NHL-Highlights from Saturday's NHL games

April 2 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights from National Hockey League games on Saturday: Penguins 5, Islanders 0 Goaltender Matthew Murray posted his first career shutout as the Pittsburgh blanked the Islanders on Saturday. Fellow rookie Oskar Sundqvist scored his first NHL goal and the Penguins became the second Eastern Conference team to clinch a playoff berth. In clinching a postseason spot for the 10th straight year, the Penguins moved closer to avoiding a quarterfinal matchup with one of the East's top two seeds. Pittsburgh is in second place in the Metropolitan Division, five points ahead of the fourth-place Islanders. The second- and third-place teams in each division face each other in the first round. Murray, making just his ninth NHL start, recorded 24 saves after being pressed into duty for Marc-Andre Fleury who was diagnosed with a concussion on Friday. Oskar Sundqvist, Patric Hornqvist, Matt Cullen, Phil Kessel and Tom Kuhnhackl scored for Pittsburgh, and Sidney Crosby got his 600th NHL assist. Flyers 3, Senators 2 Philadelphia kept up its late-season momentum, getting two power-play goals from Wayne Simmonds to pave the way to a victory over Ottawa. All three of the Flyers' tallies were with a man advantage. The Flyers entered the afternoon 18th in the league on the power play (18.1 percent) but were able to capitalize on all but one Senators' penalty on Saturday afternoon. Flyers goalie Steve Mason stopped 33 of 35 shots for his 22nd win of the season. Stars 3, Kings 2 Jordie Benn and Patrick Eaves scored third-period goals as Dallas rallied past Los Angeles at Staples Center. Dallas extended its Central Division lead over St. Louis to four points and avoided a sweep of the three-game season series against Los Angeles. Coach Lindy Ruff posted his 700th career NHL victory, becoming only the fifth coach to do so. The Kings continue to lead the Pacific Division despite the loss, holding a one-point lead over the Anaheim Ducks with the Ducks holding one game in hand. Benn gave the Stars their only lead with his second goal of the season at 15:02 of the third period. His slap shot from the right point beat Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. Blue Jackets 5, Hurricanes 1 Brandon Saad produced his first hat trick as Columbus upended Carolina. Boone Jenner also scored for the Blue Jackets, reaching 30 goals for the season, during the second period. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for Columbus, which snapped a four-game losing streak. Jeff Skinner scored for the Hurricanes, whose bid for a spot in the postseason took a damaging blow. Goalie Eddie Lack made 22 saves for Carolina. Sabres 4, Rangers 3 Center Ryan O'Reilly scored twice as Buffalo prevented New York Rangers from clinching a playoff spot. The Rangers have lost three straight while the Sabres have won two in a row. Zemgus Girgensons and Matt Moulson also scored for the Sabres, who received 33 saves from ex-Ranger goaltender Chad Johnson. Kevin Hayes, Derek Stepan and J.T. Miller scored goals for the Rangers. Backup goaltender Antti Raanta made 14 saves on 15 shots in relief of starting goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Lightning 3, Devils 1 Tampa Bay picked up a crucial victory over New Jersey on a day win which it was announced leading scorer Steven Stamkos will be sidelined one-to-three months because of a blood clot in his right arm, and will undergo surgery on Monday. The Lightning received a power-play goal by Brian Boyle to take the lead with 8:28 left. Tampa Bay also got an empty-net goal from Nikita Kucherov -- his career-high 30th of the season -- with 28 seconds left to put the game away and move into a tie with Florida for first place in the Atlantic Division. Adam Henrique fired a left-handed shot to the top right corner of the net with 27 seconds left in the second period for the Devils' lone goal. Red Wings 3, Maple Leafs 2 Brad Richards and Mike Green each scored a goal and added an assist as Detroit slid back into a playoff spot by knocking off Toronto. With the win, Detroit leapfrogged the Boston Bruins and moved into the third seed in the Atlantic Division. Kyle Quincey had the other goal for the Red Wings while Jimmy Howard made 32 saves for his 13th win of the season. William Nylander pulled Toronto within one at 3-2 with just over a minute remaining in the third period by one-timing a Nazem Kadri feed past Howard, but that's as close as Toronto would get. Panthers 4, Canadiens 3 A fierce rally from a three-goal deficit catapulted Florida to a franchise record 44th victory this season and kept them atop the Atlantic Division. Aleksander Barkov scored four points, including the game-winning goal with 28.1 seconds left as the Panthers defeated Montreal Canadiens. Goaltender Roberto Luongo had 24 saves. Torrey Mitchell's deflection in the second quarter put the Canadiens up three. Jonathan Huberdeau's goal with 7:43 remaining tied it at 3-3 prior to Barkov's game-winning goal. Sharks 3, Predators 2 (SO) Logan Couture bagged the lone goal of the shootout as San Jose wiped out a 2-0 third-period deficit to dump Nashville. Goalie James Reimer stopped all three Nashville attempts in the shootout and finished with 28 saves to win his 16th game of the season. Tomas Hertl scored two third-period goals for the Sharks after the Predators jumped out to the two-goal lead. Shea Weber and Calle Jarnkrok scored goals for Nashville. Flames 5, Oilers 0 Mikael Backlund and Johnny Gaudreau scored two goals apiece to help Calgary storm past Edmonton. Joe Colborne scored on a goalmouth deflection for the Flyers' other goal. Goaltender Joni Ortio stopped 28 shots. Oilers goalie Cam Talbot made 30 saves. Coyotes 3, Capitals 0 Shane Doan and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored goals 27 seconds apart early in the third period as Arizona defeated Washington. Brad Richardson added a goal for the Coyotes, who are 7-4 in their last 11 games. Goalie Mike Smith posted his second shutout in seven games since returning from lower abdomen surgery. Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves.