NHL-Highlights of Saturday's NHL games

March 19 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Saturday's National Hockey League games: Penguins 4, Flyers 1 The Pittsburgh Penguins boosted their playoff hopes and dealt a setback to the Philadelphia Flyers with a big 4-1 road win on Saturday. The Penguins (39-24-8) reeled off three straight goals in the second period and kept Philadelphia quiet in the third to win their fifth straight game and dent the playoff hopes of the 34-24-12 Flyers. Wild 3, Hurricanes 2 (shootout) Jason Zucker and David Jones scored for Minnesota in regulation before the Wild won a shootout to edge the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2. The Wild (33-28-11) got 31 saves from goalie Devan Dubnyk and remain in the playoff hunt, one point behind the Colorado Avalanche in the race for the final postseason slot in the West. Dubnyk stopped two of three shots in the shootout. Sharks 4, Rangers 1 The San Jose Sharks came at the New York Rangers in waves and it finally paid dividends in the third period as the floodgates opened for a 4-1 victory. Joe Thornton scored the go-ahead goal for the Sharks, who put a season-high 52 shots on goal and won for the third time in four games, pulling within one point of idle second-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division. Senators 5, Canadiens 0 The Ottawa Senators scored three shorthanded goals en route to a 5-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre. The Senators, who lead the league with 15 shorthanded goals, also received shutout goaltending by Andrew Hammond, who stopped 30 shots while making his first start since March 8. It was the fourth time in team history they scored three shorthanded goals in one game. Red Wings 5, Panthers 3 Luke Glendening scored the game-winning goal in the third period as Detroit rallied for a 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center. Pavel Datsyuk scored a pair, and Tomas Tatar and Dylan Larkin also scored for Detroit (36-25-11). Niklas Kronwall and Justin Abdelkader had a pair of assists. Brad Richards, Mike Green, Datsyuk, Larkin, Gustav Nyquist and Jonathan Ericsson also recorded assists. Nick Bjugstad, Vincent Trocheck and Teddy Purcell scored for Florida (40-23-9) Blue Jackets 6, Devils 3 Rookie Oliver Bjorkstand scored the first two goals of his NHL career in the third period to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in Nationwide Arena. Cam Atkinson, Seth Jones, Boone Jenner and William Karlsson also scored for the Blue Jackets, while Alexander Wennberg and Matt Calvert had two assists. Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, out most of the season because of groin injuries, had 27 saves for his first victory since Dec. 5. Stars 2, Islanders 0 The Dallas Stars got a much-needed defensive boost in a 2-0 win Saturday over the New York Islanders. The Stars had allowed 13 goals in their previous three games, including five each against the Blues and Kings, but were much more stingy against the Islanders. Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen got the shutout and stopped 27 shots on goal. Blues 3, Canucks 0 Troy Brouwer scored a second-period power-play goal and Brian Elliott stopped 19 shots for the shutout as the St. Louis Blues ended a two-game losing streak with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Vladimir Tarasenko also had a goal for the Blues (42-22-9). Jaden Schwartz, who added an assist, scored into an empty net with 66 seconds left. Paul Stastny had two assists. Lightning 2, Coyotes 0 The Tampa Bay Lightning would be in a world of hurt without goaltender Ben Bishop. The Lightning have managed just seven goals in their last 12 games, but one was all Bishop needed on Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes. Left winger Ondrej Palat scored his 13th goal of the season and Bishop recorded his fifth shutout of the season, stopping all 31 Coyotes' shots as the Lightning pulled within two points of Florida for the Atlantic Division lead with a 2-0 victory over Arizona at Gila River Arena. Kings 2, Bruins 1 Alec Martinez and Tanner Pearson scored goals and Jonathan Quick made 27 saves as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Saturday night. Los Angeles (44-22-5) clinched a playoff spot and extended its Pacific Division lead to six points over the Anaheim Ducks. The Kings will return to the postseason after failing to qualify last season. Maple Leafs 4, Sabres 1 The Toronto Maple Leafs, which have the worst record this year in the National Hockey League, defeated the Buffalo Sabres, which had the worst record in the NHL last year, 4-1 Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre. Defenseman Connor Carrick, acquired by the Leafs in the trade that sent forward Daniel Winnik to Washington, scored the game winner at 6:56 of the third period. Leafs rookie center William Nylander, defensemen Martin Marincin and Connor Carrick and left winger Milan Michalek had the other Leafs' goals.