Thursdays National Hockey League Capsules
CALGARY 2, DALLAS 1
DALLAS Miikka Kiprusoff made 29 saves, Craig Conroy scored the go-ahead goal and the Calgary Flames clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars.
The Flames can focus on gaining home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Calgary is tied with Vancouver for the Northwest Division lead following the Canucks shootout loss to Anaheim.
Jarome Iginla scored his 33rd goal for Calgary.
Rookie Fabian Brunnstrom had a goal and Marty Turco stopped 22 shots for Dallas.
Dallas has dropped eight of nine. With four games left, the Stars are likely to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2002.
Conroy deflected Dion Phaneufs shot from the slot past Turco to give the Flames a 2-1 lead with 7:39 left in the second.
After giving up an early goal, Kiprusoff secured the win by turning away two power plays and stopping 10 shots in the third.
The Stars, who snapped a seven-game skid Tuesday night against Los Angeles, took the early lead on Brunnstroms 14th goal. The rookie scored on a backhander at 3:02 of the first.
Iginla hit the right post with his shot and the puck deflected off the back of Turcos skate and just crossed the goal line to tie it at 10:40 of the first.
MONTREAL 5, NY ISLANDERS 1
UNIONDALE, New York Saku Koivu scored the first of Montreals three power-play goals and Alex Kovalev had three assists as the Canadiens opened a season-ending road stretch with a 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders.
The Canadiens (40-27-10), who vaulted over the New York Rangers into seventh place in the Eastern Conference, netted two goals in each of the first two periods and cruised to a critical win over the last-place team in the NHL.
Mathieu Schneider and fellow defenseman Andrei Markov also scored power-play goals - set up by Kovalev - and Alex Tanguay and defenseman Mike Komisarek added even-strength tallies for the Canadiens, playing four of their final six on the road as they push for the playoffs.
Jaroslav Halak, subbing for No. 1 goalie Carey Price who came down with the flu Thursday, made 26 saves for his 17th win. Montreal recorded 38 shots on Yann Danis and improved to 5-3-3 under coach Bob Gainey. The Canadiens are 4-0-1 in their last five.
Jeff Tambellini made it 4-1 in the second period for the injury-plagued Islanders, who were missing injured leading scorers Mark Streit (groin) and Kyle Okposo (groin) and played in front of a home crowd that largely supported the visiting Canadiens.
ANAHEIM 6, VANCOUVER 5 (SO)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia Corey Perry scored the only shootout goal and the Anaheim Ducks overcame a pair of two-goal deficits to beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-5.
Jonas Hiller made 25 saves in regulation and overtime, then stopped Pavol Demitra, Kyle Wellwood and Alex Burrows in the shootout as Anaheim moved into seventh place in the tight Western Conference playoff race, one point ahead of St. Louis and two up on ninth-place Nashville.
Rookie Bobby Ryan and veteran Teemu Selanne each had two goals for Anaheim, and Perry also scored as the Ducks won for the eighth time in nine games.
SAN JOSE 2, EDMONTON 1
EDMONTON, Alberta Evgeni Nabokov made 25 saves for his 40th victory of the season, and Jonathan Cheechoo and Dan Boyle scored in the NHL-leading San Jose Sharks 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Nabokov improved to 40-9-8 and helped the Sharks push their points total to 113 - three more than Eastern Conference leader Boston and six ahead of Detroit.
Sam Gagner scored for Edmonton, tied for 10th in the Western Conference.
Cheechoo opened the scoring at 52 seconds of the first period, and Boyle made it 2-0 on a power play at 8:16 of the second.
Gagner scored on a power play with 1:42 left in the second.
BOSTON 2, OTTAWA 1
BOSTON Tim Thomas stopped 31 shots and the Boston Bruins moved within one victory of clinching the best record in the Eastern Conference, beating the Ottawa Senators, 2-1, for their fifth straight victory.
Milan Lucic and Marc Savard scored for Boston, which would clinch the best record in the East with its next victory or the Washington Capitals next loss. The Bruins are three points behind West-leading San Jose for the overall lead.
Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa, and Alex Auld made 31 saves.
CAROLINA 4, NY RANGERS 2
RALEIGH, North Carolina Chad LaRose and Rod BrindAmour scored 28 seconds apart late in the third period, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers, 4-2, for their club-record 10th straight home victory.
LaRose finished with two goals, and Eric Staal had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes. They extended their season-best winning streak to seven while surpassing the nine consecutive home-ice wins they had in 2005-06, when they went on to win the franchises first Stanley Cup.
They havent been to the postseason since, but they took another step toward wrapping up a playoff berth, jumping past idle Pittsburgh and Philadelphia into fourth place in the East with 93 points.
Corey Potter and Dan Girardi scored for the Rangers. They held a 38-23 shots advantage but have lost four of six.
ST. LOUIS 5, DETROIT 4
DETROIT David Backes scored a career-high four goals, including the go-ahead score with 4:07 left, in the surging St. Louis Blues 5-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Andy McDonald also scored and Chris Mason made 34 saves to help the Blues jump from ninth to eighth in the Western Conference playoff race. The Blues are a point behind seventh-place Anaheim and one ahead of ninth-place Nashville.
Nicklas Lidstrom had a goal and two assists, and Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Franzen and Niklas Kronwall each had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which lost its third straight and fourth in five games. Ty Conklin stopped 28 shots.
PHOENIX 2, LOS ANGELES 1
GLENDALE, Arizona Scottie Upshall scored with 5:54 remaining and Al Montoya made 20 saves in his second career start to help the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1.
Ed Jovanovski added a goal and an assist in the Coyotes fourth straight home win.
Derek Armstrong scored for Los Angeles, 1-5-1 in its last seven games.