Matthew Knies scored with 1:04 left in the overtime to record his second hat trick of the season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Wednesday night in a pivotal Atlantic Division clash.

Toronto opened up a three-point lead on Tampa Bay for first place iith four games left for each team.

Mitch Marner had a goal and three points and Auston Matthews had three assists. Anthony Stolarz finished with 25 saves.

Marner recorded his 202nd career multi-point game and passed Dave Keon for fourth most in Leafs history.

Oliver Bjorkstrand, Victor Hedman and Nick Perbix scored for the Lightning, which moved three points ahead of Florida for second place in the division.

Flyers 8, Rangers 5: Tyson Foerster recorded a hat trick as Philadelphia put New York on the brink of elimination from the playoff race.

The Rangers trail Montreal by eight points for the second wild-card spot in the East with four games left.

Wild 8, Sharks 7, OT: Returning from injuries, Joel Eriksson Ek scored a career-high four goals and Kirill Kaprizov recorded his second of the game at 1:01 of overtime as Minnesota outlasted San Jose.

Avs’ Landeskog does conditioning stint: Gabriel Landeskog is taking another step toward playing his first NHL game in nearly three years, with the Colorado Avalanche sending their captain on a minor league conditioning assignment. A knee injury and subsequent surgeries have sidelined Landeskog since he helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 2022. Landeskog could be activated for Game 1 of Colorado’s first-round playoff series if things go well.

Jets prospect Lucius retires: Chaz Lucius, a first-round draft choice of the Winnipeg Jets in 2021, announced his retirement from hockey on after recently being diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Lucius in a statement said EDS is “a hereditary disorder that affects the connective tissue that stabilizes and supports the joints and organs throughout the body.”