Cam Atkinson scored 1 minute, 19 seconds into overtime to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 victory over the Islanders on Saturday in New York.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Josh Anderson scored 14:48 apart in the second period, sending Columbus to its seventh victory in March. The Blue Jackets improved to 46-18-6 overall. Travis Hamonic and John Tavares scored for New York, which dropped to 33-26-12 with its fourth loss in five games.
Before the game, Columbus coach John Tortorella said his team was prepared for New York to attack with heavy pressure. Instead, Columbus outshot New York, 38-22, and controlled much of the game.
Hamonic put New York ahead, 1-0, with a slap shot at 14:18 of the first period. It was his first goal since Oct. 30 and his third of the season.
That Hamonic was in position to give the Islanders a lead was due in part to the play of goaltender Thomas Griess, who made 12 of his 36 saves in the first period.
There was nothing Griess could do on Bjorkstand’s goal a minute into the second period. Bjorkstand picked up the puck inside the blue line after New York defenseman Dennis Seidenberg lost it. He snapped a shot for his sixth goal the season, over Griess’s glove from the right faceoff dot.
The Blue Jackets went ahead 14:48 later on Anderson’s 16th of the season. Anderson drove to the slot and one-timed a Nick Foligno feed as Brandon Dubinsky provided a screen.
Columbus’s lead lasted until 8:48 of the third period when Tavares’s shot from inside the blue line eluded Joonas Korpisalo. Korpisalo finished with 20 saves on 22 shots.
The game remained tied until Atkinson poked Dubinsky’s pass into the net for the winner.
Capitals 5, Lightning 3 — T.J Oshie had three goals and an assist, Justin Williams and John Carlson had early third-period goals, and Washington clinched a playoff spot by beating host Tampa Bay.
Oshie scored twice, including a power-play goal, as the Capitals took a 2-0 lead midway through the first. He completed the hat trick with an empty-netter during the final minute.
Oshie has 10 goals and 19 points in 14 games against Tampa Bay.
Washington also got four assists from Nicklas Backstrom, and Braden Holtby stopped 26 shots.
Nikita Kucherov had two goals, and Alex Killorn had the other goal for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves.
Rangers 3, Wild 2 — Oscar Lindberg had a goal and an assist, Antti Raanta made 25 saves, and visiting New York held on to beat Minnesota.
Brady Skjei and Jimmy Vesey also scored for the Rangers, who are 7-1 in their last eight road games and have a league-high 26 victories away from home this season.
Eric Staal and Matt Dumba scored for the Wild, who lost for the seventh time in their last nine games. Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves.
Canadiens 4, Senators 3 — Paul Byron and Alexander Radulov scored in the shootout to give Montreal a victory at Ottawa in the first half of the teams’ home-and-home series.
Andrew Shaw, Philip Danault, and Brendan Gallagher scored in regulation for Montreal, and Carey Price finished with 28 saves. Montreal extended its lead in the Atlantic Division to 2 points over second-place Ottawa.
Derick Brassard, Ryan Dzingel and Erik Karlsson scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson, who had missed the past two games with a lower-body injury, stopped 29 shots.
The teams meet again Sunday at Montreal.
Blackhawks 2, Maple Leafs 1 — Ryan Hartman scored with 17 seconds left in overtime to lead visiting Chicago past Toronto.
John Hayden notched his first NHL goal, and Corey Crawford stopped 25 shots for Chicago, which holds the top spot in the Western Conference with 97 points following their fourth straight win.
Auston Matthews scored the Maple Leafs’ goal, and Frederik Andersen made 37 saves.
Blues 3, Coyotes 0 — Jake Allen stopped 31 shots for his fourth shutout of the season to lead St. Louis over host Arizona.
Scottie Upshall, Alex Pietrangelo, and David Perron scored as the Blues won for the seventh time in their last eight games.
Allen improved to 6-0-0 in his career vs. the Coyotes and earned his 15th career shutout. He stopped Teemu Pulkkinnen’s breakaway shot at 12:23 of the second period to keep the Coyotes scoreless.
Hurricanes 4, Predators 2 — Jeff Skinner scored in each of the first two periods for host Carolina.
Jordan Staal added a goal and an assist while Jaccob Slavin had two assists for Carolina, which swept the two-game season series and snapped Nashville’s three-game winning streak. Elias Lindholm scored a shorthanded empty-netter with 25.6 seconds to go.
Eddie Lack stopped 27 shots as the Hurricanes improved to 4-0-2 in their last six games. Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg scored for Nashville, and Juuse Saros had 33 saves.
Red Wings 5, Avalanche 1 — Tomas Tatar scored twice, including the go-ahead goal early in the third period, sending host Detroit over Colorado.
Tatar gave Detroit a 2-1 lead at 5:20 of the final period. Less than two minutes later, he took a pass from Gustav Nyquist and scored his 20th goal of the season.
The Red Wings pulled away on a power play when Dylan Larkin got his 15th goal, and Nyquist added his 10th with less than four minutes left.
