43-27-7, 93 points) for sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division. They are point behind the Anaheim Ducks (42-23-12, 96 points).
* McDavid extended his point streak to nine games (5-11-16) and leads the League with 28-63-91 this season. He is the first Oilers player with 91 or more points in a season since Doug Weight in 1995-96 (25-79-104).

MAPLE LEAFS, BRUINS IMPROVE CHANCES OF CLINCHING PLAYOFF BERTHS

The Maple Leafs (37-24-15, 89 points) and Bruins (41-30-6, 88 points) each won to improve their chances of qualifying for the playoffs:
* Auston Matthews scored his seventh game-winning goal of the season to extend his point streak to seven games (5-3-8) and help the Maple Leafs improve to 6-1-1 in their past eight games. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that Matthews moved within one game-winning goal of matching the single-season franchise rookie record, set by Howie Meeker in 1946-47 (8). Toronto maintained its hold on third place in the Atlantic Division and climbed within two points of the Ottawa Senators (41-26-9, 91 points), who lost in regulation.
* Tuukka Rask (27 saves) had his seventh shutout of 2016-17 to match his single-season career high set in 2013-14 and help the Bruins to their third consecutive win. Brad Marchand (1-1-2) scored his 38th goal to eclipse his single-season NHL career high of 37, set in 2015-16. Boston kept pace with Toronto and reinforced its hold on the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.

CLUBS EARN VALUABLE POINTS IN EASTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD RACE

The Tampa Bay Lightning (38-29-9, 85 points), Carolina Hurricanes (35-27-14, 84 points) and Philadelphia Flyers (37-32-8, 82 points) each won to keep pace in the race for the final wild card spot in the East:
* Five players scored goals to power the Lightning to their fourth consecutive win. Victor Hedman (15-51-66) had an assist to establish a single-season franchise record for points by a defenseman, besting the mark set by Roman Hamrlik in 1995-96 (16-49-65). The Lightning remained three points behind the Bruins for the second wild card position in the East.
* Jeff Skinner (1-1-2) scored the tying goal with 4:20 remaining in the third period and assisted on Noah Hanifin 's overtime winner as the Hurricanes extended their point streak to a franchise-record 13 games (9-0-4). Skinner has scored nine goals in his past eight games (9-2-11).
* The Flyers raced to a 5-0 lead in the first period and held off a rally by the New York Islanders to improve to 4-1-0 in their past five games. Wayne Simmonds (1-2-3) reached the 30-goal mark for the second straight season (32 goals in 2015-16).

LOOSE PUCKS
Alex Stalock made 18 saves to win his debut with the Minnesota Wild (45-24-8, 98 points), which ended a four-game slide (0-2-2). … Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner (0-1-1) leads all rookies with 41 assists; Elias notes that Marner established a single-season franchise rookie record for assists, besting the mark set by Gus Bodnar in 1943-44 (40). … Mark Scheifele reached the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his NHL career, while Filip Forsberg hit the mark for the second straight season (33 goals in 2015-16). … Nashville's Peter Laviolette served his 1,000th career game as an NHL coach. … Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg (0-1-1) reached the 900-point milestone (325-575-900). … Leon Draisaitl (4-12-16 in 9 GP), Ondrej Palat (2-8-10 in 6 GP) and Eric Staal (3-3-6 in 6 GP) extended their point streaks. … Jason Pominville (900), David Krejci (700) and Jason Demers (500) skated in milestone games. … The Canadiens honored former Montreal Expos player Tim Raines, who was recently elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

SNEAK PEEK AT FRIDAY'S ACTION

All Times Eastern
Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, 7 p.m., SN, MSG 2, ROOT
New Jersey @ NY Islanders, 7:30 p.m., MSG+, MSG+ 2
Columbus @ Chicago, 8:30 p.m., CSN-CH, FS-O
St. Louis @ Colorado, 9 p.m., ALT, FS-MW
San Jose @ Calgary, 9 p.m., SNW, CSN-CA
Los Angeles @ Vancouver, 10 p.m., SN360, SNP, FS-W
Washington @ Arizona, 10 p.m., FS-A, CSN-DC+

BLUES, FLAMES LOOK TO CLINCH POSTSEASON BERTHS

The St. Louis Blues (42-28-6, 90 points) and Calgary Flames (43-30-4, 90 points) will try to clinch berths in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Friday:
* The Blues aim to clinch their sixth consecutive postseason berth when they visit the Avalanche at Pepsi Center. St. Louis is 11-2-1 in March and has points in its past seven games (6-0-1).
* The Flames will try to clinch their second postseason berth in three seasons when they host the Sharks at Scotiabank Saddledome. Calgary is 9-2-0 in its past 11 home games.