Vladimir Tarasenko scored the winning goal 3:06 into overtime to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
Bobby Brink also scored for Minnesota, which won in overtime for the second time in its past three games. Brink also picked up an assist on the winning goal. Quinn Hughes assisted on both goals and leads all NHL defensemen with 62.
Jason Robertson scored the lone goal for Dallas, which holds a five-point lead over the Wild for second place in the Central Division. Miro Heiskanen and Matt Duchene assisted on Robertson’s tally.
Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson stopped 28 of 29 shots to collect the victory. He made nine saves in the first period, nine saves in the second and 10 saves in the third. Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger allowed two goals on 28 shots.
Lightning 5, Oilers 2
Nikita Kucherov scored twice in a four-point performance to move to the top of the NHL’s scoring race (118 points) and lead visiting Tampa Bay to a victory over Edmonton.
Anthony Cirelli scored twice, Jake Guentzel added a goal and Brandon Hagel collected a pair of assists for the Lightning, who have won three straight to maintain a hold on the second spot in the Atlantic Division. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves.
Connor McDavid and Josh Samanski scored for the Oilers. Goalie Connor Ingram stopped 22 shots for Edmonton, which opened the scoring but was done in by a trio of second-period goals by the Lightning.
Bruins 4, Red Wings 2
Visiting Boston scored twice in a 3:20 span in the third period to turn around a one-goal deficit en route to a win over Detroit in a crucial matchup between Atlantic Division rivals.
Nikita Zadorov scored the eventual game-winner with 10:18 remaining to lift Boston, which is 3-0-2 in its last five. David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm each registered a goal and an assist, Marat Khusnutdinov also scored, Morgan Geekie had three assists and Charlie McAvoy two. Jeremy Swayman backstopped the victory, making 41 saves.
Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat lit the lamp and John Gibson made 23 saves for Detroit, which had been on a 2-0-1 run but fell into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot, two points behind Boston.
Penguins 5, Jets 4 (SO)
After finding the net in regulation, Rickard Rakell scored the shootout clincher as Pittsburgh defeated visiting Winnipeg.
Defenseman Erik Karlsson scored twice for the second straight game while Egor Chinakhov scored and provided a helper for Pittsburgh. Parker Wotherspoon and Bryan Rust each had a pair of assists while netminder Arturs Silovs stopped 21 shots.
Brad Lambert had a goal and an assist for the Jets, while Morgan Barron, Cole Koepke and Neal Pionk also scored. Connor Hellebuyck made 26 stops.
Predators 4, Golden Knights 1
Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist and host Nashville defeated Vegas.
Ryan O’Reilly added a goal and an assist and Tyson Jost also scored for the Predators, who won their third straight. Justus Annunen made 39 saves, 20 in the first period. Nashville has passed Los Angeles and moved into the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Defenseman Shea Theodore got the lone goal for the Golden Knights, who have lost three in a row and have only managed Theodore’s goal in those games. Akira Schmid stopped 16 shots. Slumping Vegas holds the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
Sabres 4, Kings 1
Zach Benson had a goal and an assist for visiting Buffalo, which allowed just its first goal in three games in a victory over Los Angeles.
Sam Carrick and Rasmus Dahlin scored 59 seconds apart midway through the third period, Josh Norris had two assists, Tage Thompson had a goal and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves for the Sabres, who have won four in a row, seven straight on the road, and 12 of 13 since the Olympic break.
Artemi Panarin scored and Anton Forsberg made 30 saves for the Kings, who had earned points in five of the previous six games (3-1-2).
Blue Jackets 5, Kraken 2
Cole Sillinger had a goal and two assists and Zach Werenski had three helpers as Columbus defeated visiting Seattle.
Mathieu Olivier had a goal and an assist and Danton Heinen, Damon Severson and Kent Johnson also scored for Columbus, which won its fourth in a row and extended its point streak to 12 (8-0-4). Elvis Merzlikins made 15 saves.
Kaapo Kakko had a goal and an assist and Vince Dunn also tallied for Seattle , which lost its third straight. Joey Daccord stopped 23 of 27 shots.
Senators 5, Maple Leafs 2
Ottawa did itself a world of good in the playoff picture, withstanding a late push to top visiting Toronto.
Tim Stutzle, Claude Giroux, Warren Foegele, Michael Amadio and Ridley Greig all scored a goal, while defensemen Tyler Kleven and Jordan Spence had two assists apiece for the Senators (36-24-9, 81 points). Linus Ullmark turned away 12 of 14 shots for Ottawa, which has won four of its last five.
Rookie Easton Cowan tallied a goal and an assist and John Tavares scored a goal for the floundering Leafs. Joseph Woll finished with 38 saves after Anthony Stolarz was hit in the throat by a puck during warmups. Stolarz was hospitalized for precautionary imaging, the team announced. Toronto coach Craig Berube said after the game that Stolarz was out of the hospital and would be on the team’s flight back to Toronto.
Flyers 4, Sharks 1
Christian Dvorak scored a power-play goal early in the third period, helping Philadelphia extend its season-high road winning streak to seven games with a victory over San Jose.
Owen Tippett scored in the second period and defenseman Travis Sanheim and Noah Cates each found the empty net 36 seconds apart in the third. Dan Vladar made 24 saves for the Flyers, who completed a sweep of their three-game California road trip and improved to 5-0-1 in their last six games overall.
The Sharks’ Macklin Celebrini notched an assist on defenseman Dmitry Orlov’s power-play goal, boosting the former’s career total to 99. Celebrini (19 years, 281 days) is one assist shy of becoming the second-youngest player in NHL history to reach that milestone behind only Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby (19 years, 134 days on Dec. 19, 2006). Alex Nedeljkovic turned aside 24 shots for San Jose, which has lost four in a row and seven of its last nine (2-5-2).
Canadiens 7, Islanders 3
Cole Caufield had a hat trick and finished with a career-high five points to lead Montreal’s third-period surge past visiting New York.
Juraj Slafkovsky had two goals and two assists for his first career four-point game, and Kaiden Guhle had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens, who outscored the Islanders 4-1 in the third period. Nick Suzuki had four assists and Jacob Fowler made 19 saves.
Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom and Matthew Schaefer scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin allowed six goals on 32 shots before being lifted in the third period.
Blues 3, Canucks 1
Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and an assist for St. Louis in a win over host Vancouver.
Pius Suter and Jordan Kyrou also scored for the Blues, who snapped a two-game skid and pulled within six points of the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. Jordan Binnington made 14 saves.
Filip Hronek scored and Kevin Lankinen made 18 saves for the Canucks, who are 13 points behind the rest of the league.
