NHL NEWS MARCH 13 – CAPTAINS HELP CLUBS STRENGTHEN POSITIONS

The Sharks, Ducks, Rangers and Canadiens continued their pursuit of the playoffs with help from their captains.

Joe Pavelski (2-0—2) scored twice, including his seventh decisive marker of the season, to help the Sharks (41-20-7, 89 points) maintain a seven-point grip of first place in the Pacific Division. Pavelski matched a single-season franchise record with 11 game-winning goals in 2015-16 and paces the NHL with 18 such tallies over the last two campaigns.

Ryan Getzlaf (1-2—3) assisted on Rickard Rakell’s game-winning goal to lead the Ducks (36-23-10, 82 points) past the League-leading Capitals (44-17-7, 95 points) and help Randy Carlyle earn his 400th career win as an NHL head coach. Corey Perry (2-1—3) and Ryan Kesler (1-2—3) also collected three points apiece as Anaheim regained sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division.

Ryan McDonagh (2-0—2) registered the second multi-goal game of his NHL career to lead the Rangers (44-23-2, 90 points) to their League-leading 25th road win of 2016-17 in their final regular-season visit to Joe Louis Arena. New York strengthened its hold on the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference and climbed within two points of the Blue Jackets (43-18-6, 92 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division, where the top four teams are separated by only five points.

Max Pacioretty (2-0—2) tallied twice, including the go-ahead goal, as the Canadiens (39-22-8, 86 points) scored four unanswered goals in the final 6:27 of regulation to improve to 7-1-0 in their last eight games. Pacioretty ranks second in the NHL with 34 game-winners since the start of the 2013-14 season, including seven such tallies in 2016-17. Paul Byron (2-1—3) sparked the comeback win to propel Montreal back into the top spot in the Atlantic Division.

NHL NEWS MARCH 13 AND OTHER MUSINGS

• Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (24 saves) extended his personal win streak to six games (0.99 GAA, .964 SV%, 1 SO)
• Stars forward Remi Elie scored the first goal of his NHL career (4 GP) . . . Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic skated in his 800th NHL game
• Capitals defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk was suspended for two games for charging Kings defenseman Kevin Gravel
• The Blackhawks donned green St. Patrick’s Day jerseys during warmup at United Center
• Three members of the 100 Greatest NHL Players – Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger and Teemu Selanne – were on hand at Honda Center as the Ducks celebrated the 10th anniversary of their first Stanley Cup championship.

SUNDAY’S NHL RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
CHICAGO 4, Minnesota 2
Montreal 4, EDMONTON 1
NY Rangers 4, DETROIT RED WINGS 1
ANAHEIM 5, Washington 2
SAN JOSE 5, Dallas 1

MONDAY’S NHL ACTION
All Times Eastern
Tampa Bay @ NY Rangers, 7 p.m.
Columbus @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Carolina @ NY Islanders, 7:30 p.m.
Winnipeg @ Nashville, 8 p.m.
Pittsburgh @ Calgary, 9 p.m.
Boston @ Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Colorado @ Arizona, 10 p.m.
St. Louis @ Los Angeles, 10 p.m.