Blackhawks move within one point of top spot in West

BLACKHAWKS GAIN GROUND ON WESTERN CONFERENCE-LEADING WILD

* The Blackhawks (43-20-5, 91 points) climbed within a point of the Wild (43-18-6, 92 points) for first place in the Central Division and Western Conference, concluding their four-game season series with a 3-1-0 edge (MIN: 1-2-1).
* Kane scored 51 seconds into the game to reach the 30-goal mark for the third time in his NHL career (also 30 in 2009-10 and 46 in 2015-16). The reigning Art Ross Trophy winner has 24 points (15 goals, nine assists) in 16 games since Feb. 1 to move into second in NHL scoring with 73 points (30 goals, 43 assists), trailing only Connor McDavid (23-52-75).
* Crawford is 27-15-3 in 45 appearances this season, including 9-3-0 in his past 12 since Feb. 2 (2.50 GAA, .922 SV%).

SUNDAY'S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps
CHICAGO 4, Minnesota 2
Montreal 4, EDMONTON 1
NY Rangers 4, DETROIT 1
ANAHEIM 5, Washington 2
SAN JOSE 5, Dallas 1

CAPTAINS HELP CLUBS STRENGTHEN POSITIONS

The San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens continued their pursuit of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with help from their captains:
* Joe Pavelski (2-0-2) scored twice, including his seventh decisive goal 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 Sharks record with 11 game-winning goals in 2015-16 and leads the NHL with 18 game-winners over the past two seasons.
* Ryan Getzlaf (1-2-3) assisted on Rickard Rakell's game-winning goal to help the Ducks (36-23-10, 82 points) past the League-leading Washington Capitals (44-17-7, 95 points) and help Randy Carlyle earn his 400th win as an NHL coach. Corey Perry (2-1-3) and Ryan Kesler (1-2-3) also had three points apiece and Anaheim regained sole possession of second place in the Pacific Division.
* Ryan McDonagh (2-0-2) had the second multi-goal game of his NHL career to help 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 into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference and climbed within two points of the Columbus Blue Jackets (43-18-6, 92 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division, where the top four teams are separated by five points.
* Max Pacioretty (2-0-2) tallied twice, including the go-ahead goal, and the Canadiens (39-22-8, 86 points) scored four unanswered goals in the final 6:27 of third period to improve to 7-1-0 in their past eight games. Pacioretty ranks second in the NHL with 34 game-winners since the start of the 2013-14 season, including seven game-winners in 2016-17. Paul Byron (2-1-3) sparked the comeback win to propel Montreal back into the top spot in the Atlantic Division.

LOOSE PUCKS

Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (24 saves) extended his personal winning streak to six games (0.99 GAA, .964 SV%, 1 SO) . . . Dallas 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 Los Angeles Kings defenseman Kevin Gravel . . . The Blackhawks wore

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 when the Ducks celebrated the 10th anniversary of their first Stanley Cup championship.

SNEAK PEEK AT MONDAY'S ACTION

All Times Eastern
Tampa Bay @ NY Rangers, 7 p.m., TVA Sports, MSG, SUN
Columbus @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m., SN1, SNE, SNO, CSN-PH, FS-O
Carolina @ NY Islanders, 7:30 p.m., NBCSN
Winnipeg @ Nashville, 8 p.m., FS-TN, TSN3
Pittsburgh @ Calgary, 9 p.m., SNW, ROOT
Boston @ Vancouver, 10 p.m., SNP, NESN
Colorado @ Arizona, 10 p.m., FS-A, ALT
St. Louis @ Los Angeles, 10 p.m., SNE, SNO, FS-W, FS-MW
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FLAMES LOOK TO TIE FRANCHISE RECORD WITH 10TH CONSECUTIVE VICTORY

The Calgary Flames (38-26-4, 80 points) look to win their 10th consecutive game and tie the longest single-season win streak in their history -- set in 1978-79 as the Atlanta Flames -- when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins (43-16-8, 94 points), who would move into sole possession of first place in the NHL standings with a win. Calgary would join Columbus (16-0-0), Minnesota (12-0-0) and the Philadelphia Flyers (10-0-0) as the only teams with a winning streak of at least 10 games in 2016-17. Should they do so, Elias notes that it would mark the first season in NHL history to feature four winning streaks of 10 games or more -- 2015-16 is the only other season with three such runs.

WILD CARD RACES TAKE OVER MONDAY NIGHT SLATE

Several teams in the thick of wild card races aim to secure crucial points tonight:
* The Kings (33-28-6, 72 points) look to make up ground on the St. Louis Blues (35-27-5, 75 points) -- who have won four straight games -- in their final game against one another this season (Oct. 29: 1-0 LAK and Jan. 12: 5-1 STL). St. Louis occupies the final wild card into the playoffs Western Conference and leads the ROW tiebreaker against Los Angeles (STL: 34, LAK: 31).
* The New York Islanders (32-24-11, 75 points) return from a franchise-long nine-game road trip (5-3-1) to host the Carolina Hurricanes (27-27-11, 65 points) at Barclays Center, where they have not lost in regulation since Jan. 11 (9-0-2). New York is the first team outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs (31-22-14, 76 points).
* The Tampa Bay Lightning (32-26-9, 73 points) visit the Rangers (44-23-2, 90 points) for their second game in a week, with New York winning 1-0 in overtime last Monday on the strength of a 38-save shutout by Antti Raanta. Tampa Bay has points in 13 of its past 15 games since Feb. 4 (10-2-3).
* The Flyers (31-28-8, 70 points) aim to halt a two-game skid and stay in the playoff race when they host the Blue Jackets (43-18-6, 92 points). Columbus, meanwhile, needs one win and two points to establish single-season team records.