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Highlights of Tuesday's NHL games

[March 29, 2017] March 28 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Tuesday's National Hockey League games:

Oilers 2, Kings 1

The Edmonton Oilers clinched their first playoff spot in 11 years and dealt the Los Angeles Kings' postseason hopes a near-fatal blow with a 2-1 victory at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

Connor McDavid and Eric Gryba scored for the Oilers, who won for the seventh time in the past eight games.

The Kings are still alive mathematically, but that's about it. They sit 11 points behind St. Louis with just seven games left.

When the Oilers missed the playoffs for the 10th straight year last spring, it tied them with the Florida Panthers (2000 to 2010) for the longest slump the league has ever seen.

Hurricanes 4, Red Wings 1

Lee Stempniak, Joakim Nordstrom, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm scored, and Cam Ward had 21 saves as Carolina stretched its points streak to 12 games with a win over Detroit.

Detroit's Tomas Nosek prevented a shutout with 6:27 remaining, scoring his first NHL goal. The Red Wings' 25-season playoff string officially ended as Detroit was eliminated with the defeat.

The Hurricanes are 8-0-4 in their past dozen games, avenging an overtime setback from a night earlier in the same building and maintaining their late-season push to make the playoffs. That game 24 hours earlier ended with Carolina goalie Eddie Lack leaving the ice on stretcher, but he was at the arena for the rematch.

Blue Jackets 3, Sabres 1

Kyle Quincey and Cam Atkinson scored first-period goals, and Sergei Bobrovsky continued his hot goaltending to lead Columbus past Buffalo.

Following an overtime loss last week to the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals, the Blue Jackets won their second straight to reach 105 points. The Blue Jackets broke a second-place tie with idle Pittsburgh and are chasing the Capitals for supremacy in the Eastern Conference and for the Presidents' Trophy.

Buffalo was trying to play spoiler for the third straight game, coming off wins over playoff hopefuls Toronto and Florida. The Sabres kept it close until Brandon Saad's empty-netter at 18:55 of the third period.

Bruins 4, Predators 1

Tuukka Rask, criticized by his coach after his last start, returned from a one-game absence with 24 saves, allowing Boston to end Nashville's four-game winning streak.

Rask, who missed Saturday night's game against the Islanders in Brooklyn, had a shutout until Craig Smith deflected home Roman Josi's shot with 8:44 left. Rask then stood tall and Riley Nash set up Noel Acciari for his first NHL goal before David Backes scored an empty-net goal with 1:31 left.

Backup Anton Khudobin created a bit of a goaltending controversy by winning Saturday night, but interim coach Bruce Cassidy made it clear Rask would play if physically able.

Flyers 3, Senators 2 (SO)

Rookie forward Jordan Weal scored to send the game into overtime and won it in the shootout for Philadelphia.

Forward Brayden Schenn also scored for the Flyers, who won back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 28 and March 2. Steve Mason (26 saves) earned the win, improving to 24-21-7.

Captain Erik Karlsson and forward Kyle Turris each scored for Ottawa, which lost for the sixth time in eight games (2-3-3).

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Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2

Leo Komarov and Zach Hyman each scored a goal and added an assist to send Toronto past Florida.

Auston Matthews scored his 35th goal of the season for Toronto to set a team record for rookies.

Reilly Smith and Jaromir Jagr scored for the Panthers, who have lost two in a row.

Canadiens 4, Stars 1

A third-period outburst lifted Montreal over Dallas at Bell Centre.

Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher, Artturi Lehkonen and Alexander Radulov scored for the Canadiens, the latter three in the final 20 minutes.

Curtis McKenzie scored for Dallas, which saw its four-game point-streak snapped.

Jets 4, Devils 3 (SO)

Rookie sensation Patrik Laine scored the only goal of the shootout as Winnipeg rallied past New Jersey.

Blake Wheeler had a goal and an assist for the Jets, while goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves through regulation and overtime.

Cory Schneider stopped 33 of 36 shots for the Devils, including a pair of game-saving stops on Nikolaj Ehlers and Dustin Byfuglien in overtime.

Capitals 5, Wild 4 (OT)

T.J. Oshie scored his second goal of the game 1:52 into overtime to support Alex Ovechkin's three goals as Washington won its fifth game in a row.

Ovechkin tallied the 17th hat trick of his career and second this season, with all three goals coming on the power play. Braden Holtby had 26 saves in goal for the Capitals. Marcus Johansson added four assists.

Washington has won five straight games against Minnesota -- three at the Wild's home arena.

Sharks 5, Rangers 4 (OT)

Both New York and San Jose clinched playoff spots, but only the latter skated out of SAP Center feeling satisfied.

Brent Burns broke a 16-game goal drought with his career-high 28th of the season, at 3:10 of overtime to give the Sharks the victory.

The visitors scored twice early in the third period to cap a three-goal comeback before San Jose's Chris Tierney scored his second of the game at 17:45 to tie it at 4.

Ducks 4, Canucks 1

Corey Perry and Patrick Eaves scored in the game's first 1:37 as Anaheim cruised to a victory over Vancouver.

The Ducks clinched a playoff spot as they posted their fifth straight win. Anaheim also retained sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division.

The Canucks, who already were eliminated from postseason contention, suffered their ninth loss in 11 games.

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