Ottawa has an NHL-leading 10 shutouts as a team this season.

Nikolas Matinpalo scored his first NHL goal, Adam Gaudette, David Perron and Shane Pinto also scored, and Thomas Chabot had two assists for the Senators (42-29-6, 90 points), who have won three in a row, outscoring their opponents 9-1.

Daniil Tarasov gave up two goals in the first 4:26 before he was replaced by Elvis Merzlikins, who finished with 22 saves for Columbus (34-33-9, 77 points). The Blue Jackets have lost three in a row, getting outscored 16-3.

Gaudette scored his first goal in 24 games to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:24 of the first period.

Gaudette received a pass at his own blue line from Chabot, skated through the neutral zone unchecked and then fired a wrist shot over Tarasov's right pad and under his blocker for his 17th goal of the season.

Matinpalo, playing in his 41st NHL game, made it 2-0 at 4:26.

Matinpalo was stationed in front of the net when he deflected Claude Giroux's wrist shot into Tarasov. The rebound came out to the side of the net, where Matinpalo backhanded the loose puck across the goal line.

Columbus did not have a shot on goal until 7:54 of the first period and was outshot 14-9 in the opening 20 minutes.

The Senators made it 3-0 at 4:32 of the third when Perron beat Merzlikins and Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski to a rebound in the crease and backhanded the puck into the net.

Pinto scored into an empty net with 41 seconds left to make it 4-0.

The Senators played their fourth straight game without leading goal-scorer and team captain Brady Tkachuk, who sustained an upper-body injury in a 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 30.

Matthew Boldy had a goal and two assists, Rossi added an assist and Marcus Foligno also scored for the Wild (42-29-7, 91 points), who snapped a four-game losing streak. Filip Gustavsson stopped 23 shots.

Jason Robertson and defenseman Thomas Harley produced the goals for the Stars (50-22-5, 105 points), who lost their second in a row. Dallas' loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday broke its seven-game winning streak. Jake Oettinger made 38 saves.

Rossi tipped in a shot/pass from Mats Zuccarello, who also played in his 900th game.

Harley tied the game 2-2 for Dallas and sent it into overtime with 6:55 left on a wrist shot from the right point that went in off the leg of Minnesota defenseman Zach Bagosian.

Boldy tied the contest 1-1, 3:08 into the third period when he made a spectacular effort to dive on his knees and swat a puck out of the air from the slot and past Oettinger. It only took 1:52 for Foligno to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead when he put in the rebound of his own tip-in try.

Robertson opened the scoring 5:51 into the game when he scored on a harmless-looking wrist shot from deep in the left circle that snuck past Gustavsson on the short side. It was Robertson's 34th goal of the season.

No one scored in the second period despite 24 combined shots.

Oettinger denied Gustav Nyquist on a close in chance off the rush a little less than seven minutes into the second period.

Gustavsson thwarted Mikko Rantanen on a point-blank chance from just outside the crease with about eight minutes left in the middle period.

Oettinger stopped Freddy Gaudreau's one-timer from the slot with 6:20 remaining in the second.

"They say records are made to be broken," Gretzky said during an on-ice ceremony. "But I'm not sure who's going to get more goals than that."

Marc Gatcomb collected the first two-goal game of his career while Bo Horvat and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for the Islanders (34-32-10, 78 points), who won their second straight game.

Goalie Ilya Sorokin stopped 28 of 29 shots -- every one but Ovechkin's -- for New York, which sits five points behind the Montreal Canadiens in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Charlie Lindgren recorded 18 saves for the Eastern Conference-leading Capitals (49-19-9, 107 points), who have lost five of seven (2-4-1).

But the story on Sunday was Ovechkin, who completed his pursuit of Gretzky in appropriate fashion by adding to another NHL record with his 325th power-play goal.

The sellout crowd of 17,250 -- featuring thousands adorned in Capitals uniforms -- buzzed as he hit the ice after the Islanders' Casey Cizikas was whistled for tripping seven minutes into the second period. A television timeout allowed the anticipation to build before Ovechkin, skating up along the left side of the ice, took a pass from longtime teammate Tom Wilson and fired a wrist shot from the faceoff circle that sailed past Sorokin's blocker.

Ovechkin raised his arms, skated a few steps and did a bellyflop on the ice as the crowd roared. He collected the record-breaking goal in his 1,487th career game -- the same number of NHL games Gretzky played.

"We have all witnessed history," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said.

The Capitals, led by John Carlson, bolted for Ovechkin and mobbed him at center ice before the celebration drifted backwards as the scoreboard displayed a graphic reading "895 NHL ALL-TIME GOALS LEADER ALEX OVECHKIN."

A montage of Ovechkin's milestone goals aired as a blue carpet was rolled onto the ice next to a commemorative painting of "The Great 8" raising the Stanley Cup in 2018. The scoreboard tribute ended with messages from his wife, Anastasia, their two children, and Ovechkin's mother, Tatyana. His family joined him at center ice during the commemorative celebration.

The Isles remained on the ice and tapped their sticks before Ovechkin exchanged handshakes with the skaters and hugged netminder Ilya Sorokin. He later hugged New York coach Patrick Roy, who once held the NHL's all-time wins record.

After Bettman and Gretzky spoke, Gretzky and his wife, Janet, presented Ovechkin's wife with a gift. Gordie Howe's wife presented Janet with a gift when Gretzky surpassed Howe in 1994.

Ovechkin hugged and kissed the members of his family before taking a microphone adorned with "895" on it.

"What a day, huh?" Ovechkin said.

The milestone goal capped an impressive sprint to the record by Ovechkin. He turned 39 in September and has 42 goals this season despite missing almost six weeks with a broken leg. Ovechkin has 32 goals in his last 45 games, including at least one in each of the previous five.

