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Penguins stop Rangers
Associated Press

Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist in regulation and then got the clinching goal in the shootout to lift Pittsburgh to a 4-3 win over the Rangers on Friday night in New York, snapping the Penguins’ four-game skid.

Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust also scored for Pittsburgh, and Matt Murray stopped 30 shots for his 29th win of the season.

Chris Kreider tied the score with 11.6 seconds left in the third period to force overtime. Nick Holden had a goal and an assist, Rick Nash also scored and J.T. Miller added two assists for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 32 saves as New York fell to 0-5-3 at home since beating Washington on Feb. 19.

Phil Kessel also scored in the shootout for the Penguins, and Murray stopped Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello.

The Penguins improved to 5-1-2 in their past eight road games and secured a winning record away from home for the 11th consecutive season.

Guentzel, back after missing the previous four games with a concussion, tallied a power-play goal to open up the scoring late in the first period. Crosby assisted on the play and passed Jaromir Jagr to claim sole possession of second place on Pittsburgh’s all-time assists list with 641.

Lundqvist, winless in his first three appearances after missing eight games with a hip strain earlier this month, looked sharp early on as he stopped 14 of 15 shots in the first period.

However, Crosby banked a shot off Lundqvist’s mask from behind the goal line early in the second period to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead with his league-leading 43rd goal.

Holden’s power-play goal with 27 seconds left in the second pulled the Rangers within one with his career-high 11th.

Rust got his 14th of the season 6:46 into the third to give Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead. Ian Cole picked up his 21st assist on the score.

Nash pulled the Rangers back within one just 2:14 later, scoring his 23rd of the season.

Blackhawks 3, Blue Jackets 1 — Artemi Panarin had two goals, Corey Crawford made 32 saves, and Chicago beat visiting Columbus.

Panarin scored in the opening minute, then added an empty-netter with 44 seconds left for his 28th goal of the season. Marian Hossa also scored in the first period for Chicago, and Patrick Kane assisted on all three goals.

Chicago extended its Central Division lead to 9 points over idle Minnesota. The Wild have five games remaining and the Blackhawks have four.

Nick Foligno scored his 25th goal to end an eight-game drought and Sergei Bobrovksy made 21 saves, but the Blue Jackets lost for the second time in two nights.

Islanders 2, Devils 1 — Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier scored to help host New York preserve its slim playoff chances with a win over New Jersey.

Jaroslav Halak stopped 26 shots as the Islanders pulled 4 points behind the Bruins for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

New York won at home for the first time since beating the Devils here on Feb. 19, going 0-4-1 at Barclays Center in between.

Halak has won both starts since being called up from AHL Bridgeport on March 23.

The Islanders might have suffered a big injury as captain John Tavares left the game late in the third period. Tavares fell awkwardly with 3:14 left while chasing a puck behind the Devils’ net, and immediately began clutching his left leg. He was helped off the ice and to the dressing room.

Adam Henrique scored and Keith Kincaid had 36 saves for the Devils, who are 2-13-4 in their last 19 games.

Flames 5, Sharks 2 — Matt Stajan got his first goal in 24 games in a three-goal second period as host Calgary beat San Jose to clinch a playoff berth.

Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Alex Chiasson, and Sam Bennett also scored for the Flames, and Brian Elliott finished with 36 saves.

Calgary pulled 1 point behind the third-place Sharks in the Pacific Division with four games remaining for each team, including a matchup in the season finale at San Jose.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Melker Karlsson scored for the Sharks, who have lost eight of their last nine. Martin Jones gave uup four goals on 22 shots before he was replaced by Alex Dell to start the third period. Dell stopped all 12 shots he faced.

Avalanche 2, Blues 1 — Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene scored shootout goals, Calvin Pickard had 27 saves through overtime and two in the shootout, and host Colorado beat St. Louis.

Jake Allen had 31 saves and Ryan Reaves scored for the Blues, who clinched a playoff spot with the point.

The Blues are in the postseason for the sixth straight season and are in the hunt for a top-three finish in the Central Division, which would mean avoiding a first-round matchup against a division winner. They have 91 points, three more than fourth-place Nashville and both teams have five games remaining.

The Avalanche ended a seven-game skid with the win and put a damper on St. Louis’ scelebration. J.T. Compher scored in regulation and MacKinnon also had an assist.

Duchene opened the shootout with a goal, and after rookie Tyson Jost was stopped by Allen, MacKinnon ended it.