Bruins top Senators, tighten playoff race

Tim Thomas stopped 34 shots for his third shutout of the season, and David Krejci had a goal and two assists Saturday to help the Boston Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0 in Boston and hold on to eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Bruins have 90 points – two behind the fifth-place Senators, one behind the sixth-place New York Rangers and one behind the seventh-place Philadelphia Flyers.

Krejci assisted on the Bruins second and third goals, then added one of his own with 55 seconds left in the game when he got the puck in front of the net and put it past Martin Gerber. Krejci has two goals and five assists in his last three games.

P.J. Axelsson and Marco Sturm scored 3 1/2 minutes apart in the second period, and Shane Hnidy made it 3-0 on a short-handed slap shot 73 seconds into the third.

Stars 7, Kings 2: At Los Angeles, Loui Eriksson scored twice less than 3 1/2 minutes apart during a four-goal second period and Dallas Stars connected three times on power plays in a rout of the Kings.

Eriksson, Stephane Robidas and Brenden Morrow all scored with the man advantage for the Stars.

Capitals 3, Panthers 0: At Sunrise, Fla., Cristobal Huet stopped 32 shots for his fourth shutout of the season, and Viktor Kozlov had a goal and two assists as Washington continued its playoff push with a victory over Florida.

Huet, acquired from Montreal at the trading deadline, recorded his second shutout with the Capitals and the 17th of his career. Mike Green and Alex Ovechkin also scored for the Capitals, who have won eight of their last nine.

The victory was the Capitals’ 40th this season, the first time since 2000-01 that they reached that mark. Washington trails Boston by two points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Flyers 4, Islanders 3 (SO): At Uniondale, N.Y., Danny Briere scored the only goal in the shootout for Philadelphia, which rallied twice in the third period and escaped with a victory over New York.

Wade Dubielewicz made a career-high 51 saves against the Flyers and then stopped Mike Richards and Jeff Carter in the first two rounds of the shootout.

Philadelphia has won five of six, the only blemish a shootout loss at New Jersey on Friday night.

Maple Leafs 4, Canadiens 2: At Toronto, rookies Anton Stralman and Jiri Tlusty each scored two goals and the Maple Leafs beat Eastern Conference-leading Montreal.

Nik Antropov added three assists for the Maple Leafs, who are playing for pride after being eliminated from playoff contention Thursday night.

Blackhawks 4, Blues 3: At St. Louis, Duncan Keith and Craig Adams scored short-handed goals as Chicago kept its faint playoff hopes alive with a win over the Blues.

The Blackhawks moved within four points of eighth-place Nashville for the final playoff slot in the Western Conference. Chicago has four games remaining.

Lightning 2, Hurricanes 1: At Tampa, Fla., Jeff Halpern scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Karri Ramo made 38 saves to lead Tampa Bay past the Southeast Division-leading Hurricanes.

Chad LaRose scored for the Hurricanes, who saw their lead over second-place Washington cut to two points.

The Hurricanes and Capitals both have three games left, including a showdown Tuesday in Washington.

Oilers 2, Flames 1: At Calgary, Alberta, Dustin Penner scored the go-ahead goal in the third period as Edmonton kept its playoff hopes alive by moving into a tie for the final spot in the Western Conference with a win over the Flames.

Denis Grebeshkov also scored for Edmonton, which pulled into a three-way tie for the final spot with Nashville and Vancouver.