The Vancouver Canucks are hoping wins now translate into success down the road. Jared McCann scored the winner in the second period, Ryan Miller made 40 saves and the Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 Monday night. Emerson Etem and Jannik Hansen also scored and Vancouver got its first three-game winning streak this season. Tyler Toffoli and Kyle Clifford had a goal each for Los Angeles, which dropped its fifth straight game on the road in regulation and fell to 2-6-0 over its last eight. "It's more execution than anything else," Kings forward Anze Kopitar said. "Just too much sloppy play on our part and some penalties we just can't take." Jonathan Quick stopped 21 shots for the Kings, who remain a point back of the Anaheim Ducks for first place in the Pacific Division and have three games left on their schedule. The Ducks play four more times, including a massive game in Los Angeles Thursday. Vancouver, meanwhile, has three games remaining as it limps to the finish line of a lost season but now owns victories over the San Jose Sharks, Ducks and Kings in a five-day stretch. Islanders 5, Lightning 2: The New York Islanders responded to a rare public scolding from head coach Jack Capuano — and moved closer to clinching a playoff spot, as Matt Martin, Brock Nelson and John Tavares scored in a span of less than six minutes in the second period of a 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Barclays Center. The rebuke by the usually protective Capuano came two days after a 5-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, a defeat that dropped the Islanders to 5-6-2 since March 9 and left a playoff spot in peril. Rangers 4, Blue Jackets 2: After whiffing in two previous tries to secure a spot in the NHL playoffs, the New York Rangers punched their ticket to the postseason Monday night with a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena. The Rangers (44-26-9) were 0-2-1 and had lost to non-playoff qualifiers Carolina and Buffalo in the past week before taking care of the business on the road against the Blue Jackets. Columbus (31-40-8) is another opponent that will not be advancing past the regular season. Panthers 4, Maple Leafs 3: Rocco Grimaldi scored two goals and the Florida Panthers held on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 for their third straight victory. Grimaldi potted both of his goals in the second period. The center entered the game with one goal for the season, which he scored on Nov. 4. Blues 5, Coyotes 2: Kyle Brodziak scored twice and Vladimir Tarasenko scored one third-period goal and assisted on another to give the St. Louis Blues a 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes that pulled the Blues into a first-place tie with the Dallas Stars in the Central Division. Both teams have 105 points with two games remaining in the regular season. If the two teams end the season tied, Dallas would win the tiebreaker. The win also moved the Blues six points ahead of the third-place Blackhawks.
