"Jets Secure Top Spot in Western Conference: NHL Recap"

Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots, securing his league-leading eighth shutout of the year as the Winnipeg Jets shut out the Dallas Stars 4-0 on Thursday, strengthening their hold on home-ice advantage.

In the third period, Kyle Connor scored twice for the first-place Jets, who now sit six points ahead of the second-place Stars in the Central Division. Winnipeg only needs one point, or for Dallas to lose one, to clinch first place in the division and the Western Conference.

Nino Niederreiter and Morgan Barron also found the back of the net for Winnipeg, with Josh Morrissey picking up two assists.

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Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger made 31 saves.

Capitals 5, Hurricanes 4 (SO)

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored the first goal of the game and then sealed the deal with a shootout goal as Washington defeated Carolina in a matchup between the top teams in the Metropolitan Division.

Dylan Strome, Nic Dowd, and Tom Wilson also scored for the Capitals in regulation. Charlie Lindgren made 30 saves. The Hurricanes have now lost four in a row since their home victory against the Capitals last week. However, by forcing overtime, Carolina secured a team point that guarantees them home-ice advantage for their first-round playoff series against the New Jersey Devils.

Logan Stankoven, Jackson Blake, Jordan Martinook, and Seth Jarvis scored for Carolina. Brent Burns had two assists and Frederik Andersen made 24 saves.

Rangers 9, Islanders 2

Rookie Brett Berard had his first career two-goal game for the New York Rangers, who kept their slim chances of making the Eastern Conference wild-card race alive while also all but ending the New York Islanders' playoff hopes with a win in Elmont, N.Y.

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Artemi Panarin also had two goals and an assist for the Rangers (37-35-7, 81 points), who snapped a three-game losing streak and are now six points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the final wild-card spot with three games remaining.

The Rangers' \"tragic number\" for elimination remains at one, while they also reduced the Islanders' tragic number to one as they now sit eight points behind Montreal with four games left to play.

Blackhawks 5, Bruins 2

Nick Foligno scored twice and Ryan Donato's 30th goal of the season sparked a quick run of three goals in just 1:33 in the third period as Chicago defeated Boston on the road.

The first three goals for Chicago were all scored by former Bruins players. Foligno tied the game at 1-1 at 7:55 of the second period, Donato made it 2-0 at 3:14 of the second, and Tyler Bertuzzi added insurance just 1:09 later.

David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie each had a goal and an assist for Boston (32-39-9, 73 points), who have now lost 12 of their last 14 games (2-11-1). Boston's Jeremy Swayman made 16 saves.

Blue Jackets 3, Sabres 2

Columbus scored two goals in less than three minutes in the third period to come from behind and defeat Buffalo at home.

Zach Aston-Reese and Boone Jenner scored the third-period goals, while James van Riemsdyk scored in the first for the Blue Jackets. Jet Greaves made 39 saves.

JJ Peterka and Rasmus Dahlin scored for the Sabres, with James Reimer making 27 saves. Buffalo had their five-game winning streak snapped after taking a 2-0 lead in the first period.

Panthers 4, Red Wings 1

Brad Marchand scored his first goal with Florida in a win over Detroit at home in Sunrise.

Marchand, who spent 15-plus seasons with the Boston Bruins, made his Panthers debut on March 28. Evan Rodrigues, Mackie Samoskevich, and Aleksander Barkov also scored for Florida. For Barkov, it was his 20th goal of the season, marking his 10th straight season reaching that milestone. Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves in the win, which was also coach Paul Maurice's 915th career win, moving him into third place in NHL history.