PITTSBURGH — Phil Kessel scored twice and the surging Pittsburgh Penguins moved within striking distance of a 10th straight playoff berth with a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist and Nick Bonino also scored for Pittsburgh, which improved to 10-1 in its last 11 games. The Penguins will clinch a spot in the postseason if Detroit loses in regulation Friday night against Minnesota. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots to reach the 35-win plateau for the seventh time in his career.

James Neal and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist for the Predators, who failed for a third straight game to wrap up a playoff bid. Pekka Rinne stopped 25 shots before sitting out the third period in favor of backup Carter Hutton.

PANTHERS 3, DEVILS 2: Jonathan Huberdeau scored twice to move host Florida back into first place in the Atlantic Division with a win over New Jersey.

Jaromir Jagr had a pair of assists and Al Montoya made 23 saves for Florida, which broke a tie with Tampa Bay for the division lead.

CANADIENS 3, LIGHTNING 0: Rookie Mike Condon made 26 saves for his first NHL shutout, and David Desharnais, Torrey Mitchell and Phillip Danault scored in Montreal’s road win.

STARS 4, COYOTES 1: Jamie Benn scored his 40th goal, Antti Niemi made 31 saves and Dallas won at home to move two points ahead in the Western Conference race.

ISLANDERS 4, BLUE JACKETS 3: John Tavares scored twice and Anders Lee got a power-play goal 5:23 into the third period to lift the Islanders to a win at home that helped New York solidify its grip on the first Eastern Conference wild-card berth.

HURRICANES 4, RANGERS 3: Victor Rask scored the go-ahead goal with 10:54 left, and Carolina rallied past the Rangers in former captain Eric Staal’s return to his old home arena. Jeff Skinner, Patrick Brown and Justin Faulk also scored for the Hurricanes.

SENATORS 3, WILD 2: Cody Ceci got a goal with 3:57 left that deflected off two Minnesota players to help Ottawa to a road victory.

SABRES 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1: Cal O’Reilly and Johan Larsson each scored twice and Buffalo beat the Maple Leafs at home for the seventh straight time.

NOTES

SABRES: Forward Evander Kane will miss the final nine days of the season because of an upper body injury. He appeared to hurt his left hand while battling for a puck in a 3-2 loss at Detroit on Monday.

Copy the Story Link