There were 11 games Tuesday, nine with playoff implications:
Florida Panthers 2, Buffalo Sabres 1:The Panthers moved into a tie with the New York Islanders for the first wild card in the East and hold the tiebreaker with more regulation wins (34-33). Alex Lyon made 39 saves, 18 in the third period. Matthew Tkachuk gave Florida the 2-1 lead at 59 seconds of the third. The Sabres are six points behind the second wild card, held by the Islanders.
Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 2:The Maple Leafs increased their lead to six points over the Lightning for second in the Atlantic. Zach Aston-Reese scored twice, and Joseph Woll made 24 saves for Toronto.
Jet Greaves
made 46 saves for Columbus in his NHL debut.
Carolina Hurricanes 3, Ottawa Senators 2 (OT):The Hurricanes maintained a three-point lead over the Devils for first in the Metropolitan when Martin Necas scored with 41 seconds left in overtime. They reached 50 wins in a season for the third time in Carolina/Hartford Whalers history and the second under coach Rod Brind'Amour. Two coaches have reached 50 wins more times in their first five NHL seasons: Mike Babcock (three) and Fred Shero (three).
New Jersey Devils 5, Pittsburgh Penguins 1:The Penguins fell out of the second wild card in the East. Dawson Mercer had his first NHL hat trick, Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist, and Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves for New Jersey. Tristan Jarry made 32 saves for Pittsburgh.
Nashville Predators 3, Vegas Golden Knights 2 (OT): The Predators moved within three points of the Jets for the second wild card in the West when Cody Glass scored a power-play goal at 3:30 of overtime. They have 22 one-goal wins, third in the NHL behind the Golden Knights (25) and Hurricanes (25). Tommy Novak had two goals and an assist, and Kevin Lankinen made 30 saves for Nashville. Alex Pietrangelo scored two goals, and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves for the Golden Knights, whose lead over the Oilers in the Pacific shrank to three points.
Chicago Blackhawks 4, Calgary Flames 3:The Flames remained two points behind the Jets for the second wild card in the West. Andreas Athanasiou scored two goals for the Blackhawks, who ended an eight-game losing streak. Petr Mrazek made 33 saves for his first win since Feb. 25.
Seattle Kraken 5, Vancouver Canucks 2:The Kraken increased their lead to five points over the Jets for the first wild card in the West. They have 25 road wins, tied with the Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche for third in the NHL behind the Boston Bruins (29) and Devils (27). Matty Beniers scored his 22nd goal, breaking a three-way tie for the rookie lead with Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston and Blue Jackets forward Kirill Marchenko.
Edmonton Oilers 3, Los Angeles Kings 1: The Oilers moved one point ahead of the Kings for second in the Pacific, which would give them home-ice advantage in the Western Conference First Round, and they pulled within three points of the Golden Knights. Draisaitl scored his 31st power-play goal, tying the third-highest season total in NHL history. Mario Lemieux scored 31 twice, in 1988-89 and 1995-96, Joe Nieuwendyk 31 in 1987-88, Dave Andreychuk 32 in 1992-93 and Tim Kerr 34 in 1985-86.
Colorado Avalanche 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (OT):The defending Stanley Cup champions clinched a playoff spot and tied the Stars and Minnesota Wild for first in the Central Division when Nathan MacKinnon scored at 3:13 of overtime. Colorado has a game in hand on Dallas and Minnesota. MacKinnon, a 10-season NHL veteran, set an Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques record with his 10th OT goal and reached 100 points in a season for the first time.