Ovechkin's historic goal ended Gretzky's 31-year reign as the NHL's leading goal scorer and likely began his similarly lengthy tenure atop the all-time list. Sidney Crosby, who is 37 years old and entered the league with Ovechkin in 2005, ranks second behind Ovechkin among active players with 622 goals entering Sunday.

Edmonton (44-27-5, 93 points), third in the Pacific Division, wraps up a four-game road trip looking to bounce back from a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.

Calvin Pickard made 26 saves against the Kings as the Oilers had their three-game winning streak snapped. The netminder is 20-9-1 in 33 games this season, with a .902 save percentage and a 2.64 GAA.

"It's one of those games where we were there," Oilers forward Corey Perry said. "We just didn't create a whole lot. And they play hard in the D-zone, and they take those second opportunities away from you.

"When you get that one chance, you got to make it count."

Edmonton was without superstar centers Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid on Saturday. Both are sidelined with lower-body injuries.

"You take two of the best players in the world, you take ‘em out of our lineup, I mean, it is what it is," Perry said. "They're the best players in the world for a reason. We had some chances. We couldn't sustain pressure."

Without Draisaitl in the lineup -- Edmonton's leader in goals (52) and points (106) -- Zach Hyman is the active goals leader with 27 in 70 games. Defenseman Evan Bouchard is behind only McDavid and Draisaitl with 62 points this season.

Trent Frederic made his Oilers debut on Saturday, finishing with two shots on goal and a minus-2 rating in 7:10 of ice time. The Oilers acquired the forward from the Boston Bruins before the trade deadline, but he has been sidelined with an ankle injury.

Monday is the fourth and final meeting between the Ducks and Oilers. Anaheim has won two of the first three meetings between the Pacific Division rivals, taking a 5-3 decision on Dec. 29 and a 6-2 victory on March 4. Edmonton edged Anaheim 3-2 on Jan. 3.+

The Ducks (33-35-8, 74 points), officially eliminated from playoff contention, enter Monday's tilt looking to avoid a third straight loss.

Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras scored for Anaheim in a 6-2 loss to the Canucks in Vancouver on Saturday night.

Lukas Dostal made 20 saves for the Ducks, which have lost three of four and are 4-5-1 over their last 10. Dostal is 22-21-6 in 50 games, posting a .903 save percentage and a 3.07 GAA.

"It didn't feel like we weren't ready to play," Terry said. "(The Canucks) were determined, they were playing simple, they were just shooting pucks at the net and it felt like every time they shot a puck, they were getting a stick on it in front. I think they were just beating us to our net and maybe we weren't ready for that to start, and it cost us."

Terry paces the Ducks with 33 assists and 53 points in 71 games this season. Terry, Frank Vatrano, Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson each have 20 goals this season to share the team lead.

The Blues (43-28-7, 93 points) won their franchise-record 12th straight when they held on for a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. That broke the previous team record of 11 set during the 2018-19 season as St. Louis was on its way to winning its only Stanley Cup.

The win streak is also the longest in the NHL this season, topping the Jets' 11-game run from Jan. 22 to Feb. 26.

"It's very cool," said St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington, who was part of the 2019 team. "It's good to enjoy these moments, especially at home. It's really fun to play here right now and you can tell there's good energy all around.

"At the same time, we've got to focus and keep looking forward while we're here."

The Blues raced out to a 4-0 second-period lead on Saturday, but the Avalanche pulled to within one, 4-3, late in the third period. Robert Thomas scored an empty-net goal with 31 seconds left before Colorado added another tally with nine seconds remaining.

Thomas also had three assists to run his point streak to eight games (four goals, 15 assists for 19 points).

"I am proud of that group in there to be able to overcome all of the adversity that we've had this year, whether that was self-inflicted by us," St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. "It doesn't matter. We've overcome it. I'm proud of that group for what they've achieved."

The Jets (52-21-4, 108 points) have won four of six after losing 4-1 to the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City on Saturday.

"It's just not the effort we wanted," Winnipeg forward Cole Perfetti said. "We know they come out of the gates pretty hot, they've shown it all year that they're a good first-period team. We knew that going in and we just weren't ready. We talked about it this morning, they're a good rush team, a good transition team and we kind of fed into it early. They made plays and we kind of were on our heels. And then they took it to us in the first period there."

Utah led 1-0 after the first period and scored twice more in the second for a 3-0 advantage after 40 minutes.

Mark Scheifele scored the Jets' lone goal and Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves.

"Yeah, for sure it is (a missed opportunity)," Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. "But you know what, we've talked about it for the last three, four weeks; we're not waiting for some other team to beat Dallas (who are in second place, chasing the Central Division-leading Jets). We can't sit and do that. We have to go and take care of our business.

"If we're going to win this division, win it by winning hockey games."

Scheifele's goal was his 38th of the season and 800th NHL point.

"(It's) obviously cool, but obviously it would have been better in a win," Scheifele said.

The Lightning will look to move within two points of the Atlantic Division lead Monday night when they visit the Rangers, whose playoff chances are starting to dwindle.

Tampa Bay (44-26-6, 94 points) enters its final six games trailing the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic. It also is attempting to fend off the Florida Panthers to earn home-ice advantage in a potential postseason series against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Lightning won eight straight games from Feb. 4 to March 1 and are 17-6-2 in their past 25 contests. Tampa Bay has been held to three total goals over its past two games after scoring 23 times during a four-game winning streak.

On Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres, Brayden Point scored his 39th goal early in the second period but the Lightning gave up the lead in the third and were unable to score in the shootout. The 3-2 loss dropped the Lightning to 3-3-2 in their past eight road contests.

