MONTREAL -- Center Vladislav Namestnikov scored two goals and
assisted on another, and the Tampa Bay Lightning wrapped up a
playoff spot with a 5-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on
Monday night at the Bell Centre.
Left winger Jonathan Drouin, right winger Nikita Kucherov and
defenseman Anton Stralman also scored for the Lightning, who
swept the five-game season series and set a franchise record for
wins in a season with their 47th.
Left winger Max Pacioretty and defenseman Jeff Petry scored for
the Canadiens.
Goaltender Ben Bishop, who picked up a pair of assists, stopped
25 shots for Tampa Bay. Carey Price made 39 saves for Montreal,
which has lost seven straight against the Lightning.
Canucks 4, Blues 1
ST. LOUIS -- Vancouver used a second-period goal from center
Nick Bonino to break a tie and record a win over St. Louis, the
Canucks' fourth successive road victory.
Vancouver beat the Blues for the sixth straight time, including
four of the last five in St. Louis.
Center Shawn Matthias, right winger Radim Vrbata and left winger
Alexandre Burrows also scored for the Canucks. Goalie Eddie Lack
made 23 saves. Defenseman Zbynek Michalek scored for the Blues,
his first goal since being acquired from Arizona at the trade
deadline.
Blackhawks 4, Kings 1
CHICAGO -- Continuing to make a late-season push up the playoff
ladder, the Chicago Blackhawks got the better of a team in the
same boat, defeating the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 Monday at the
United Center.
Chicago, which won for the sixth time in nine games, prevailed
behind the stellar play of backup goalie Scott Darling, giving
No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford a night off. Darling stopped all but
one of the Kings' 32 shots to improve his season record to
8-3-0.
The same couldn't be said for the Kings and goalie Jonathan
Quick. Los Angeles was rocked by an identical 4-1 score for the
second straight game, and so was Quick, who managed to stop just
35 of Chicago's 39 shots.
Oilers 4, Avalanche 1
DENVER -- Goaltender Richard Bachman had 29 saves, defenseman
Brandon Davidson scored his first NHL goal, and Edmonton beat
Colorado.
Defensemen Justin Schultz and Nikita Niktin and left winger
Taylor Hall also scored for the Oilers, who have won three
straight. Edmonton center Andrew Miller had three assists, and
center Anton Lander had two.
Center Ryan O'Reilly scored and goaltender Semyon Varlamov
stopped 33 shots for the Avalanche.
Flames 5, Stars 3
DALLAS -- Calgary left winger Johnny Gaudreau, center Jiri
Hudler and defenseman Dennis Wideman each had a goal and an
assist, and goaltender Jonas Hiller stopped 33 of 36 shots as
the Flames defeated Dallas.
Calgary trailed 2-1 after one period but erupted for three
unanswered goals within 6:49 to lead 4-2 at the second
intermission.
Dallas left winger and captain Jamie Benn had two assists, and
center Jason Spezza a goal and an assist. Center Tyler Seguin
also scored for the Stars.
Sabres 4, Coyotes 1
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Defenseman Andrej Meszaros scored two goals
to give him four in his past two games, and Buffalo downed
Arizona for just its fifth road win in regulation or overtime
this season.
The win drew Buffalo within four points of Arizona as the two
teams jockey for the 30th spot in the NHL standings, which
carries with it a guarantee of drafting either Connor McDavid or
Jack Eichel, two centers considered to be franchise-altering
players.
Meszaros had three goals in the team's first 74 games, but he is
now three short of matching his career high of 10 set during his
rookie season with Ottawa in 2005-06.
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