Ryan Miller stopped 31 shots and T.J. Oshie and Kevin Shattenkirk scored in a shootout as the Western Conference-leading St Louis Blues beat the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 on Tuesday.
St Louis have 109 points, one fewer than East leader Boston for the top spot in the NHL.
Miller, who earned his 29th career shutout, made a skate save against Vincent Lecavalier and a glove save on Claude Giroux in the shootout.
Photo: USA TODAY
San Jose’s Patrick Marleau scored his 32nd goal of the season with 7 minutes, 29 seconds left in the third period to lift the Sharks over Edmonton 5-4.
The Sharks had blown a 3-1 lead and were naught for five on power plays, before Marleau rocketed a shot past Ben Scrivens after the goalie had deflected a one-timer by San Jose’s Brent Burns.
Dan Boyle, Andrew Desjardins and Tommy Wingels also scored for the Sharks, who moved within one point of first-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals and two assists for Edmonton.
In Buffalo, New York, Tyler Ennis scored twice in the third period and again in the shootout as the Sabres edged the New Jersey Devils 3-2.
Ville Leino had the winner in the ninth round of the shootout, while Nathan Lieuwen made 33 saves for his first NHL win.
The Devils are three points out of the Eastern Conference’s final wild card spot.
Dainius Zubrus gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead in the second period and Tuomo Ruutu tipped Andy Greene’s shot past Lieuwen at the 6:58 mark of the third to tie it 2-2.
The Colorado Avalanche beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 after Gabriel Landeskog scored twice, including a power-play goal at 4:27 of overtime.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 24 shots — including a prime chance by Blake Comeau late in regulation to pick up his league-leading 38th win.
With 102 points, Colorado moved three ahead of Chicago for second place in the Central Division.
Tyler Johnson scored the go-ahead goal for Tampa Bay on a short-handed breakaway late in the third period as the Lightning clinched a playoff berth with a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.
The win, and losses by New Jersey and Washington, gave Tampa Bay their first post-season berth since 2011 and only their second in seven years. The Canadiens also qualified for the post-season by virtue of the losses by New Jersey and Washington.
The Winnipeg Jets beat the Coyotes 2-1 as Andrew Ladd scored in regulation and in the second round of the shootout.
The Coyotes dropped into a tie for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with the Dallas Stars, who blanked the Capitals 5-0.
In other games, the Carolina Hurricanes downed the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1, the Dallas Stars blanked the Washington Capitals 5-0, the New York Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-1, the New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 and the Toronto Maple Leafs were 3-2 winners over the Calgary Flames.
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