The Bolts were able to get a point due to a standout performance from backup goalie Jonas Johannson, who survived numerous defensive breakdowns in front of him and stopped 36 shots.

"I think (Johansson) had to make far too many great saves just to keep us in it," Point said. "And I think that's something that we need to clean up, especially come playoff time."

The Lightning actually clinched when the Rangers delivered a highly lackluster performance in Saturday afternoon's 4-0 loss at the New Jersey Devils, resulting in strong criticism from the ABC studio panel that included former New York captain Mark Messier.

The Rangers (36-33-7, 79 points) will play the Lightning twice in their final six games and also visit the Carolina Hurricanes and Panthers. New York trailed the Montreal Canadiens by four points for the second wild-card spot entering play on Sunday, with the latter facing the Nashville Predators later that night.

Against the Devils, New York struggled to generate many high-end scoring chances and continued to falter on the power play after earning consecutive wins over the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks.

"Somehow, right now, we're finding a way to lose, and it sucks. It sucks, especially in our situation," New York's Mika Zibanejad said. "We need every point. We need every win. We're chasing, and we're not helping ourselves."

The Rangers were 0-for-2 on the power play Saturday and are 3-for-52 on the man advantage in their past 19 games. In the previous seven-game span, they were 5-for-15 from Feb. 1 to Feb. 23.

New York also allowed a power-play goal and a short-handed tally 87 seconds apart during the second period on Saturday. Opponents are 5-for-15 on the man advantage in the past five games and have scored three shorthanded goals against the struggling Rangers.

"The execution is certainly not there, but I think when you go on one of those slumps you start maybe trying to force the issue a little more," New York defenseman Adam Fox said. "That could be the reason why we're giving up chances more than ever, too.

"It's not just that we're not scoring. It's, we're not even generating any momentum from it."

Ovechkin reached the milestone on a power play at the 7:26 mark of the second quarter against the New York Islanders. Gretzky and his wife, Janet Jones, were on hand to watch the record-setter.

The milestone goal capped an impressive sprint to the record by Ovechkin, who began the season 41 shy of Gretzky after scoring 31 goals in 2023-24 -- his fewest in a full 82-game season.

Ovechkin scored just two goals in his first seven games this season but collected 13 in his next 11 games before suffering a broken leg that sidelined him for almost six weeks.

Ovechkin scored in his first two games following his return Dec. 28. The record-breaker Sunday extended his goal-scoring streak to five contests and was his sixth goal in that span. He tied the record with a pair of goals when Washington beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3 on Friday.

Ovechkin's historic goal ended Gretzky's reign as the NHL's top goal-scorer and began what could be a similarly long tenure atop the all-time list. Sidney Crosby, who is 37 years old and entered the league with Ovechkin in 2005, ranks second behind Ovechkin among active players with 622 goals entering Sunday.

Only five players in their 20s -- Leon Draisaitl (399 goals entering Sunday), Auston Matthews (398 goals), David Pastrnak (388 goals), Nathan MacKinnon (367 goals) and Connor McDavid (361 goals) -- are within 50 of reaching the 400-goal milestone.

Protas sustained the injury when a skate cut into his foot during the third period of the Capitals' 5-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Friday. He has been ruled out of Washington's game against the New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y., on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Belarus native has recorded career-high totals in goals (30), assists (36) and points (66) in addition to his team-best plus-40 rating.

Protas has totaled 119 points (43 goals, 76 assists) in 245 career games since Washington selected him in the third round of the 2019 NHL Draft.

Vegas (46-22-8, 100 points), which held a nine-point lead in the Pacific just a week earlier on March 29, narrowly avoided seeing that margin dwindle down to one point before pulling out a 3-2 overtime victory at Calgary on Saturday night.

The Golden Knights gave up two goals over a 51-second span at the end of the second period and the beginning of the third to squander a 2-0 lead. They needed backup goalie Akira Schmid to make a glove save on Mikael Backlund's shorthanded breakaway try with just two seconds left just to get to overtime.

"If he doesn't make that save at the end, we don't get a point," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said.

Reilly Smith won it with his second goal of the game with 28.4 seconds left in OT. His backhand pass from the left corner behind the goal line caromed off the skate of defenseman MacKenzie Weegar and then off the right shoulder of goalie Dustin Wolf and into the net for the game-winner.

"I was just trying to get the puck in front to Brett (Howden)," Smith said. "It took a fortunate bounce."

Smith admitted the team's flight from Calgary to Vancouver afterward would be a whole lot smoother after the dramatic win. The Golden Knights lead the second-place Los Angeles Kings by three points with six games remaining for both teams.

"A bit of relief for sure," Smith said. "I think we did enough in the game to win. Sometimes bounces don't go your way and teams claw back in. I don't think there was any real panic in this locker room at all throughout the game. ... Just keep the foot on the gas and you're going to get a fortunate bounce every now and then, and that's great for us right now."

Cassidy said winning the Pacific Division might pay dividends when the playoffs begin.

"If we win the title, we do guarantee less travel and home ice," Cassidy said. "We've been really good at home (27-9-3) this year, and the travel can be a factor. Teams out west know that. That can be a factor if you have an extended run. Those are all ‘if's' right? And it's something we want. Our guys are competitive. They want to win."

Vancouver (35-28-13, 83 points) is six points behind Minnesota in the race for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Canucks come in off a 6-2 victory over visiting Anaheim on Saturday afternoon that saw Rick Tocchet's squad score five goals over a span of 4:30 in the first period en route to a 5-1 lead. It was a franchise record for the fastest five goals at any point in a game.

Quinn Hughes had two assists, Brock Boeser had a goal and an assist and Thatcher Demko made 30 saves for the Canucks who snapped a three-game losing streak (0-2-1).

