Craig Adams got a short-handed goal early in the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes clinched the Southeast Division title with a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in the NHL on Friday.
With 102 points through 73 games, the Hurricanes moved within three points of Ottawa for the best record in the Eastern Conference by stopping Florida's seven-game winning streak. Carolina, which is going to the postseason for the first time since reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 2002, leads defending champion Tampa Bay by 19 points in the division.
Ray Whitney and Mark Recchi also had goals for the Hurricanes, and Martin Gerber had 21 saves.
Chris Gratton and Mike Van Ryn scored for the Panthers, who remained eight points out of the playoffs.
Blackhawks 3, Red Wings 2, OT
At Detroit, Patrick Sharp scored 1:29 into overtime, lifting Chicago over Detroit.
Mark Cullen and Martin Lapointe scored for Chicago in regulation, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 39 saves.
Steve Yzerman and Pavel Datsyuk had Detroit's goals, and Chris Osgood stopped 31 shots.
Yzerman's goal was his 691st, breaking a tie with Mario Lemieux for sole possession of eighth place on the NHL's all-time list. Yzerman is only three behind seventh-place Mark Messier. The Detroit captain also stretched his scoring streak to seven games, in which he has four goals and five assists.
Penguins 4, Islanders 0
At Uniondale, New York, Sergei Gonchar scored twice and Sebastien Caron stopped 29 shots to help Pittsburgh snap a two-game skid.
Sidney Crosby had a goal and two assists, and John LeClair also scored. The shutout was Caron's first this season and fourth of his career.
Garth Snow, making his first start since March 6, stopped 25 shots for the Islanders. New York has lost three straight, scoring just one goal during that stretch.
Blue Jackets 4, Blues 2
At St. Louis, Rick Nash scored twice and backup goalie Pascal Leclaire had a strong game, helping Columbus hand slumping St. Louis its ninth straight loss.
The Blues have been outscored 39-15 during the skid since beating the Blue Jackets on March 13.
Jaroslav Balastik and Jason Chimera also had goals for Columbus.
Keith Tkachuk and Jamal Mayers scored for the Blues.
Flames 6, Avalanche 3
At Calgary, Alberta, Chris Simon, Craig MacDonald and Damon Langkow scored second-period goals to rally Calgary over Colorado.
Shean Donovan and Chuck Kobasew also scored, Matthew Lombardi converted a short-handed penalty shot and Jarome Iginla had two assists for the Flames.
Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves for his 37th win of the season as the Flames (41-24-8) moved two points ahead of the Avalanche (40-25-8) for first place in the Northwest Division.
Joe Sakic scored twice, 25 seconds apart in the first period, and Cody McCormick added a goal in the third for Colorado. Milan Hejduk assisted on both of Sakic's goals.
Wild 2, Canucks 1, SO
At Vancouver, British Columbia, Mikko Koivu scored the only shootout goal, leading Minnesota over Vancouver.
Vancouver is one point ahead of the eighth-place Oilers.
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