Adam Fantilli registered his second career hat trick and Mathieu Olivier and Dante Fabbro each added a goal and an assist as the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets pulled away for a 7-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday night.
The win sent the Blue Jackets into the first wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The big night by Fantilli upped the Blue Jackets to 70 points, one ahead of the Ottawa Senators.
Fantilli scored twice in 26 seconds to start a four-goal second period for Columbus, and he completed the hat trick with a goal into a slightly vacated net with 8:09 left in the third. Fantilli — who also had a hat trick on Jan. 22 at Toronto — became the fifth Blue Jackets player to reach 20 goals this season. Olivier scored his first goal since signing a six-year contract extension Wednesday.
Artemi Panarin tied a career high by scoring in a fifth straight game as the Rangers dropped their third straight (0-1-2) and heard loud boos in the final minute. New York’s 68 points are two ahead of the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins.
Capitals 4, Kraken 2
Connor McMichael’s goal with 4:16 remaining broke a tie and Alex Ovechkin moved within nine goals of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record as host Washington beat Seattle.
Defenseman Martin Fehervary and Dylan Strome also scored for the Capitals, who won their fourth straight. Charlie Lindgren stopped 30 shots. Ovechkin added an empty-net goal with 1:29 left for the 886th of his career and 33rd of the season. It was also Ovechkin’s 1,600th point.
Shane Wright and captain Jordan Eberle supplied the goals for the Kraken. Joey Daccord made 20 saves.
Devils 3, Flyers 1
Cody Glass scored in his team debut and Erik Haula snapped a 28-game goal drought as visiting New Jersey handed reeling Philadelphia a fourth straight loss.
Glass, one of several players acquired by New Jersey before Friday’s trade deadline, opened the scoring with just under nine minutes left in the first period. Jake Allen was solid in making 23 saves for the Devils, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Jamie Drysdale scored late in his 200th career game for the Flyers, who have lost each of the first four contests on their seven-game homestand. Ivan Fedotov made 20 saves for the Flyers, who are outside of playoff position in the Eastern Conference and were often booed by the home crowd Sunday.
Penguins 3, Wild 1
Captain Sidney Crosby scored two goals as Pittsburgh spoiled goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury’s final game against his former team, courtesy of a win over host Minnesota in Saint Paul.
Evgeni Malkin also tallied and Tristan Jarry made 29 saves in his first start since being summoned from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Monday. He notched his first NHL win since Dec. 23.
Fleury, 40, turned aside 19 shots against the franchise he spent his first 13 NHL seasons with. The three-time Stanley Cup winner and former Vezina Trophy recipient announced prior to the season that he intends to retire at the conclusion of this campaign. Ryan Hartman scored for Minnesota, which suffered its fifth loss in seven games.
Hurricanes 4, Jets 2
Mark Jankowski scored two goals in his first game with Carolina and fellow newcomer Logan Stankoven also scored in a victory against Winnipeg in Raleigh, N.C.
Seth Jarvis scored an empty-net goal and Frederik Andersen made 20 saves as the Hurricanes extended their winning streak to four games. Jankowski, who was acquired Friday at the trade deadline from the Nashville Predators, scored one goal in each of the first two periods.
Alex Iafallo and Adam Lowry scored late in the game for Winnipeg, which received 23 saves from Connor Hellebuyck. The Jets lost for just the fourth time in their last 17 games.
Kings 6, Golden Knights 5
Anze Kopitar, Adrian Kempe, Warren Foegele and Brandt Clarke each had a goal and an assist for visiting Los Angeles, which hung on for a win against Vegas.
Kevin Fiala, Phillip Danault and Joel Edmundson each had two assists for the Kings, who have won two straight after a five-game skid. David Rittich made 27 saves.
Tomas Hertl scored a hat trick, and Adin Hill made 29 saves for the Golden Knights, whose four-game winning streak ended.
Stars 4, Canucks 1
Mikael Granlund broke a deadlock late in the second period and sparked visiting Dallas to a victory over Vancouver.
Thomas Harley, Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen also scored for the Stars, who have won five of six games to strengthen their hold on second place in the Central Division. Matt Duchene and Cody Ceci both collected a pair of assists and goaltender Casey DeSmith made 22 saves.
Derek Forbort replied for the Canucks, who had a modest two-game winning streak snapped and remain one point behind the Calgary Flames for the Western Conference’s second wild-card position. Vancouver goalie Kevin Lankinen stopped 15 shots.
Ducks 4, Islanders 1
Sam Colangelo scored twice for host Anaheim, which damaged New York’s playoff hopes with the victory.
Mason McTavish had a goal and helped set up Colangelo’s first of the night with a nifty assist as the Ducks won for just the third time in eight games (3-4-1). Drew Helleson also scored. Lukas Dostal carried a shutout deep into the third and finished with 31 saves.
Tony DeAngelo scored for the Islanders, who fell for the second time in six games (4-2-0) and remained four points behind in the race for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. New York missed a chance to leapfrog the idle Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins in the wild-card race. Goalie Marcus Hogberg, who missed the previous 14 games with a finger injury, recorded 24 saves.
–Field Level Media
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