"Getting to the postseason is slim," Tocchet said. "We talked (on Friday) about details and professionalism, that's something we have to work on every day, so got to give them a lot of credit. Really enjoyed the first period, a lot of fun watching the guys make some plays."

This is the third of four regular-season meetings between the two teams. Vegas won the first two by identical 3-1 scores on Dec. 19 and Feb. 22 in Las Vegas.

On Sunday, they'll aim to stop another superstar who recently broke one of Gretzky's marks as Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins visit the Blackhawks.

Chicago is coming off Friday's 5-3 road loss to the Washington Capitals. Nursing a 3-2 lead after two periods, the Blackhawks yielded three goals in the third and dropped their fifth straight decision (0-4-1).

Capital superstar Alex Ovechkin scored two goals to boost his career total to 894, matching Gretzky for the most all-time.

"Congrats to Ovi; it's an unbelievable accomplishment," Blackhawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said. "But we were here to win the game, and we didn't do that.

"We've talked about it before, (needing) to close those games and get points or get a win."

Pittsburgh (31-34-12, 74 points) can clinch a three-game road-trip winning record with a victory on Sunday. The Penguins rebounded from Thursday's 5-4 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues with a 5-3 win in Dallas on Saturday afternoon.

Crosby had a hat trick as well as an assist to climb to 86 points this season. On March 27, he clinched a 20th season averaging at least a point per game to pass Gretzky for the most in NHL history.

As the Penguins continue to stave off elimination from the Eastern Conference playoff race, they've attained their share of milestones.

Bryan Rust registered one of Pittsburgh's four third-period goals Saturday to match his single-season best of 28 goals and 58 points. It also was Rust's 200th career goal, making him one of nine Penguins to achieve the feat.

"Means I'm getting old, first of all," said Rust, 32. "Second of all, I'm really proud. I didn't think I'd ever get to say I scored 200 goals in the NHL."

Chicago (21-45-10, 52 points) has lost five games in a row (0-4-1) and 12 of its last 13 (1-10-2).

Shaky goaltending has marked the Blackhawks' latest skid. Since claiming a 7-4 shootout against visiting Philadelphia on March 23, the Blackhawks have yielded five goals in four of the past five games.

The Chicago attack hasn't fared much better, on and off the ice.

Lukas Reichel was a healthy scratch in Washington on Friday after missing a team meeting that morning. Reichel said he forgot his cellphone charger and the phone died when he was asleep, keeping his alarm from sounding.

"It (stunk), but it's not going to happen again," said Reichel, who was part of line rushes during Saturday's practice. "I've never been late to a meeting one time. I just wasn't smart enough."

Sunday will mark the first meeting of the season between the Blackhawks and Penguins, who will conclude a home-and-home set on Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Crosby comes to Chicago on a 12-game point streak that includes 11 goals and nine assists.

Evgeni Malkin earned an assist in Dallas following a four-game absence with an upper-body injury.

"I'm glad to be back. I'm excited to play," Malkin said. "Keep going."

The Canadiens (37-30-9, 83 points) arrive in Music City riding a four-game winning streak that was extended with a 3-2 home victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Montreal trailed 1-0 going into the third period but tallied three consecutive goals to earn the victory.

"What we said was stay patient," forward Brendan Gallagher said. "We knew we had it in this room. We can score goals. Just stay patient, stick with our game plan."

The Canadiens are holding the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot, and boasting a four-point lead on the New York Rangers in the race. Both clubs have six games remaining in the regular season.

The winning streak has seen captain Nick Suzuki take his game to another level. Suzuki netted the game-winning goal and an assist, increasing both his goal-scoring and point-scoring streaks to four games in which he has netted five goals and nine points.

"He's still young and he's playing with two young players," coach Martin St. Louis said, referring to Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. "As they all mature together, get older, it's only going to get better. What's his ceiling? I don't know, but I don't want to think about his ceiling because I want him to dictate what that ceiling is going to be."

The Predators return home after suffering a 5-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday, which runs their latest losing skid to five games.

Nashville (27-41-8, 62 points) has long been eliminated from playoff contention and had very little pushback to finish the season on a strong note or even play spoiler.

The Predators had an all-too-familiar performance in this disappointing campaign when they faced off against the Dallas Stars.

"They're a really good offensive rush team, and we didn't give them much in the first (period)," forward Steven Stamkos said of the latest loss. "And then kind of halfway through the game you could tell we were starting to turn some pucks over and feed their rush. It just felt like it was a matter of time before it kind of burned us, and it did."

Nashville coach Andrew Brunette was not at Saturday's practice due to a personal matter, and there was no word whether he would be back with the team in time for the game.

The game may mark the NHL debut of 2023 first-round draft pick Matthew Wood, the 6-foot-5 forward who signed an entry-level contract in the past week after finishing his season at the University of Minnesota.

"I've grown in lots of ways," said Wood, who was chose 15th overall. "I've gotten a lot stronger skating-wise, gotten faster and more mobile. ... One of my strengths is that I love learning, and I'm always going to try to continue to learn. This is a huge learning opportunity for me."

A night after convincingly breaking their 10-game losing streak (0-9-1) with a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, the Bruins have an opportunity to pass Atlantic Division rival Buffalo in the standings when they visit the Sabres on Sunday evening.

Though Boston (31-37-9, 71 points) has been eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2016, interim coach Joe Sacco said he hopes the feel-good night can lead to a strong final five games of the regular season.

"With the stretch that we've been on here lately, it's nice to have the guys feel good about themselves again," Sacco said. "There's a lot of positive things that we can talk about, obviously, when you win a hockey game. I think it's important for everybody."

