The Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday used stifling defense and relentless forechecking to defeat Philadelphia 4-1 in a matchup between two teams chasing one of the final Eastern Conference playoff spots in the NHL.
Trevor Daley, Carl Hagelin and Chris Kunitz all scored for the Penguins, who have won five straight and six of seven — all against Metropolitan Division opponents.
The teams are to meet twice more in the final week of the season, but the Penguins gave themselves some breathing room, moving six points ahead of the Flyers.
Photo: John Hefti-USA TODAY
Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 16 saves in his 31st victory of the season, but was hardly challenged by the Flyers.
After falling behind on a goal by Radko Gudas early in the second period, the Penguins answered quickly. Nick Bonino won a board battle with Flyers rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and fed Daley in left circle for the tying goal.
Elsewhere, Joel Ward scored twice and Joe Thornton broke a tie early in the third period as San Jose overwhelmed Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers 4-1.
Lundqvist stopped 42 of the first 43 shots he faced before allowing three to Thornton, Ward and Joe Pavelski on four shots in a span of 3 minutes, 20 seconds that sent the Sharks to their third straight home win.
Tomas Hertl had three assists and Martin Jones made 25 saves to help San Jose move within a point of second-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division.
In Dallas, Kari Lehtonen made 27 saves as the Stars earned their first shutout since December last year, beating the New York Islanders 3-0 to maintain their hold on sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.
Lehtonen earned his second shutout of the season and the 34th of his career. Cody Eakin, Patrick Eaves and Ales Hemsky scored for a depleted Dallas offense.
Tyler Seguin, the Stars’ 33-goal scorer, is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after having surgery on Friday to repair a partially torn right Achilles tendon.
Tanner Pearson and Alec Martinez scored and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves, helping Los Angeles clinch a playoff spot with a 2-1 win over Boston.
Los Angeles’ 11th victory in 14 games, coupled with the Arizona Coyotes’ 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay, clinched a berth for the Kings — who last season became the eighth team in NHL history to miss the post-season a year after winning the Stanley Cup.
Charlie Coyle and Zach Parise scored in the shootout as Minnesota got a big win in the race for the final playoff spot in the West, beating Carolina 3-2.
David Jones and Jason Zucker scored in regulation, and Devan Dubnyk made 31 saves for the Wild, who are one point behind idle Colorado for eighth place.
In Ottawa, Andrew Hammond stopped all 30 shots for his first shutout of the season as the Senators scored three short-handed goals in a 5-0 victory over Montreal.
In other results, it was:
‧ Blue Jackets 6, Devils 3
‧ Maple Leafs 4, Sabres 1
‧ Red Wings 5, Panthers 3
‧ Blues 3, Canucks 0
‧ Lightning 2, Coyotes 0
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