Ilya Sorokin stopped all 26 shots he faced and made Bo Horvat’s goal on the first shot of the game stand up Sunday night for the New York Islanders, who edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 1-0 in a game with Eastern Conference playoff implications in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders (40-26-5, 85 points) snapped a two-game losing streak, moved ahead of the idle Detroit Red Wings (84 points) for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and tied the Blue Jackets (37-21-11, 85 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division, though Columbus has a game in hand.
The shutout was the seventh of the season for Sorokin and the 29th of his career, which extended his franchise record. He is tied for the franchise’s single-season record for shutouts with Glenn “Chico” Resch and Semyon Varlamov.
Jet Greaves recorded 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, whose 12-game point streak (8-0-4) ended.
Jets 3, Rangers 2 (SO)
Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi scored in the first two rounds of the shootout and visiting Winnipeg ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over host New York.
Connor scored when he got a shot to trickle under rookie Dylan Garand’s pads and his shootout goal occurred after he had 11 shot attempts in regulation and overtime. Vilardi scored when he cut to the right and flicked a wrist shot by Garand. Backup goalie Eric Comrie stopped Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller in the shootout after making three saves during an interference penalty on Mark Scheifele in overtime. Adam Lowry and Vilardi scored in regulation for the Jets.
Tye Kartye and Mika Zibanejad scored tying goals in the second period as the Rangers lost their fourth straight. Garand made 35 saves in a solid NHL debut after being called up to replace backup goalie Jonathan Quick (upper-body injury).
Mammoth 4, Kings 3 (OT)
Nick Schmaltz scored his second goal of the game 1:46 into overtime and Utah beat Los Angeles in Salt Lake City.
Schmaltz entered the zone 2-on-1, kept the puck and beat Darcy Kuemper with a wrist shot. Lawson Crouse had two goals and an assist for the Mammoth, who have won three of four and hold the first wild-card spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who have lost three straight and trail the Nashville Predators by two points for the second wild-card spot in the playoffs from the West.
Golden Knights 3, Stars 2
Reilly Smith scored the go-ahead goal with 3:38 remaining as Vegas snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over host Dallas.
Smith, a healthy scratch the previous five games, swatted in a rebound of Mitch Marner’s shot from the right side of the crease into the top right corner of the net for the game-winner. Brayden McNabb and Ivan Barbashev also scored goals and Adin Hill finished with 13 saves for Vegas.
Wyatt Johnston set a franchise single-season record with his 23rd power-play goal and Justin Hryckowian also scored for Dallas, which suffered just its second regulation loss in the last 19 games (15-2-2). Casey DeSmith made 30 saves for the Stars, who had a four-game win streak against the Golden Knights snapped.
Ducks 6, Sabres 5 (OT)
Troy Terry scored twice, including the game-winner at 1:29 of overtime in a win for Anaheim against visiting Buffalo.
Beckett Sennecke, Chris Kreider and Jackson LaCombe each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who have won three of their past four games. Ville Husso made 24 saves.
Zach Benson and Owen Power each had a goal and an assist, and Alex Lyon made 27 saves for the Sabres, who had won four straight.
Avalanche 3, Capitals 2 (OT)
Brock Nelson scored the game-winning goal at 1:22 of overtime as Colorado rallied past host Washington.
Nelson won the game for the Avalanche when Martin Necas set him up for a slap shot past Logan Thompson. Gabriel Landeskog and Nicolas Roy also found the back of the net for Colorado, which became the first team to secure a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Necas had two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 20 saves.
Alex Ovechkin and Justin Sourdif scored, and Thompson made 21 saves for the Capitals, who had previously won two straight games and three of their last four.
Predators 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT)
Filip Forsberg scored twice, including the game-winner 1:05 into overtime, to lift surging Nashville past host Chicago for its fourth straight victory.
Forsberg finished with three points, adding an assist on Steven Stamkos’ game-tying goal at 9:43 of the third period on a goal in front of the net moments after a Nashville power play expired. Back in the lineup after a two-game absence with an upper-body injury, Predators goaltender Juuse Saros finished with 26 saves.
Nick Lardis and Connor Bedard found the net for the Blackhawks, who have lost four of five with two defeats in that stretch coming in overtime. Spencer Knight stopped 30 shots in the losing effort.
Hurricanes 5, Penguins 1
Seth Jarvis had a goal and two assists and Carolina went 3-for-5 on the power play in a win over host Pittsburgh.
Nikolaj Ehlers had a goal and an assist and Sebastian Aho, defenseman Jalen Chatfield and Mark Jankowski also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won four of their last five. Frederik Andersen made 18 saves.
Egor Chinakhov scored the lone goal for the Penguins, who had their four-game point streak (3-0-1) snapped and were playing the second of back-to-back games. They beat visiting Winnipeg 5-4 in a shootout on Saturday afternoon. Stuart Skinner stopped 21 shots for Pittsburgh.
Islanders 1, Blue Jackets 0
Ilya Sorokin stopped all 26 shots he faced and made Bo Horvat’s goal on the first shot of the game stand up New York, which edged Columbus in a game with Eastern Conference playoff implications in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders (85 points) moved ahead of the idle Detroit Red Wings (84 points) for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference and tied the Blue Jackets for third place in the Metropolitan Division, though Columbus has a game in hand.
The shutout was the seventh of the season for Sorokin and the 29th of his career, which extended his franchise record. He is tied for the franchise’s single-season record for shutouts with Glenn “Chico” Resch and Semyon Varlamov. Jet Greaves recorded 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, whose 12-game point streak (8-0-4) ended.
Flames 4, Lightning 3 (OT)
Ryan Strome scored the winning goal in overtime as host Calgary beat Tampa Bay for its third consecutive win.
Victor Olofsson, Morgan Frost and Mikael Backlund also scored for the Flames (29-34-7, 65 points) and goaltender Devin Cooley made 32 saves. Calgary has won 54 consecutive games when scoring four or more goals, the fourth-longest streak in NHL history.
Ryan McDonagh, Darren Raddysh and Pontus Holmberg replied for the Lightning, who had a three-game winning streak snapped in the final outing of their four-game road swing. Goalie Jonas Johansson stopped 25 shots.
–Field Level Media
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