It all started, though, with David Pastrnak, who netted his second hat trick of the season and tied a career high with five points against the Hurricanes.

The star winger combined with linemates Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm to score all of the Bruins' goals, breaking the team's 11-game streak of not scoring more than three times.

Pastrnak reached the 40-goal mark for the fifth time in his career and also is the fifth-ever Bruin to record 90 points in three straight seasons.

"He's a leader, one of those guys that brings positivity and work ethic every day and knows that it's going to come through," Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman said. "That's something we can all build off and will."

Pastrnak had scored just four goals during the skid.

"It's obviously been a tough couple weeks, so I'm proud of the group, the effort, the blocked shots and the commitment to win (Saturday) was there," he said.

The win was Swayman's 100th in the NHL and snapped a personal seven-game skid.

Sunday's game will pit 40-goal stars against one another in Pastrnak and Buffalo's Tage Thompson, who also reached the feat Saturday in the Sabres' 3-2 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Thompson is the first Sabre to post multiple 40-goal campaigns since Thomas Vanek (2006-07 and 2008-09).

"I think individual success is a byproduct of how you play as a group," Thompson said. "I've been fortunate enough to play with a lot of skilled players that have made my life a lot easier and help me get to that plateau."

Jason Zucker also scored in regulation while Jack Quinn and Alex Tuch tallied shootout goals to lift the Sabres to another victory against a playoff-contending team despite the continued absences of forwards Josh Norris (undisclosed injury) and Jordan Greenway (lower-body).

Buffalo (33-36-6, 72 points) enters Sunday just one point ahead of its opponent in the divisional and conference picture, but that is because of a three-game win streak and 7-3-0 run over their last 10 games.

The standings may not show it, but Sabres coach Lindy Ruff sees a team that still has goals to accomplish.

"We have work to do as a team, establishing the way we need to play, the way we need to manage the puck night in, night out, shift after shift," Ruff said. "To become a better team, you've got to take every period, every game ... and use it as a stepping stone. I think you ought to give them a lot of credit right now for digging in."

The players see the work paying off.

"I think we're starting to buy into the right things and do the right things consistently, and when you do that, you give yourself a chance to have success," Zucker said. "Early in the year, it felt like we would do it for a game or two, and then we would take a night or two or three off."

The Red Wings hope for one last surge to reach the postseason for the first time since 2016. Detroit (35-33-7, 77 points) is six points behind Montreal for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

With a game at Montreal coming up on Tuesday, a win against the Panthers would provide Detroit with momentum.

The game against Florida also will be important for Detroit because it will be the team's second-to-last home contest of the regular season.

The Red Wings will finish by playing five of their last six games on the road, so taking advantage of a home game would be helpful as they look for a return to the playoffs. Detroit missed out on a postseason berth by one point last year in a race that came down to the final game of the regular season.

"The story is not done yet," Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. "We can still write another chapter or two, so let's get playing the way we can. Last year's experience with this group, I'm sure it helps. It can't hurt. We've been through this before so let's keep pushing."

Detroit is coming off a 5-3 victory at home over Carolina on Friday.

"Obviously a similar team to Carolina," Red Wings forward Patrick Kane said of the Panthers. "A lot of pressure and good on the penalty kill. Same type of penalty kill with a lot of pressure. They can frustrate you. (They're the) Stanley Cup champs, so it will be a good test."

While Detroit is looking just to get into the playoffs, Florida is looking to gain home-ice advantage for the postseason.

Following Saturday's games, including Florida's 3-0 loss at Ottawa, the Panthers (44-28-4, 92 points) are two points behind Tampa Bay for second place in the Atlantic Division and six behind Toronto for first.

The Panthers are in a comfortable spot for a playoff berth as they prepare to defend their Stanley Cup crown, but they are on a four-game losing streak.

Sunday will be the second game of a back-to-back set for the Panthers, something that has been a common occurrence of late for them.

"Twenty of our last 44 games were played like that," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said, referring to back-to-back games on the schedule. "So we're feeling it a little bit. But that's a good thing. That's a good thing to go through."

This will be the second of three meetings between the teams this season. The third and final one will take place in Florida on Thursday.

Detroit beat Florida in the only other meeting this season, 5-2 on Jan. 16.

The Senators inched closer to their first playoff spot since 2017 after blanking the visiting Florida Panthers 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.

Those in attendance at Canadian Tire Centre also stated their desires, chanting "We want playoffs" throughout the game.

"I've never seen the buzz like this," Senators forward Drake Batherson said. "It creates momentum for our group."

Ottawa (41-29-6, 88 points) has won two games in a row, limiting the opposition to a combined one goal. The Senators are just four points behind the struggling Panthers for third place in the Atlantic Division but hold the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.

The Senators will need to continue getting by without leading goal scorer and team captain Brady Tkachuk. He has missed the past three games with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Ryan Graves of the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 1-0 loss last Sunday.

Linus Ullmark is expected to start in goal on Sunday after Anton Forsberg made 40 saves in Saturday's shutout.

Ullmark made 28 saves in a 3-2 win against Columbus on March 29.

"We've got a group -- I've said it since I've got the job -- that really wants to win badly," Ottawa coach Travis Green said. "Everyone says they want to win, but you've got to be committed to make changes to win. We've got guys that have shown they are just that."

The Blue Jackets have seen their playoff hopes take a hit in the past two games.

They surrendered the final five goals in a 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday, and the only five goals in a 5-0 setback to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

The latest loss dropped Columbus six points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets have seven games left, while the Canadiens have six.

Columbus defenseman Erik Gudbranson said there's no tension building in the locker room.

"We're the same team when it was going well, we're the same team now," he said. "This is a great group of guys, a lot of character in this room, and we're working towards a goal and sometimes you have disagreements, but we all love each other in here. It's not any different."

