Finnish goaltender Antti Niemi made 41 saves, including 20 in the first period, to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 1-0 win over the New York Rangers.
San Jose improved to 45-17-7 this season. Logan Couture’s short-handed goal in the first period was all San Jose needed as the Sharks swept the season series from New York (36-29-4).
The Sharks have won six in a row and nine of their past 11.
Photo: AFP
Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves for the Rangers.
FLYERS 4, PENGUINS 3
Philadelphia scored the first three goals of the game and held on for a victory to sweep Pittsburgh in the home-and-home series between the teams.
The Flyers (35-25-7) shut out the Penguins 4-0 on Saturday, and quickly followed it up with a three-goal first period that included two scores from Wayne Simmonds.
Matt Read gave Philadelphia a 4-2 advantage in the second, when Pittsburgh’s (44-19-4) Jayson Megna pulled the team within one, but could get no closer.
AVALANCHE 3, SENATORS 1
Backed by 38 saves from goaltender Semyon Varlamov, the Colorado Avalanche jumped back on the winning track with a victory over the Ottawa Senators.
Colorado (44-19-5) were coming off a 6-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, while the Senators (28-26-13) were unable to regroup from blowing a 4-1 lead in the final three-and-a-half minutes of Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Andre Benoit, Nick Holden and John Mitchell had the Colorado goals.
BLACKHAWKS 4, RED WINGS 1
After being sidelined for the last two weeks because of an upper-body injury, forward Marian Hossa returned to the Chicago Blackhawks lineup in a big way, scoring the clinching goal in a victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Hossa logged his 25th goal of the season at 6 minutes, 33 seconds of the third period, putting Chicago ahead 3-1. It was his first game since being injured on March 1 during the Stadium Series game at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Blackhawks (39-15-14).
Detroit (30-24-13) lost their third game in the past four and watched their faint playoff hopes fade further.
CAPITALS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 2
Washington rolled out to an early lead on first-period goals by Troy Brouwer, Jason Chimera and Joel Ward, then leaned heavily on goaltender Jaroslav Halak to secure a hard-fought win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The win was the second straight for the Capitals (32-27-10) and moved them within one point of the New York Rangers for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Halak turned aside 27 of 29 shots to post his third victory in five games since coming to Washington from Buffalo in a trade deadline deal for goaltender Michal Neuvirth, while Brouwer sealed the game on an empty-netter with 3.9 seconds left.
With 80 points, the second-place Leafs (36-25-8) remain one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division.
JETS 7, STARS 2
The Winnipeg Jets halted a six-game winless slide with a 7-2 triumph over the Dallas Stars.
Dustin Byfuglien scored twice and Blake Wheeler had four assists for the Jets (31-29-9), who got a win for the first time since March 1.
Byfuglien went to the dressing room with about 10 minutes left in the final period, and the Jets later said he suffered a lower-body injury.
Winnipeg moved to within four points of the Stars (32-24-11) and the Phoenix Coyotes for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
CANUCKS 4, PANTHERS 3 SO
Eddie Lack got the better of former goaltender teammate Roberto Luongo, as he made 26 saves to lift the Vancouver Canucks to a shootout win.
Luongo was traded to the Panthers (25-35-8) on March 4 after he spent parts of eight seasons in Vancouver (31-29-10).
He made 29 saves against his former team, but surrendered the lone shootout goal by Nicklas Jensen that proved the difference in the game.
OILERS 2, HURRICANES 1
Defenseman Justin Schultz scored a power-play goal midway through the third period as the Edmonton Oilers capped a successful four-game road trip with a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Edmonton (24-36-9), with the worst road record in the Western Conference entering the game, went 2-1-1 on the trip.
The Hurricanes (29-30-9) had 20 points in January, but have gone 4-10 since to fall out of the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
CANADIENS 2, SABRES 0
Goalie Dustin Tokarski made 29 saves for his first career shutout, leading the Montreal Canadiens to a victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
Tokarski made his seventh career NHL start. The Canadiens’ regular goaltender, Carey Price, got the night off due to a lower-body injury.
Dale Weise and Brad Gallagher scored for Montreal (37-25-7), who won back-to-back games for the first time in more than two weeks.
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