Martin Necas had a goal and two assists to lead Colorado to a 4-1 win over the host Chicago Blackhawks on Friday as the Avalanche became the first NHL team to clinch a playoff spot this season.
Brock Nelson, Nazem Kadri, Valeri Nichushkin also scored for the Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon logged three assists, Nichushkin had two points and Mackenzie Blackwood made 19 saves as Colorado ended a three-game skid (0-2-1).
Defenseman Wyatt Kaiser tallied the lone goal for the Blackhawks, who had gone 3-1-1 in their previous five. Arvid Soderblom stopped 45 shots.
Colorado defenseman Brent Burns played in his 1,565th game, which moved him past Nicklas Lidstrom into 14th place all time.
Hurricanes 4, Maple Leafs 3 (OT)
Alexander Nikishin scored 41 seconds into overtime as visiting Carolina defeated Toronto.
Jordan Staal, Eric Robinson and K’Andre Miller also scored for the Hurricanes, who have won two in a row. Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho added two assists each. Brandon Bussi stopped 23 shots.
Dakota Joshua, John Tavares and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs, who have lost two straight. Matias Maccelli collected two assists, and Joseph Woll made 32 saves.
Capitals 2, Devils 1
Logan Thompson made 30 saves and Washington continued its recent run of success with a narrow win over visiting New Jersey.
Ryan Leonard and Aliaksei Protas scored for the Capitals, who are 3-0-1 in their past four games. Jesper Bratt scored and Jake Allen made 26 saves for the Devils, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Allen made numerous big saves in the second period to keep the game close. The Capitals appeared to put the game away on Protas’ empty-net goal with 1:43 to play, but Bratt scored a minute later to give the Devils one last chance at a rally that never came.
Ducks 4, Mammoth 1
Alex Killorn had a goal and two assists for Anaheim, which came from behind to defeat Utah in Salt Lake City.
Ryan Poehling posted a goal and an assist while Lukas Dostal made 29 saves for the Ducks, who have won two of their past three games and five of their past nine (5-3-1). Anaheim also took two of three against Utah in the season series.
Dylan Guenther scored the lone goal for the Mammoth, who had won two straight. Vitek Vanecek made 20 saves.
Flames 4, Panthers 1
Joel Farabee and Victor Olofsson scored second-period goals and the host Calgary rode the momentum to a victory over Florida.
Matt Coronato and Morgan Frost also scored for the Flames, who have won two straight. Dustin Wolf made 24 saves, and Blake Coleman collected two assists.
A.J. Greer scored for the Panthers, who went 1-3-0 on their Western road trip. Daniil Tarasov stopped 32 shots.