Columbus (34-32-9, 77 points) got off to a good start in each of its past two games before unraveling down the stretch.

"We have to figure out how we're going to turn that start into more of a positive direction than a negative one," Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said. "We'll focus on our start (Sunday) night again and, hopefully, it goes in the right direction and not as it did (Saturday) night."

Evason said it's up to the players and coaches to not get discouraged when they aren't rewarded for a good start.

"We've just got to stay with it," he said. "We've credited our leadership group all year to do that. We think they'll do it again."

The Stars (50-22-4, 104 points) are looking rebound after dropping a 5-3 decision at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon. Dallas resides four points behind the first-place Winnipeg Jets in the Central Division.

"We left some good players in some really good spots, and they capitalized on it," goaltender Casey DeSmith said. "We're trying to catch Winnipeg and they don't lose a lot of games. So every loss we have, it stings a little bit more. This late in the year, we don't have a lot of time left to catch them. Hopefully it's a learning experience. Just get better holding onto leads going into playoffs."

Evgenii Dadonov recorded his second career hat trick to account for all three of the Stars' goals and DeSmith made 35 saves.

The Penguins broke a 3-3 tie with 1:43 left on Blake Lizotte's goal after Dallas defensemen Thomas Harley and Cody Ceci collided in their own zone.

"That one hurt. For (DeSmith) to play such an unbelievable game and to give it away the way I did, it's tough," Harley said. "I tried to outskate their F1, he kind of got a body on me. Lost the puck, as I was just going to take it and regroup. Then me and Ceci ran into each other. Lack of communication on that one, and then I go and play the 2-on-1 (poorly). My job is to take away the pass and I let him have it."

The Wild (41-29-7, 89 points) return home after a winless three-game road trip (0-1-2). They have lost four straight overall after a 3-1 setback to the host New York Islanders on Friday night.

Minnesota is clinging to the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

"We go on this road trip and we don't win a game," Wild head coach John Hynes said. "We go to a shootout and we go to overtime. ... I think guys should be disappointed in the urgency, the competitiveness, the execution, and the energy to play in a game like this.

"I mean, let's not talk about being in the funk and feeling sorry for ourselves. This was a game that we knew coming in that we had four out of six points (on the trip with a win). We didn't have the required intensity level, attention to detail, so there's no reason to feel sorry for ourselves. We didn't play the game we needed to play to win."

Mats Zuccarello gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead 1:42 into the second period before the Islanders answered 36 seconds later. New York led 2-1 under two minutes later.

"I don't really have much to say," Zuccarello said. "I'm so sick and tired of standing here and telling you guys this and that. I'm sorry but it's just not good enough ... it (stinks) that they score right away."

Wild defenseman Jake Middleton left the game after being sent into the boards by New York's Bo Horvat with 8:56 left in the second period and did not return.

Zack Bolduc scored twice for the Blues, who improved to 19-2-2 in their last 23 games. Jake Neighbours and Pavel Buchnevich also scored, Cam Fowler had three assists and Jordan Binnington made 35 saves.

St. Louis holds the top spot in the Western Conference wild-card chase, four points ahead of the Minnesota Wild. Minnesota has a game in hand on St. Louis.

Ross Colton, Miles Wood, Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Malinski scored for the Avalanche, who suffered just their second regulation loss in their last nine games (6-2-1). Mackenzie Blackwood made 17 saves.

Golden Knights 3, Flames 2 (OT)

Reilly Smith's second goal of the night was the overtime winner to lift visiting Vegas over Calgary.

Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for the Golden Knights, who snapped a two-game skid and have a three-point lead on the Los Angeles Kings for first place in the Pacific Division. Vegas clinched a playoff spot as well. Goaltender Akira Schmid made 21 saves in his first start of the season, and Shea Theodore collected three assists.

Joel Hanley and Matt Coronato scored for the Flames, who erased a two-goal deficit to gain a valuable point. Goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 31 shots in another strong performance. The Flames are four points back of the Minnesota Wild for the Western Conference's second wild-card spot with six games remaining. Calgary has one game in hand on the Wild.

Kings 3, Oilers 0

Host Los Angeles Kings increased its chances of securing home-ice advantage in the playoffs after blanking undermanned Edmonton.

Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves to earn his fifth shutout of the season as the Kings moved four points ahead of the Oilers for second place in the Pacific Division. Los Angeles is within three points of the first-place Vegas Golden Knights, who defeated the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

Kevin Fiala, Andrei Kuzmenko and Trevor Lewis scored for Los Angeles, while Calvin Pickard stopped 26 shots for the Oilers, who were without superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Devils 4, Rangers 0

Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt scored on special teams 87 seconds apart in the second period as New Jersey beat New York in Newark, N.J.

Meier's power-play goal and Bratt's short-handed marker gave the Devils their third win over the Rangers in four matchups this season. Meier added his second goal of the contest with 4:59 remaining to effectively seal matters for the Devils. Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves, including four on New York's first power play in the second period shortly before New Jersey went ahead.

New York was denied its first three-game winning streak since Nov. 14-19. The Rangers failed to win three straight for the eighth time since mid-November, and their path to the postseason has become murkier, as they trail the Montreal Canadiens by four points for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Penguins 5, Stars 3

Sidney Crosby posted his 14th career hat trick as Pittsburgh rallied with a four-goal third period to defeat Dallas on the road.

Crosby's second goal of the game evened things up 2-2 just 20 seconds into the third. After the Stars' Evgenii Dadonov netted a score less than three minutes later, Bryan Rust and Blake Lizotte scored to push the Penguins in front. Crosby tallied an empty-netter soon after to ice the win.

