The Edmonton Oilers clinched their first playoff spot in 11 years and dealt the Los Angeles Kings' postseason hopes a near-fatal blow with a 2-1 victory at Rogers Place Tuesday. Connor McDavid and Eric Gryba scored for the Oilers, who won for the seventh time in the past eight games. The Kings are still alive mathematically, but that's about it. They sit 11 points behind St. Louis with just seven games left. When the Oilers missed the playoffs for the 10th straight year last spring, it tied them with the Florida Panthers (2000 to 2010) for the longest slump the league has ever seen. Hurricanes 4, Red Wings 1: Lee Stempniak, Joakim Nordstrom, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm scored, and Cam Ward had 21 saves as Carolina stretched its points streak to 12 games with a win over Detroit. Detroit's Tomas Nosek prevented a shutout with 6:27 remaining, scoring his first NHL goal. The Red Wings' 25-season playoff string officially ended as Detroit was eliminated with the defeat. The Hurricanes are 8-0-4 in their past dozen games. Blue Jackets 3, Sabres 1: Kyle Quincey and Cam Atkinson scored first-period goals, and Sergei Bobrovsky continued his hot goaltending to lead Columbus past Buffalo. Following an overtime loss last week to the Metropolitan Division-leading Washington Capitals, the Blue Jackets won their second straight to reach 105 points. The Blue Jackets broke a second-place tie with idle Pittsburgh and are chasing the Capitals for supremacy in the Eastern Conference and for the Presidents' Trophy. Bruins 4, Predators 1: Tuukka Rask, criticized by his coach after his last start, returned from a one-game absence with 24 saves, allowing Boston to end Nashville's four-game winning streak. Rask, who missed Saturday night's game against the Islanders in Brooklyn, had a shutout until Craig Smith deflected home Roman Josi's shot with 8:44 left. Rask then stood tall and Riley Nash set up Noel Acciari for his first NHL goal before David Backes scored an empty-net goal with 1:31 left. Flyers 3, Senators 2 (SO): Rookie forward Jordan Weal scored to send the game into overtime and won it in the shootout for Philadelphia. Forward Brayden Schenn also scored for the Flyers. Captain Erik Karlsson and forward Kyle Turris each scored for Ottawa. Maple Leafs 3, Panthers 2: Leo Komarov and Zach Hyman each scored a goal and added an assist to send Toronto past Florida. Auston Matthews scored his 35th goal of the season for Toronto to set a team record for rookies. Reilly Smith and Jaromir Jagr scored for the Panthers, who have lost two in a row. Canadiens 4, Stars 1: A third-period outburst lifted Montreal over Dallas at Bell Centre. Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher, Artturi Lehkonen and Alexander Radulov scored for the Canadiens. Curtis McKenzie scored for Dallas. Jets 4, Devils 3 (SO): Rookie sensation Patrik Laine scored the only goal of the shootout as Winnipeg rallied past New Jersey. Capitals 5, Wild 4 (OT): T.J. Oshie scored his second goal of the game 1:52 into overtime to support Alex Ovechkin's three goals as Washington won its fifth game in a row. Sharks 5, Rangers 4 (OT): Both New York and San Jose clinched playoff spots, but only the latter skated out of SAP Center feeling satisfied. Ducks 4, Canucks 1: Corey Perry and Patrick Eaves scored in the game's first 1:37 as Anaheim cruised to a victory over Vancouver. — Reuters
