Wojtek Wolski’s shootout goal lifted the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL on Sunday, helping the Rangers solidify their hold on the Eastern Conference’s last playoff spot.
Wolski’s goal came in the second round of the shootout after Erik Christensen had scored for New York in the first. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped Nikolay Zherdev and Claude Giroux on the Flyers’ shootout chances.
The Rangers picked up two points to remain in eighth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. New York lead ninth-place Carolina by two points and trail seventh-place Buffalo by one. All three teams have three games left.
Photo: Reuters
Bryan McCabe and Ruslan Fedotenko scored for the Rangers in regulation and James Van Riemsdyk and Zherdev had the Flyers’ goals.
SABRES 2, HURRICANES 1, OT
In Raleigh, North Carolina, Marc-Andre Gragnani scored 2:56 into overtime to lift Buffalo over Carolina, damaging the Hurricanes’ slim playoff hopes.
Chris Butler also scored and Jhonas Enroth made 35 saves for the Sabres.
Eric Staal scored for the Hurricanes, whose three-game winning streak was stopped. Cam Ward had 29 saves in his 13th straight start for Carolina.
RED WINGS 4, WILD 2
In Detroit, Jimmy Howard made 27 saves to help Detroit beat Minnesota and clinch the Central Division title.
Nicklas Lidstrom, Darren Helm, Tomas Holmstrom and Johan Franzen scored for the Red Wings, who have won nine division titles in 10 seasons and 14 since the 1991-1992 season.
Brad Staubitz scored a goal and helped set up Carson McMillan’s goal in his NHL debut for Minnesota.
BLUES 6, BLUE JACKETS 1
In Columbus, Ohio, Patrik Berglund scored twice and Jaroslav Halak had 23 saves to lead St Louis over Columbus.
Chris Porter, Andy McDonald, Alexander Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo also had goals for the Blues, who have earned points in five of six games.
R.J. Umberger, who matched the Blue Jackets record for consecutive games played with 243, had the lone goal for Columbus. The Blue -Jackets have lost three straight.
LIGHTNING 2, BLACKHAWKS 0
In Chicago, Mike Smith made 31 saves for his first shutout in more than a year as Tampa Bay beat Chicago.
Vincent Lecavalier scored a power-play goal in the first period before being accidentally high-sticked by Chicago’s Michael Frolik and leaving the game. The team said he sustained a cut to the face.
Nate Thompson added an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left for Tampa Bay, which has won five straight.
FLAMES 2, AVALANCHE 1
In Denver, Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 34 shots and Alex Tanguay had a goal and an assist as Calgary boosted their postseason chances by beating Colorado.
Olli Jokinen also scored for the Flames, who moved to within one point of the eighth-place Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks have played two fewer games than Calgary.
Peter Budaj made 34 saves and Milan Hedjuk scored for Colorado, which has won only four times in 29 games.
In Sunday’s other game, it was:
‧ Stars 4, Ducks 3
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