Dadonov finished with a hat trick of his own, the second of his career. His first also came against Pittsburgh in 2018.

Sabres 3, Lightning 2 (SO)

Tage Thompson scored his 40th goal and James Reimer made 22 saves and stopped both shootout attempts to lead host Buffalo past Tampa Bay for its third straight win.

Jason Zucker also scored for Buffalo, which extended its home win streak to five games. Jack Quinn and Alex Tuch each scored in the shootout to give the Sabres their sixth win in the last seven games.

Brayden Point and Gage Goncalves scored for Tampa Bay, which increased its second-place lead in the Atlantic Division to two points over the Florida Panthers. Ex-Sabre Jonas Johansson made 36 saves for the Lightning, who clinched a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season earlier Saturday when the New York Rangers lost 4-0 to the New Jersey Devils.

Senators 3, Panthers 0

Anton Forsberg made 40 saves for his third shutout of the season and eighth of his career as host Ottawa defeated Florida.

Defenseman Jake Sanderson had a goal and an assist and Drake Batherson and Matthew Highmore also scored for the Senators, who won their second straight and lead the Eastern Conference wild-card race. Ottawa led 2-0 after the first period and is 32-6 when they score the first goal.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots for the Panthers, who have lost four in a row (0-3-1) and are two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division. Florida's Aleksander Barkov missed his second game and also won't play Sunday at the Detroit Red Wings. Panthers coach Paul Maurice remains fourth all-time among coaches with 913 wins. He is one shy of tying Barry Trotz for third place.

Canucks 6, Ducks 2

Brock Boeser had a goal and an assist as Vancouver scored five straight goals to erase an early deficit to visiting Anaheim.

Elias N. Pettersson scored his first NHL goal, Filip Hronek, Conor Garland, Dakota Joshua and Max Sasson also scored, Quinn Hughes had two assists and Thatcher Demko made 30 saves for the Canucks, who ended a three-game skid (0-2-1). Vancouver is six points back of the second Western Conference wild-card spot.

Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras scored and Lukas Dostal made 20 saves for the Ducks, who have dropped three of four.

Bruins 5, Hurricanes 1

David Pastrnak recorded a hat trick and season-high five points as Boston ended its 10-game losing streak with an emphatic win over visiting Carolina.

Pastrnak had points in each period, reaching the 40-goal and 90-point plateaus on the night. Pastrnak, Geekie (one goal, three assists) and linemate Elias Lindholm (one goal, one assist) combined for 11 of Boston's 13 points.

Jeremy Swayman made 14 of his 39 stops in the middle frame to help the Bruins to their first win since March 11. Carolina broke Swayman's shutout bid when Justin Robidas scored his first NHL goal with 54.2 seconds left in the third. Frederik Andersen stopped 21 shots for the Hurricanes.

Maple Leafs 5, Blue Jackets 0

Nicholas Robertson and William Nylander each scored twice, Anthony Stolarz earned his 10th career shutout and Toronto Maple defeated visiting Columbus.

Stolarz made 27 saves to earn his second shutout of the season as the Maple Leafs tightened their grip on first place in the Atlantic Division. They lead the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning by four points. Auston Matthews also scored for Toronto, and Morgan Rielly added two assists.

Elvis Merzlikins stopped 22 shots for Columbus. The Blue Jackets trail the Montreal Canadiens by six points for the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.

Canadiens 3, Flyers 2

Nick Suzuki scored and added an assist as Montreal erased a third-period deficit to edge the visiting Philadelphia.

The victory, coupled with the New York Rangers' loss earlier Saturday, gave the Canadiens a four-point advantage toward the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot. Brendan Gallagher and Lane Hutson also scored for Montreal, and Sam Montembeault made 21 saves.

Ryan Poehling had a goal and an assist and Tyson Foerster also scored for Philadelphia, which had its three-game win streak snapped. Samuel Ersson stopped 23 shots.

Utah 4, Jets 1

Clayton Keller, Barrett Hayton and Kevin Stenlund each had a goal and an assist as the Utah Hockey Club defeated visiting Winnipeg.

Nick Bjugstad also scored for Utah, while Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther, Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, and Olli Maatta provided assists. Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka made 32 saves.

In the net for Winnipeg, Connor Hellebuyck stopped 24 shots.

Kraken 5, Sharks 1

Jared McCann scored two goals and added an assist as Seattle defeated host San Jose.

Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist and Chandler Stephenson and Jaden Schwartz also tallied for the Kraken, who have won their past two games by a combined score of 10-1. Goaltender Joey Daccord made 23 saves.

Rookie Will Smith scored for the Sharks, who are winless in their past five games (0-4-1) and remained last in the NHL's overall standings. Alexandar Georgiev allowed four goals on 11 shots before being pulled at 11:36 of the second period. Georgi Romanov stopped 10 of 11 shots the rest of the way.

Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist and Chandler Stephenson and Jaden Schwartz also tallied for the Kraken (33-38-6, 72 points), who have won their past two games by a combined score of 10-1. Goaltender Joey Daccord made 23 saves.

Rookie Will Smith scored for the Sharks (20-46-10, 50 points), who are winless in their past five games (0-4-1) and remained last in the NHL's overall standings.

Alexandar Georgiev allowed four goals on 11 shots before being pulled at 11:36 of the second period. Georgi Romanov stopped 10 of 11 shots the rest of the way.

The Kraken scored on their first shot on goal. Burakovsky took a stretch pass from defenseman Joshua Mahura down the right wing, skated over the blue line and fed McCann skating alone down the slot for a wrist shot between Georgiev's pads at 5:46.

The Kraken made it 2-0 at 9:26 as McCann stole the puck behind the San Jose net and sent a pass to defenseman Adam Larsson in the left-wing corner. Larsson found Burakovsky just outside the top of the crease, and he scored on a one-timer while falling to the ice.

