CLUBS STRENGTHEN THEIR GRIP ON PLAYOFF POSITIONS . . .
The Rangers (38-19-1, 77 points), Ducks (31-19-10, 72 points) and Predators (28-22-8, 64 points) each secured victories to strength their grips on playoff positions:

* Mats Zuccarello scored the go-ahead goal at 8:37 of the third period to help the Rangers improve to 7-1-0 in their last eight contests. Henrik Lundqvist (31 saves) earned the 401st win of his NHL career to tie Chris Osgood for 11th place on the League’s all-time list. The Rangers maintained their hold of the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference and moved within two points of the Blue Jackets (37-16-5, 79 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

* John Gibson (24 saves) registered his career-high fifth shutout of the season – and second in his past three starts – to backstop the Ducks past the rival Kings. Gibson became the first Anaheim goaltender to register five shutouts in a season since Jonas Hiller in 2013-14 (5). The Ducks increased their lead to 10 points over the idle Flames (29-26-4, 62 points) for third place in the Pacific Division.

* The Blue Jackets erased a 3-1 deficit, but Mattias Ekholm scored the tiebreaking goal at 9:09 of the third period to power the Predators to victory. Nashville increased its lead to two points over Calgary for the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference and moved within three points of idle St. Louis (31-23-5, 67 points) for third place in the Central Division.

. . . WHILE BRUINS, MAPLE LEAFS CLIMB ATLANTIC DIVISION
The Bruins (30-23-6, 66 points) and Maple Leafs (27-20-11, 65 points) each earned wins to leapfrog the idle Panthers (27-20-10, 64 points) and move into playoff spots:

* Brad Marchand scored his seventh career overtime goal to help the Bruins improve to 4-0-0 under interim head coach Bruce Cassidy and claim sole possession of third place in the Atlantic Division. Boston also climbed within two points of Ottawa (31-20-6, 68 points) for second place in the division.

* Curtis McElhinney (37 saves) earned his first shutout in a Maple Leafs uniform and Auston Matthews added his 28th goal of the season, tied for first among all rookies. Toronto took sole possession of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference and kept pace with Boston in the Atlantic Division race.

LOOSE PUCKS
Ryan Strome (2-1—3) registered his second career multi-goal game to help the Islanders extend their home point streak to 11 games (9-0-2), their longest such run since 1982 . . . Brayden Schenn scored his League-leading 14th power-play goal of the season and Shayne Gostisbehere (0-3—3) collected a career-high three points as the Flyers earned a 3-2 win . . . Josh Morrissey scored the game-winning goal early in the third period to propel the Jets to 5-1-1 record in their last seven road games . . . Tampa Bay surrendered a game-tying goal with 41.9 seconds remaining in regulation, but Jonathan Drouinscored his first career overtime goal as the Lightning extended their point streak to six games (4-0-2) . . . The Red Wings swept their back-to-back set with wins over the Capitals and Penguins, the top two teams in the Eastern Conference . . . Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron (0-1—1) reached the 400-assist milestone . . . Senators captain Erik Karlsson (1-6—7), Bruins defenseman Torey Krug (1-5—6) and Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen (0-5—5) each extended their point streaks to five games . . . Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist donned a special mask during pre-game warmup as a tribute to equipment manager Cass Marques, who worked his 1,500th game with the team . . . The Avalanche, Islanders and Penguins each hosted events in support of Hockey Is For Everyone month . . . Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba will have a hearing this afternoon for an illegal check to the head on Senators forward Mark Stone . . . The Penguins honored Sidney Crosby during a pre-game ceremony at PPG Paints Arena for recently reaching the 1,000-point milestone.

SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Florida @ St. Louis, 8 p.m., SN, TVAS, NHLN-US, FS-MW, FS-F
Anaheim @ Arizona, 9 p.m., SN1, FS-A, PRIME
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SURGING PANTHERS LOOK TO SWEEP FIVE-GAME ROAD TRIP
The Panthers (27-20-10, 64 points) look to sweep their five-game road trip when they visit the Blues (31-23-5, 67 points) at Scottrade Center. Jonathan Huberdeau has collected 4-4—8 in six contests since making his return to the Florida lineup on Feb. 3, while Vincent Trocheck (2-5—7) and Jaromir Jagr (2-3—5) each own point streaks of five games. Elias notes that the Panthers can sweep a road trip of at least five games for the first time in the franchise’s 24-year history.

the information above was supplied by the NHL PR department