Nashville regained sole ownership of the lead in the NHL Central Division by edging the New York Rangers 3-2 on Saturday, with Mike Ribeiro scoring the winning goal with 7 minutes, 14 seconds left.
The Predators moved clear of idle St Louis and crept within a point of league leaders Anaheim.
Elsewhere, Pittsburgh hung onto the Metropolitan Division lead despite a heavy defeat in Vancouver, as the second-placed New York Islanders also lost, in Boston.
Tampa Bay dropped into a share of the Eastern Conference lead with Detroit after losing to Los Angeles, ending a run of 10 successive home victories.
Nashville, coming off only their third regulation loss at home this season — against Anaheim on Thursday — secured victory thanks to Ribeiro’s goal, which was his 700th career point.
Pekka Rinne made 30 saves in his second game back from a knee injury, while Roman Josi and captain Shea Weber also scored for the Predators.
Rick Nash scored his league-leading 33rd goal, while Ryan McDonagh also netted for the Rangers, who missed a chance to close within two points of the Metropolitan lead.
Boston’s Loui Eriksson scored the go-ahead goal with 7 minutes, 34 seconds left as the Bruins held on for a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders.
John Tavares had a power-play goal for the Islanders.
Pittsburgh remained a point clear of the Islanders atop the division, despite suffering a 5-0 hammering on the Canucks’ ice.
Ryan Miller made 31 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, Alexandre Burrows had a goal and an assist, and Bo Horvat, Shawn Matthias, Zack Kassian and Daniel Sedin each scored for the Canucks.
Tampa Bay lost their outright lead in the Atlantic Division after a 4-2 home defeat by Los Angeles.
In other games on Saturday, it was:
‧ Canadiens 6, Devils 2
‧ Maple Leafs 5, Oilers 1
‧ Sabres 3, Stars 2
‧ Blue Jackets 4, Senators 1
‧ Red Wings 3, Coyotes 1
‧ Wild 1, Avalanche 0
‧ Hurricanes 5, Sharks 4
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