The San Jose Sharks shrugged off the absence of their leading points scorer, Joe Thornton, to beat Colorado 4-3 on Sunday.
Devin Setoguchi picked up two goals, including the game-winner at 14:11 in the third period, to give the Western Conference-leading Sharks their fourth win in a row.
San Jose (47-19-10) lost Thornton, who leads the team in assists (66) and points (85), to a lower body injury on Saturday. He had played in 398 consecutive games before missing Sunday’s contest.
“With [Thornton] out we need some secondary scoring,” Setoguchi told reporters. “I know that’s my job and it was good to get a couple tonight and get on the board for us.”
Setoguchi opened the scoring in the first period before Colorado took a 2-1 lead on goals from Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter in the second. Jed Ortmeyer tied the score at 2-2 with under two minutes to play in the period.
In the third period, San Jose’s Dan Boyle and Colorado’s Mueller traded goals before Setoguchi netted the winner.
Colorado (41-27-7) have lost five of their last six, slipping to eighth in the West.
San Jose had endured a six-game losing streak prior to their recent string of wins and Sunday’s victory was coach Todd McLellan’s 100th regular-season triumph in just two seasons.
Backup goaltender Thomas Greiss made 42 saves to secure the win while Colorado netminder Craig Anderson had 28 stops.
“We came up a little short,” Colorado coach Joe Sacco said. “I think if we play like we did tonight down the stretch here, we’ll be fine. That’s how we have to play, with that desperation. It’s a word that’s overused this time of the year but it’s true.”
FLAMES 5, CAPITALS 3
At Washington, the desperate Calgary Flames posted one of their most impressive victories of the season, scoring four goals in the first period of their win over the Washington Capitals.
The Flames temporarily delayed the Capitals’ bid to secure the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Washington secured that, anyway, later in the day when New Jersey lost at Philadelphia.
Calgary, ninth in the Western Conference, salvaged a three-game road trip that began with two losses.
Ales Kotalik, Ian White, Jay Bouwmeester, Niklas Hagman and Rene Bourque scored for the Flames. Miikka Kiprusoff made 31 saves.
Alex Ovechkin got his 46th goal for Washington and added an assist to reach the 100-point mark for the fourth time in a season in his five-year NHL career.
PENGUINS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 4, SO
At Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby scored twice and teammate Pascal Dupuis added shootout tallies as the Penguins rallied to beat Toronto.
The home team trailed 4-3 until Matt Cooke deflected defenseman Brooks Orpik’s slap shot from the right point with 3:48 remaining in regulation. Orpik had his first three-point game by also assisting on Crosby’s NHL-leading 46th and 47th goals.
Tyler Kennedy also scored as the Penguins moved ahead of New Jersey for the Atlantic Division lead and the likely No. 2 seeding in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
FLYERS 5, DEVILS 1
At Philadelphia, Brian Boucher stopped 32 shots as slumping Philadelphia broke out with a rout of New Jersey.
Matt Carle, Ville Leino, Kimmo Timonen, Lukas Krajicek and Simon Gagne scored for Philadelphia, who beat the Devils for the fifth time in six meetings this season.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored the lone goal for New Jersey, who dropped two points behind Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division. Martin Brodeur allowed four goals on 19 shots.
The Flyers had dropped five straight and seven of eight, putting their seemingly secure playoff chances in jeopardy. Philadelphia scored more than three goals for the first time in 15 games.
Philadelphia jumped from eighth in the Eastern Conference to sixth.
BLUE JACKETS 4, BLACKHAWKS 2
At Chicago, Jakub Voracek had two goals and an assist, while Steve Mason made 33 saves to lead Columbus over the hosts.
Andrew Murray and Mike Commodore also scored for Columbus, who beat Central Division-leading Chicago for the second time in four days.
BLUES 2, OILERS 1
At St Louis, Keith Tkachuk scored the winning goal on his 38th birthday, and the Blues maintained slim playoff hopes with a victory over Edmonton.
Tkachuk’s 13th goal of the season was his first in 15 games and broke a 1-1 deadlock 7:36 into the third period.
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