The Sharks got on the scoreboard at 14:18 as Macklin Celebrini made a nifty pass to Tyler Toffoli for a shot from just inside the right faceoff dot. Daccord made a kick save, but Smith was alone in front to tap the rebound into the net.

Seattle scored three unanswered goals in the second period to pull away.

The Kraken restored their two-goal advantage at 7:39 after San Jose defenseman Mario Ferraro broke his stick on a shot from the point, allowing Stephenson to pick up the loose puck and skate down the right wing on a two-on-one rush. Stephenson beat Georgiev on a wrist shot to the stick side from the right faceoff circle.

Schwartz stole the puck from defenseman Henry Thrun at the blue line and made it 4-1 on a slap shot at 11:36 from just inside the top of the left faceoff circle, ending Georgiev's night.

McCann tallied again, on a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle after taking a drop pass from Shane Wright, to cap the second-period spurt at 18:07.

Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for the Golden Knights (46-22-8, 100 points), who snapped a two-game skid and have a three-point lead on the Los Angeles Kings for first place in the Pacific Division. Vegas also clinched a playoff spot.

Goaltender Akira Schmid made 21 saves in his first start of the season and Shea Theodore collected three assists.

Joel Hanley and Matt Coronato scored for the Flames (36-27-13, 85 points), who erased a two-goal deficit to gain a valuable point. Goalie Dustin Wolf stopped 31 shots in another strong performance, which included a penalty kill in the final two minutes of regulation time.

The Flames are four points back of the Minnesota Wild for the Western Conference's second wild-card spot with six games remaining. Calgary has one game in hand on the Wild.

Smith became the hero with a fortuitous bounce. After going behind the net he simply put the puck toward the front of the cage and it bounced off the skate of a defender and into the net with 28.4 seconds remaining in overtime.

The Flames and Golden Knights meet once more this season.

Vegas had the vast majority of opportunities from the drop of the puck and finally opened the scoring with 81 seconds remaining in the first period when Dorofeyev lifted a nifty backhand shot during an odd-man rush for his team-leading 33rd goal of the season.

Smith doubled the lead at 9:57 of the second period when he gained position in front of the net and neatly deflected Theodore's point shot.

Hanley put the Flames on the board with 7.7 seconds remaining in the second period by lifting a top-shelf wrist shot from the point for his second goal of the season. It also marks the first goal by the Flames this season against Vegas after they were blanked in the first two meetings.

Coronato evened the score 43 seconds into the third period, gaining the puck after an offensive-zone faceoff win by Mikael Backlund and finding the mark with a long short-side shot.

Nick Bjugstad also scored for Utah, while Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther, Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, and Olli Maatta provided assists. Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka made 32 saves.

In the net for Winnipeg, Connor Hellebuyck stopped 24 shots.

Utah (35-30-12, 82 points) opened the scoring on the power play, with Keller finishing off a quick opportunity by sliding the puck into the net just seven seconds into the man advantage. The goal came at 4:24 in the first period, giving Utah a 1-0 lead.

The Utah Hockey Club struck again on the power play just 57 seconds into the second period. The puck deflected off Hayton's skate just outside the crease, and he quickly gathered it and batted it into the net to extend Utah's lead to 2-0. Keller earned the assist, marking his 500th career point.

Utah continued to dominate, pushing their lead to 3-0 when Stenlund ripped a powerful shot from the top of the circle that hit the crossbar and went in. The goal came with 3:03 left in the second period.

Mark Scheifele scored Winnipeg's only goal, unassisted, wiring a shot into the open net off a long rebound following several power play chances for the Jets at 2:45 into the third period. It was Scheifele's 800th point in his 14th NHL season.

Winnipeg (52-21-4, 108 points) pushed hard in the third period, outshooting Utah 14-6, but they couldn't beat Vejmelka for that second goal.

Bjugstad sealed the victory for Utah, scoring an empty-net goal to make it 4-1 with 2:31 left in regulation.

Forward Nikolaj Ehlers was a game-time decision for Winnipeg and did not play.

Zack Bolduc scored twice for the Blues (43-28-7, 93 points), who improved to 19-2-2 in their last 23 games.

Jake Neighbours and Pavel Buchnevich also scored for St. Louis. Cam Fowler has three assists, and Jordan Binnington made 35 saves.

Ross Colton, Miles Wood, Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Malinski scored for the Avalanche (47-27-4, 98 points), who suffered just their second regulation loss in their last nine games.

Mackenzie Blackwood made 17 saves.

The Blues needed just 49 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. St. Louis received a power play in the game's first minute and capitalized when Thomas set up Bolduc's goal from the low slot.

Neighbours made it 2-0 by driving to the net and converting Thomas' pass from behind the net at the 7:41 mark.

The Blues increased their lead 61 seconds into the second period. Jimmy Snuggerud shoveled a pass to Buchnevich for his uncontested reach-around shot.

Bolduc scored his second power-play goal at 8:53 of the period. Once again, he took a pass from Thomas from the left flank and scored from the slot.

Colton broke through for Colorado with 4:28 left in the period. He drove to the net and converted Logan O'Connor's pass from the right wing.

Wood cut the Avalanche's deficit to 4-2 just over two minutes later, scoring from point-blank range off Charlie Coyle's pass.

With Blackwood off the ice for an extra attacker, MacKinnon cut the lead to 4-3 with 2:18 left with a shot off Blues defenseman Justin Faulk.

Thomas made it 5-3 with an empty-net goal with 30.1 seconds left. He extended his point streak to eight games; he has four goals and 15 assists during that span.

Malinski scored at 19:51 to cut Colorado's deficit to one goal.