. . . WILD CLINCH FIFTH CONSECUTIVE POSTSEASON BERTH
The Wild clinched a berth in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs by virtue of the Rangers’ regulation win against the Kings. It marks Minnesota’s fifth consecutive postseason appearance and eighth in franchise history.

EASTERN CONFERENCE WILD CARD RACE INTENSIFIES
The Bruins and Hurricanes each earned wins to gain ground in the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, where five teams are separated by six points:

* Riley Nash scored twice as the Bruins (39-30-6, 84 points) defeated the Islanders (35-27-12, 82 points) to leapfrog them into sole possession of the final Wild Card spot. Nash, who signed with Boston in July after five seasons in Carolina, posted his first multi-goal game of the season, while Anton Khudobin (18 saves) – also a former Hurricane – improved to 5-0-0 in his last five decisions.

* Jeff Skinner (GWG) scored for a fifth straight game (7-1—8) to hit the 30-goal mark and help the Hurricanes (33-27-13, 79 points) extend their point streak to 10 games (7-0-3), their longest such streak since an equal run in 2008-09 (9-0-1). Sebastian Aho, who has points in six straight games (3-5—8), scored twice for Carolina, who hold at least one game in hand over each team ahead of them in the Wild Card race, including two games on Boston.

WESTERN CONFERENCE CLUBS BOLSTER PLAYOFF HOPES
The Oilers and Flames each earned wins to gain ground in the Pacific Division, where the top four teams are separated by only three points:

* Leon Draisaitl scored the game-winning goal to help the Oilers (41-25-9, 91 points) improve to 6-1-0 in their last seven games and move into a three-way tie – in terms of most points – for first place in the Pacific Division. Draisaitl (4-10—14) and Connor McDavid (3-10—13) extended their point streaks to seven games – McDavid continues to lead the NHL with 26-62—88 this season while Draisaitl hit the 70-point mark for the first time (27-43—70). They are the first pair of Oilers teammates to reach the 70-point mark in a season since 2005-06, when Ales Hemsky (19-58—77) and Shawn Horcoff (22-51—73) did so.

* Sean Monahan (1-1—2) scored in the final seconds of overtime to lift the Flames (42-29-4, 89 points) to a 14-3-1 record in their last 18 outings, increasing their lead to two points for the first Wild Card position in the Western Conference. Monahan scored his seventh career regular-season overtime goal to pass Jarome Iginla (6) for the most in franchise history. Brian Elliott made 29 saves against his former club to improve to 13-1-1 in his last 15 appearances.

Meanwhile, Nashville used a seven-goal outburst to leapfrog from the second Wild Card spot into third place in the Central Division (overtaking St. Louis):

* Colton Sissons and James Neal each scored twice while Colin Wilson and Craig Smith each collected three assists as the Predators (38-25-11, 87 points) improved to 8-1-1 in their last 10 home games.

METROPOLITAN CLUBS MOVE AHEAD IN RACE FOR PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY
The Capitals (49-17-8, 106 points) and Blue Jackets (48-19-7, 103 points) each secured victories to move ahead in the race for the Presidents' Trophy:

* Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring with his 30th goal of the season to help the League-leading Capitals establish a single-season franchise record with their 31st home win (31-6-2, 64 points). Elias notes that Ovechkin, who has reached the 30-goal mark in each of his first 12 NHL seasons, became the third player in League history to score 30 or more goals in each of his first 12 campaigns, joining Mike Gartner (15) and Wayne Gretzky (13).

* Sergei Bobrovsky denied all 36 shots he faced to record his seventh shutout of the season (one off the League lead) as the Blue Jackets extended a franchise record with their 27th home win of the season (27-10-1, 55 points). Bobrovsky, who leads the League in wins, improved to 8-0-1 in March (0.99 GAA, .970 SV%, 4 SO) to become the first goaltender in Blue Jackets history to hit the 40-win mark in a season.

LOOSE PUCKS
Andrei Markov tallied 2-1—3 as the Canadiens (42-24-9, 93 points) defeated the Senators (41-25-8, 90 points) for the third time in a week, opening a three-point lead atop the Atlantic Division . . . Jonathan Marchessault (3-0—3) registered a natural hat trick as the Panthers matched a season high with seven goals en route to victory over the Western Conference-leading Blackhawks. Marchessault has 28 goals this season after tallying eight times in his first 49 career games . . . Rangers goaltender Antti Raanta (30 saves) earned his fourth shutout of the season (30 GP), equaling his total from his first 64 career appearances . . . Auston Matthews scored his 34th goal of 2016-17 to tie the Maple Leafs franchise record for goals by a rookie (Wendel Clark in 1985-86) and equal PatrikLaine for the rookie lead in both goals and points (61) . . . Sabres forward Jack Eichel (2-1—3) has collected 23-30—53 in 54 games this season . . . William Nylander (4-9—13 in 11 GP), Elias Lindholm (4-7—11 in 10 GP), John Tavares (3-4—7 in 6 GP) and Mike Hoffman (1-6—7 in 6 GP) each extended point streaks . . . The NHL Centennial Fan Arena began its two-day stay in New Jersey . . . The Predators honored goaltender Pekka Rinne for recently appearing in his 500th NHL game; he later reached the 30-win mark for a third consecutive season and sixth time in his NHL career.

SNEAK PEEK AT SUNDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Minnesota @ Detroit, 12:30 p.m., NBC
Dallas @ New Jersey, 5 p.m., MSG+, FS-SW
Philadelphia @ Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., NBCSN
Vancouver @ Winnipeg, 8 p.m., SN
NY Rangers @ Anaheim, 9 p.m., PRIME, MSG
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PLAYOFF PUSH CONTINUES ON NBC’S STAR SUNDAY DOUBLEHEADER
NBC Sports’ Star Sunday doubleheader will feature the playoff-bound Penguins (46-17-11, 103 points) and Wild (44-24-6, 94 points). In the NHL Game of the Week at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC, ZachParise leads Minnesota – who clinched their fifth consecutive postseason berth on Saturday – into Detroit to face Henrik Zetterberg and the Red Wings (29-32-12, 70 points). At 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN, Sidney Crosby looks to gain ground in the scoring race when the Penguins – who are headed to the playoffs for the 11th straight season – host Claude Giroux and the Flyers (34-32-8, 76 points) for their final meeting of 2016-17.

HOMETOWN HOCKEY TOUR STOPS IN MANITOBA
The Canucks (30-35-9, 69 points) visit the Jets (33-35-7, 73 points) on Rogers Hometown Hockey, which will showcase the city of Portage La Prairie, Man. Throughout the 2016-17 season, Sunday games will be broadcast from a different community rink in various towns across Canada. Included in each telecast will be local NHL player profiles, grassroots stories and local entertainment features. The tour will wrap up with two stops in Ontario over the final two weekends of the regular season – in Guelph (April 1 & 2) and Hamilton (April 8 & 9).

* Click here for more details about the festivities in Portage La Prairie.

the information above was supplied by the NHL PR department