Brock Nelson scored two goals to help the New York Islanders clinch a playoff berth with a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday in Elmont, N.Y.
Hudson Fasching and captain Anders Lee also tallied and Ilya Sorokin made 17 saves for the Islanders, who won three of their final four games to move into the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Noah Dobson logged two assists. New York holds a one-point lead over the Florida Panthers, who host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday in their regular-season finale.
Rem Pitlick and captain Nick Suzuki each scored a goal and Sam Montembeault turned aside 31 shots for the Canadiens, who have lost six of their past seven games.
With his team short-handed, Suzuki beat Islanders defenseman Samuel Bolduc to a puck and handcuffed Sorokin to trim New York's lead to 3-2 with 3:22 remaining in the second period. The goal was Suzuki's 25th of the season. Lee deflected a shot from the point to give New York a 4-2 lead with four minutes to play in the third period to seal the victory.
Stars 5, Blues 2
Wyatt Johnston scored twice as visiting Dallas defeated St. Louis to aid its bid for the Central Division title.
The Stars moved into first place, one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche. Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who won their fifth straight game. Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz also scored, and Scott Wedgewood earned the victory with 16 saves.
Robert Thomas recorded a goal and an assist for the Blues. Jakub Vrana also scored for St. Louis, and Joel Hofer made 32 saves.
Flames 3, Sharks 1
Nikita Zadorov collected his first career hat trick and goaltender Dustin Wolf won in his NHL debut as host Calgary concluded its season by scoring three unanswered goals in a victory over San Jose.
Wolf, the 2019 seventh-round draft choice and third-year pro who leads the AHL in nearly every goaltending category, made 23 saves.
Noah Gregor scored for the Sharks, who have lost five straight games (0-4-1). Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen made a career-high 46 saves, 21 of them in the third period.
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