Chicago Blackhawks' left-wing Brandon Saad (No. 20) tries to score against St. Louis Blues' goalie Jake Allen (No. 34) during the third period of their NHL game at United Center Sunday. — Reuters
NEW YORK — Olli Jokinen scored the tiebreaking goal to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks Sunday.
David Backes also scored for the Blues, who earned their third consecutive win. St. Louis (49-23-7) pulled one point ahead of Nashville and three points ahead of Chicago in the Western Conference Central Division race with three games remaining for each team.
Kris Versteeg scored for the Blackhawks. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Chicago (48-25-6), which like St. Louis already has clinched a playoff berth.
Blues goaltender Jake Allen stopped 38 of 39 shots to improve to 21-6-4. Capitals 2, Red Wings 1: The Washington Capitals clinched a playoff berth by holding off the Detroit Red Wings.
Washington (44-25-11), second in the Metropolitan Division, gained official entrance into the playoffs after the Ottawa Senators lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Defenseman Mike Green had a goal and an assist and Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for Washington. Goalie Braden Holtby made 35 saves.
The Red Wings (41-25-13) are tied for third in the Atlantic Division with the Boston Bruins but are in the second wild card spot because Boston has the advantage head to head.
Flyers 4, Penguins 1: The Pittsburgh Penguins took one more stab at solving a division rival, but failed to do so in a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Pittsburgh (42-26-11), still needing to punch a playoff ticket, lost for the fourth time in four tries against Philadelphia (32-29-18) this season and is now 3-8-1 in its last 12 games.
The Flyers have won eight straight over the Penguins and received goals from Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn, Ryan White and defenseman Michael Del Zotto, as well as 47 saves from goaltender Steve Mason.
Canadiens 4, Panthers 1: The Montreal Canadiens, who sustained what could be a key injury to leading scorer Max Pacioretty, snapped their three-game losing streak, defeating the Florida Panthers.
Pacioretty, who entered the day tied for fourth in the NHL with 37 goals, left the game in the first period after he crashed into the boards, appearing to hit his head. He did not return.
Montreal (48-22-10) took a two-point lead in the Atlantic Division over the idle Tampa Bay Lightning with two games left for each team.
Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Plekanec each scored for the Canadiens.
Maple Leafs 3, Senators 2 (SO): Peter Holland scored the deciding goal in a shootout as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Ottawa Senators.
Each team had a goal in the shootout before Holland's clincher in the seventh round.
Jonathan Bernier stopped 43 shots in the Maple Leafs goal while Senators goalie Andrew Hammond made 36 saves.
By gaining a point, the Senators (40-26-13) sit just two points back of both Detroit and Pittsburgh in the race for the final two-playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. — Reuters
