David Pastrnak continued his torrid return from injury with a hat trick and two assists, and the Boston Bruins won their 12th straight at home, 6-3 over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.
Mar 27, 2019; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) smiles at teammates after scoring his third goal of the game during the third period against the New York Rangers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Pastrnak failed to record a point March 19 in his first contest back after missing 16 with a thumb injury, but he has five goals and six assists in four since.
On Wednesday, he set career highs with his 36th goal and five points in a regular-season game while helping the playoff-bound Bruins extend their longest home winning streak since a 14-game run in 2008-09.
Boston also avoided being swept in the three-game season series by the Rangers, who will miss the playoffs for a second straight campaign and are 2-8-5 since Feb. 24.
Stars 2, Flames 1
Dallas took another step toward clinching a playoff spot with a win at Calgary, but they may have paid a heavy price with goalie Ben Bishop leaving the game due to injury.
Late in the second period, Bishop came up lame after sliding across the crease while tracking the play and immediately departed due to a lower-body injury. It’s the second time this month Bishop has been hurt during a game. After getting injured on March 14, he missed two games.
The Stars, who hold the first Western Conference wild-card spot, received 20 saves from Bishop and another 15 stops from Anton Khudobin. Alex Radulov and Miro Heiskanen put Dallas up 2-0 with the Flames’ TJ Brodie scoring late.
Avalanche 4, Golden Knights 3
Tyson Barrie had a goal and two assists, and Nathan MacKinnon added a goal and an assist to lead Colorado to victory over Vegas in Denver.
Matt Calvert and Gabriel Bourque also scored goals for the Avalanche, which won for the fifth time in six games and moved two points ahead of Arizona for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The Avalanche and Coyotes, who both have five games remaining, play Friday night in Denver.
Philipp Grubauer had 34 saves to pick up his career-high 16th win of the season, improving to 5-0-1 in his last six starts.
Flyers 5, Maple Leafs 4 (SO)
Sean Couturier scored in the fifth round of a shootout to lift host Philadelphia past Toronto. Flyers goaltender Carter Hart, who made 38 saves through regulation and overtime, stopped William Nylander’s fifth-round attempt to preserve the win.
Couturier had the only successful shootout attempt among the 10 skaters who participated. The Flyers snapped their three-game home losing streak.
Travis Konecny, Radko Gudas, Couturier and Ryan Hartman each scored in regulation for the Flyers, who remained mathematically alive in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
—Field Level Media