NHL roundup: Avalanche best Blues, seal No. 1 spot in West

Valeri Nichushkin scored two goals as the Colorado Avalanche locked up the top spot in the Western Conference with a 3-1 road victory over the deflated St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

Scott Wedgewood made 18 saves and Martin Necas also tallied to help the Avalanche inch closer to their fourth Presidents' Trophy in franchise history.

Robert Thomas scored the lone goal for the Blues. Joel Hofer totaled 34 saves as the home side saw its slim playoff chances diminish in the loss.

Despite the conference-topping victory, the Avalanche may have sustained a major loss as Nazem Kadri left the contest early after blocking a shot with his hand.

Hurricanes 6, Bruins 5 (OT)

Jaccob Slavin scored 1:13 into overtime as Carolina beat visiting Boston to clinch the Metropolitan Division. By reaching overtime, the Hurricanes wrapped up the division in their home finale. They have four games remaining.

Logan Stankoven, William Carrier and Taylor Hall scored within a 3 1/2-minute stretch in the second period and teammates Andrei Svechnikov and K'Andre Miller scored earlier for the Hurricanes. Jackson Blake and Sean Walker both had two assists and Brandon Bussi made 16 saves.

Boston's Morgan Geekie had a hat trick, while Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist. Zacha's goal tied the game with 7:27 left in regulation. The Bruins, though, were unable to capitalize on a late power play.

Golden Knights 2, Canucks 1

Cole Smith scored the eventual game-winner as Vegas edged host Vancouver.

With the win, the Golden Knights moved into a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with the Oilers. Edmonton holds the tiebreaker edge. Vegas is now 4-0-0 with John Tortorella behind the bench. Brayden McNabb also scored for Vegas, which swept the three-game season series against the Canucks and improved to 11-1-2 all-time in Vancouver.

Max Sasson responded for the Canucks, who have dropped three straight and are 1-9-0 in the past 10 games. Nikita Tolopilo stopped 26 shots for Vancouver, which is 8-27-5 on home ice this season.

Senators 6, Lightning 2

Jake Sanderson scored twice and Brady Tkachuk logged four assists to help Ottawa tighten its hold on a playoff spot with a win against visiting Tampa Bay.

Tim Stutzle had a goal and two assists for the Senators, who have won two straight to remain in the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot. Ottawa got a goal apiece from Jordan Spence, Shane Pinto and Fabian Zetterlund. Linus Ullmark made 28 saves.

Nick Paul and Corey Perry each had a goal and an assist while Jonas Johansson made 26 saves for the Lightning, who have lost consecutive games for the first time since March 8-10. Tampa Bay is now in a three-way tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens.

Stars 4, Flames 3 (OT)

Wyatt Johnston's second goal of the game was the overtime winner on a power play, giving host Dallas a comeback victory over Calgary.

Jason Robertson collected one goal and one assist while Justin Hryckowian added a single for the Stars, who maintained their hold on the second spot in the Central Division. Jake Oettinger made 17 saves for Dallas, which erased a two-goal third-period deficit.

Joel Farabee, Yegor Sharangovich and Zayne Parekh scored for the Flames. Adam Klapka collected a pair of assists, and Devin Cooley stopped 21 shots.

Blue Jackets 4, Red Wings 3 (SO)

Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist in regulation, then scored the decisive goal in the shootout as visiting Columbus snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over Detroit in a battle of teams fighting for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

Adam Fantilli scored with 17 seconds left to force overtime, and Columbus won the shootout 3-2. Danton Heinen also scored while goalie Jet Greaves made 34 saves and also had an assist for the Blue Jackets.

Justin Faulk scored two goals and Dylan Larkin added the other for the Red Wings. John Gibson made 32 saves.

Mammoth 6, Oilers 5 (OT)

Clayton Keller scored the winning goal on an overtime power play as Utah rallied to defeat Edmonton.

Nick Schmaltz tallied twice and Alexander Kerfoot and Keller each had a goal and an assist for the Mammoth, who have won four straight games. Sean Durzi, Michael Carcone and Dylan Guenther each had two assists, and Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves.

Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist while Tristan Jarry made 25 saves for the Oilers, who have lost two straight (0-1-1).

Predators 5, Ducks 0

Justus Annunen posted his first shutout of the season and Erik Haula recorded one goal and one assist as visiting Nashville produced a victory at Anaheim.

Annunen made 43 saves for his third career shutout as the Predators jumped into the second Western Conference wild-card spot. Filip Forsberg, Brady Skjei, Zachary L'Heureux and Fedor Svechkov all tallied for Nashville, and Ryan O'Reilly and Joakim Kemell both collected a pair of assists.

Lukas Dostal stopped 20 shots for the Ducks, who have lost six straight games, five of them in regulation time.

Canadiens 4, Panthers 3 (SO)

Cole Caufield and Alexandre Texier scored in the shootout to complete host Montreal's comeback win over Florida.

Ivan Demidov, Phillip Danault and Nick Suzuki scored in regulation for the Canadiens, who have won nine of their past 10. Juraj Slafkovsky had two assists, and Jakub Dobes stopped 30 shots.

Carter Verhaeghe, Cole Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen got the goals for the Panthers, who have lost six of eight. Danill Tarasov made 29 saves.

Flyers 5, Devils 1

Trevor Zegras and Tyson Foerster both scored a pair of goals for Philadelphia, which strengthened its hold on a playoff spot by prevailing in Newark, N.J.

Nick Seeler also scored, Zegras added an assist, and Matvei Michkov assisted on both of Foerster's goals. Dan Vladar stopped 23 shots for the Flyers, who have won three in a row.

Cody Glass tallied and Jacob Markstrom made 14 saves for the Devils, who were eliminated from playoff contention with their regulation loss paired with Ottawa's win over Tampa Bay.

Wild 5, Kraken 2

Joel Eriksson Ek scored and had two assists while Matt Boldy and Marcus Johansson each had a goal and an assist as Minnesota won its fourth straight game, downing Seattle in Saint Paul, Minn.

Marcus Foligno and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored for the Wild, who are two points behind the second-place Dallas Stars in the Central Division. Jesper Wallstedt made 25 saves to win his third straight start.

Brandon Montour and Adam Larsson both scored for the Kraken, who have lost six straight (0-5-1) and are on the verge of elimination from playoff contention.