AVALANCHE, WILD KEEP PACE IN PLAYOFF PUSH
Both the Avalanche and Wild earned narrow victories to keep pace in the Western Conference Wild Card race:

* Gabriel Landeskog notched 1-1—2 to power the Avalanche to their sixth victory in their last eight contests, including three consecutive wins. Landeskog, who was making his return from a three-game absence, ranks third on the team with 18-30—48 this season.

* Chicago overcame a 2-0 deficit, but Charlie Coyle scored the lone goal in the shootout to lift the Wild to their second win in as many days as well as a 4-0-0 record in their season series with the Blackhawks (CHI: 0-3-1), with one game remaining: March 29 at MIN.

DUCKS, SHARKS INCH CLOSER IN PACIFIC DIVISION RACE . . .
The Ducks and Sharks also posted wins in their pursuit of first place in the Pacific Division:

* Jakob Silfverberg scored with 58.6 seconds remaining in overtime to lead the Ducks to their third victory in their past four games overall as well as an 8-2-1 record in their last 11 road outings. Silfverberg equaled a career high with his 13th goal of the season (also 2014-15), including four in his past four contests.

* James Reimer stopped all 25 shots he faced, including 11 in the second period, to guide the Sharks to their sixth win in their last eight games. Reimer has earned two shutouts in his first four appearances with San Jose (also March 8 at EDM: 31 SV) after not collecting one since Oct. 29, 2013 at EDM (43 SV w/ TOR).

. . . DID YOU KNOW?
San Jose’s Brent Burns (26-39—65 in 72 GP) posted one assist to break the single-season franchise record for points by a defenseman, established by Sandis Ozolinsh in 1993-94 (26-38—64 in 81 GP).

THIS AND THAT
* Scott Wedgewood, a third-round selection (84th overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft, turned aside 27 of 28 shots in his League debut to backstop the Devils to their fourth victory in their last six games. Via Elias, Wedgewood became the first New Jersey goaltender to win in his NHL debut since Martin Brodeur on March 26, 1992 vs. BOS (24 SV in 4-2 W).

* Sean Monahan (2-1—3) and Dougie Hamilton (0-3—3) both recorded three points to power the Flames to a 3-0-1 clip in their past four outings. Monahan posted his fifth three-point performance of the season (71 GP), four of which have come in 23 appearances since the All-Star break (12-14—26).

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Coyotes captain Shane Doan played in his 1,457th career game to tie Glen Wesley for 22nd place in NHL history.

* Canadiens forward Michael McCarron, the 25th overall selection in the 2013 NHL Draft, scored his first career goal (14 GP).

* Blue Jackets forward Scott Hartnell (1,100) and Coyotes forward Antoine Vermette(900) both played in milestone games.

* Jets forward Chase De Leo, Canadiens defenseman Joel Hanley and Devils defenseman Vojtech Mozik all made their NHL debuts.

* John Tortorella (CBJ) coached his 1,001st career game to move past Roger Neilson(1,000) and into sole possession of 25th place in NHL history.

LOOSE PUCKS
Flames goaltender Niklas Backstrom (21 SV) earned the win in his first start with the team – and first NHL appearance since Jan. 13, 2015 at PIT (w/ MIN) . . . Sharks teammates Tomas Hertl (2-5—7) and Joe Thornton (2-4—6) both extended their point streaks to five games. Thornton has registered at least one point in 38 of his past 43 outings dating to Dec. 15 (13-41—54) . . . Wild teammates Nino Niederreiter (4-3—7) and Erik Haula (2-3—5) also extended their point streaks to five games . . . Ducks forward Jamie McGinn scored for the third straight game (3-0—3) . . . Devils forwardDevante Smith-Pelly notched his seventh goal in nine games since joining the team (7-3—10) . . . Sharks forward Joel Ward reached the 20-goal milestone for the second time in his career (also 2013-14 w/ WSH) . . . Penguins defenseman Kris Letang (0-1—1) set a career high with his 55th point of the season (14-41—55) . . . Teammate Justin Schultzscored his first goal with the club (8 GP).

SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Florida @ NY Rangers, 7:00 p.m., FS-F, MSG
Philadelphia @ NY Islanders, 7:30 p.m., NBCSN, TVAS, CSN-PH
Calgary @ Toronto, 7:30 p.m., SNW, TSN4
Los Angeles @ Nashville, 8:00 p.m., SNE, SNP, FS-W, FS-TN
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KEY MATCHUPS HIGHLIGHT EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYOFF RACES
Two games highlight the close playoff races in the Eastern Conference:

* The Flyers (34-24-12, 80 points), the first team on the outside of the playoff picture, look to make up ground when they visit the Islanders (38-23-9, 85 points), the current occupants of the first Wild Card position, at Barclays Center. New York has won two of the first three matchups between these clubs in 2015-16 (PHI: 1-1-1), but Philadelphia earned a 4-0 victory in their most recent meeting on Jan. 9 at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers and Islanders will close their head-to-head series on the final day of the regular season: April 10, also at Barclays Center.

* A pair of teams try to bounce back from losses when the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers (40-23-9, 89 points) face the Rangers (40-24-8, 88 points), the No. 3 team in the Metropolitan Division, at Madison Square Garden. This marks the third and final meeting of the season between these clubs, who have split their opening two matchups: New York posted a 5-4 overtime win on Nov. 21, while Florida responded with a 3-0 victory on Jan. 2, both at BB&T Center.

the above information was provided by the NHL PR department