NHL NEWS MARCH 31 – CANADIENS PUNCH TICKET TO POSTSEASON

NHL NEWS MARCH 31 – Brendan Gallagher (1-3—4) established single-game career highs for assists and points to help the Canadiens clinch a berth in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, their fourth postseason appearance in the past five seasons.

At 44-24-9 (97 points), the Canadiens opened a six-point lead atop the Atlantic Division and moved within three points of reaching the 100-point mark for the third time in their last four seasons.

Paul Byron scored twice to bring his total to 22 goals this season (76 GP). Prior to 2016-17, Byron tallied 28 goals in his first 200 NHL games.

NHL NEWS MARCH 31 AND OTHER MUSINGS

• Alex Stalock made 18 saves to earn a win in his team debut and help the Wild (45-24-8, 98 points) snap a four-game slide (0-2-2)
• Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner (0-1—1) leads all rookies with 41 assists this season
• Mark Scheifele reached the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his NHL career, while Filip Forsberg hit the mark for the second straight season (33 G in 2015-16)
• Nashville’s Peter Laviolette served his 1,000th career game as an NHL head coach
• Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg (0-1—1) reached the 900-point milestone (325-575—900)
• Leon Draisaitl (4-12—16 in 9 GP), Ondrej Palat (2-8—10 in 6 GP) and Eric Staal (3-3—6 in 6 GP) extended their point streaks
• Jason Pominville (900), David Krejci (700) and Jason Demers (500) skated in milestone games
• The Canadiens honored former Montreal Expos player Tim Raines, who was recently elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

THURSDAY’S NHL RESULTS
Home Team in Caps
PHILADELPHIA 6, NY Islanders 3
CAROLINA 2, Columbus 1 (OT)
BOSTON 2, Dallas 0
MONTREAL 6, Florida 2
TAMPA BAY 5, Detroit 3
Toronto 3, NASHVILLE 1
MINNESOTA 5, Ottawa 1
WINNIPEG 4, Anaheim 3 (OT)
EDMONTON 3, San Jose 2

FRIDAY’S NHL ACTION
All Times Eastern
Pittsburgh @ NY Rangers, 7 p.m.
New Jersey @ NY Islanders, 7:30 p.m.
Columbus @ Chicago, 8:30 p.m.
St. Louis @ Colorado, 9 p.m.
San Jose @ Calgary, 9 p.m.
Los Angeles @ Vancouver, 10 p.m.
Washington @ Arizona, 10 p.m.