The San Jose Sharks moved a step closer to clinching top spot in the NHL's Western Conference by beating the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 Thursday. Joe Thornton scored his first goal since returning from a lower-body injury, while Joe Pavelski, Manny Malhotra and Logan Couture also netted for the Sharks. San Jose leads Chicago by two points heading into the final weekend of the regular season, but the Blackhawks have a game in hand and the tiebreaker edge. The Northwest Division champion Canucks are locked in as the third seed for the playoffs. The only question for Vancouver is whether Henrik Sedin will be the first Canucks player to win the NHL scoring title. Sedin had an assist, giving him 108 points on the season - two more than Washington's Alex Ovechkin. Pavel Demitra and Andrew Alberts scored for Vancouver. Coyotes 3, Kings 2, SO: In Los Angeles, Phoenix overcame a two-goal deficit in the closing stages to beat Los Angeles. Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson scored in regulation for the Kings before Matthew Lombardi and Taylor Pyatt scored 1:24 apart in the third period to tie it for the Coyotes. Phoenix's Adrian Aucoin scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout. Bruins 3, Sabres 1: In Boston, the hosts beat Buffalo to solidify their position in the Eastern Conference playoff race. With the win, Boston moved out of eighth place in the East and passed Philadelphia to tie for sixth with Montreal. Dennis Wideman got the go-ahead goal while Miroslav Satan and Mark Recchi also tallied for the Bruins, who scored more than twice for the first time in almost a fortnight. Derek Roy scored for Buffalo, which had clinched the Northeast Division title. Penguins 7, Islanders 3: In Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby took the NHL lead with his 49th goal and became the third-youngest player in NHL history to reach the 500-point mark, leading Pittsburgh to a rout of New York. Crosby finished with four points, assisting on goals by Alex Goligoski and Bill Guerin, giving him 104 points for the season and 501 in his five-season career. The only players younger than Crosby to hit the 500-point mark faster were Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Panthers 3, Devils 2: In Sunrise, Florida, Radek Dvorak and Nathan Horton scored in the third period to lift Florida over New Jersey. Scott Clemmensen mase 42 saves against his former New Jersey teammates and Michael Frolik added a goal for the Panthers. Stars 3, Ducks, 2, SO: In Dallas, Mike Modano had a goal and an assist in regulation in possibly his final home game with the Stars, then scored in the second round of the shootout to help Dallas beat Anaheim. Elsewhere it was: Wild 2, Flames 1, SO; Lightning 4, Senators 3, SO; Hurricanes 5, Canadiens 2.
