Connor bags hat trick

NEWARK — Kyle Connor recorded his first career hat trick, Kevin Hayes tallied four points, Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves and the Winnipeg Jets notched a 5-0 shutout over the visiting Nashville Predators Saturday.

The victory clinched a postseason berth for Winnipeg, which is in the Stanley Cup playoffs for just the fourth time in the 19-season history of the Thrashers/Jets franchise. Winnipeg (45-26-4, 94 points) also extended its Central Division lead over Nashville to four points as the Jets chase their first-ever division title.

Nashville (42-28-6, 90 points) has lost two in a row and missed a chance to clinch its own playoff spot.

Hellebuyck now has shutouts in consecutive starts. He improved to 4-0-0 with a .959 save percentage over his last five appearances.

Bruins 7, Panthers 3

Visiting Boston scored five times in the second period en route to defeating Florida.

With the win, the Bruins surpassed 100 points for the second straight season and clinched a playoff spot for the third straight year.

Boston, which has won four straight games, got goals from Noel Acciari, Brad Marchand, Zdeno Chara, Karson Kuhlman, Steven Kampfer, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron (empty-netter). Bruins goalie Jaroslav Halak, who took a 5-0 beating from the Panthers on Dec. 4, made 31 saves to earn the win.

Blues 4, Lightning 3

Vladimir Tarasenko capped a three-goal surge in 75 seconds as host St. Louis completed a season sweep of Tampa Bay.

Robert Thomas and Alexander Steen also scored in the first period, and Brayden Schenn tallied in the second for the Blues, who improved to 4-0-1 in their last five games. Rookie Jordan Binnington finished with 39 saves.

Brayden Point scored his team-leading 40th goal and Alex Killorn and Steven Stamkos also tallied for the Lightning, whose seven-game winning streak came to an end. Tampa Bay remained four wins shy of Detroit's NHL record of 62 victories in 1995-96 with six contests to go.

Avalanche 4, Blackhawks 2

Colin Wilson scored the go-ahead goal on a 5-on-3 advantage in the second period as host Colorado beat Chicago in Denver in the opener of a home-and-home series.

Wilson added an assist on Sven Andrighetto's goal in the third period, and J.T. Compher and Derick Brassard also tallied for the Avalanche, who have won four in a row heading into Sunday's rematch in Chicago. Philipp Grubauer finished with 29 saves on Saturday and has turned aside 131 of 135 shots in his last four starts.

Colorado (34-29-12, 80 points) moved into sole possession of the Western Conference's final wild-card spot, with Arizona and Minnesota each a point behind.

Hurricanes 5, Wild 1

Teuvo Teravainen had a goal with two assists, and Jordan Staal recorded one of each as Carolina beat Minnesota in Raleigh.

Brett Pesce, Andrei Svechnikov and Lucas Wallmark also scored for the Hurricanes, who bounced back from Thursday's 6-3 home loss to Tampa Bay. A winner in five of seven, Carolina (41-26-7, 89 points) owns the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Minnesota (35-32-9, 79), meanwhile, fell to 2-5-1 over its last eight.

Devils 2, Coyotes 1 (SO)

Pavel Zacha scored the decisive goal in the sixth round of the shootout for New Jersey, which edged Arizona in Newark.

Penguins 3, Stars 2

Jared McCann scored twice, including a short-handed goal off a spin move to break a third-period tie, to pace visiting Pittsburgh in a win over Dallas.

Islanders 4, Flyers 2

Josh Bailey scored the tie-breaking goal with 3:57 remaining and added an insurance goal 83 seconds later as New York rebounded from a pair of shutout losses and edged host Philadelphia.

Canadiens 7, Sabres 4

Max Domi and Tomas Tatar each had a goal and two assists, and Montreal rode a four-goal second period to a win over visiting Buffalo.

Flames 3, Canucks 1

Mark Giordano scored a goal and assisted both of his team's other tallies as visiting Calgary beat Vancouver.

Red Wings 3, Golden Knights 2 (OT)

Anthony Mantha scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, as Detroit snapped Vegas' six-game home winning streak.

Rangers 2, Maple Leafs 1 (OT)

Ryan Strome scored his 15th goal of the season at 1:48 of overtime, and visiting New York defeated Toronto to end a five-game losing streak.

Senators 4, Oilers 3 (OT)

Brady Tkachuk scored twice, including the winner 2:09 into overtime, as Ottawa dented host Edmonton's playoff hopes.

Kings 4, Ducks 3 (SO)

Los Angeles defeated visiting Anaheim in a shootout to claim consecutive wins for the first time since the opening week of February. — Reuters