LOS ANGELES — The Florida Panthers’ offense keeps on firing. It’s the defense, though, that has them back in the playoff picture.
Aleksander Barkov scored the go-ahead goal 15 seconds into the third period and Roberto Luongo made 33 saves as the Panthers beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 Saturday night for their fourth straight win.
Jussi Jokinen and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for the Panthers, who have won seven of eight. Florida is tied with Boston for third in the Atlantic Division and leads Toronto for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference by one point.
Canucks 2, Flames 1 (OT): Chris Tanev scored 34 seconds into overtime as Vancouver improved its playoff hopes with a victory over Calgary.
The Flames’ Mark Giordano forced overtime when he tied the game with six seconds left in the third period. Brian Elliott stopped 17 shots for Calgary.
The Canucks moved within four points of the Flames in the race for the final wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Vancouver goaltender Ryan Miller made 35 saves, including 17 in the third period when Calgary outshot the Canucks 18-2.
Jets 3, Canadiens 2: Winnipeg scored two third-period goals to break a 1-1 tie and spoil Claude Julien’s first game as Montreal’s coach.
Julien had been hired by the Canadiens Tuesday after being fired by the Boston Bruins on Feb. 7.
Mathieu Perreault and Patrik Laine both scored in the third period for Winnipeg.
Perreault put the Jets ahead 2-1 at 1:16 with a backhand shot past Carey Price from the slot after Dustin Byfuglien carried the puck along the right boards and made a centering pass.
Laine collected his 28th goal into an empty net with 1:17 remaining.
Red Wings 3, Capitals 2: Henrik Zetterberg scored the winner in the fifth round of the shootout as Detroit ended Washington’s six-game winning streak.
After Zetterberg’s goal, Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek made a sliding pad save to foil Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and clinch the victory. Mrazek stopped four of the five shots he faced.
The victory ended a four-game losing streak and a five-game winless slide for the Wings.
Sabres 3, Blues 2: Evander Kane had a goal and an assist as Buffalo snapped St. Louis’ six-game winning streak.
Nicholas Baptiste and Ryan O’Reilly also scored for the Sabres (26-23-10), who won their third game in a row. Robin Lehner made 37 saves.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Scottie Upshall scored for the Blues (31-23-5). Jake Allen made 26 saves.
Wild 5, Predators 2: Jason Zucker had two goals and an assist, and Devan Dubnyk stopped 37 shots as Minnesota defeated Nashville.
Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund, Zucker’s linemates, each had a goal and assist, while Eric Staal added an empty-net goal as the Colin Wilson and P.K. Subban scored for the Predators.
Sharks 4, Coyotes 1: Brent Burns scored two goals, and Melker Karlsson had a goal and two assists as San Jose defeated Arizona.
Micheal Haley scored his first goal of the season and added an assist and the Sharks got a career-high 36 saves from backup goaltender Aaron Dell to win for the second time in their last seven games (2-1-4).
Martin Hanzal scored for Arizona.
Senators 6, Maple Leafs 3: Derick Brassard scored two goals and ended a tie with a power-play goal in the third period as Ottawa came back to defeat Toronto.
Chris Wideman, Ryan Dzingel, Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone also scored for the Senators, who won their second straight. Stone added four assists for Ottawa while Craig Anderson made 34 saves.
Morgan Rielly, Nazem Kadri and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs.
Devils 3, Islanders 2: Cory Schneider made 40 saves, including 20 in the second period, as New Jersey won an important Metropolitan Division game over New York.
The win was only the third in their past 12 home games for the Devils, while the Islanders lost their third straight road contest.
Oilers 3, Blackhawks 1: Matt Benning, Milan Lucic and Connor McDavid scored and Cam Talbot made 38 saves as Edmonton beat Chicago.
Stars 4, Lightning 3 (OT): Antoine Roussel had a hat trick and Jamie Benn scored the game-winning goal at 3:47 of overtime as Dallas defeated Tampa Bay. — Agencies
