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TAMPA www.officialpredators.com , Fla. (AP) Tuukka Rask and the stubborn Boston Bruins stymied the Tampa Bay Lightning – and got even closer in the standings.Rask stopped 23 shots to hand Tampa Bay its first shutout of the season and lifted the Bruins over the Lightning 3-0 on Saturday night.It was Rask’s third shutout of the season and 41st of his career. It was also the first time the Lightning failed to score a goal since a 4-0 loss at Boston on April 4, 2017 – also against Rask.”It’s playoff hockey,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said, ”and I thought we were better at it than they were tonight.”David Pastrnak, David Backes and Riley Nash all scored for Boston, which moved within two points of the Lightning for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with one game in hand. Torey Krug assisted on all three of the Bruins’ goals.But the Bruins hope the win didn’t come at a high cost.The Bruins played the final two periods without Backes, who left following a scary incident late in the first period. As Backes tumbled to the ice and fell into the crease area, the back of Yanni Gourde’s skate appeared to make contact just below Backes’ right knee. Backes immediately grabbed his leg. As he was making his way to the Boston bench, blood appeared to seep through his pants as he was rushed back to the locker room.The Bruins reported that Backes was resting after suffering a laceration on his knee that required approximately 18 stitches to close. Cassidy reported there was no structural damage.”I think the concern is probably when you have those deep cuts is infection, so that’s usually a couple of days to see how it heals up,” Cassidy said. ”I don’t want to say he dodged a bullet because it’s an unfortunate accident, but it looks like he’ll be OK.”Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 24 shots for the Lightning, whose last shutout at home came on March 16, 2017, by Toronto’s Frederik Andersen. Tampa Bay has lost consecutive games for the first time since going 9-0-1 in the previous 10 games.”Now is the time when you really have to look yourself in the mirror and really push yourself and hammer down on the details,” Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said. ”We have to step up, we have to work. That was a good test. We got outplayed and now we have to raise the bar.”Pastrnak opened the scoring with his 28th goal of the season, getting a step ahead of Mikhail Sergachev coming down the slot to take a pass from Krug and slip a backhander past Vasilevskiy 3:07 in to the game.Backes scored his 12th off a rebound in front for the first of two Boston power-play goals on the night.Nash increased the lead to 3-0 in the second period with his 14th of the season.”We’ve been talking about trying to get back to our identity and playing solid defense and finding our offense through that Nashville Predators T-Shirts Authentic ,” Rask said. ”Today we shut it down, came back hard and played solid, solid defense and scored three goals.”NOTES: Tampa Bay recalled G Louis Domingue from Syracuse of the American Hockey League before the game and he dressed as the backup. … Boston improved to 32-0-3 this season when holding a two-goal lead at any point in the game. … The Lightning have allowed five power-play goals in the past three games and at least one power-play goal in 11 of the past 12. … Boston D Zdeno Chara missed his second consecutive game with an unspecified upper-body injury.UP NEXT:Lightning: Host Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.Bruins: Host Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Nikita Kucherov scored twice to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.Louis Domingue stopped 28 shots to help the Lightning end a two-game slide and move back to four points ahead of Boston for the top overall spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Victor Hedman also scored and Steven Stamkos added two assists.Tampa Bay killed off five Edmonton power-play chances and kept Connor McDavid off the scoresheet, leaving him four points behind Kucherov for the league lead in points.Ty Rattie scored for Edmonton and Al Montoya finished with 37 saves.JETS 4, STARS 2WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) – Patrik Laine scored twice to extend his point streak to 15 games and tie Alex Ovechkin for the NHL goal lead, and Winnipeg beat Dallas to match the franchise wins record at 43.The second-year sniper has 43 goals, matching the total from Ovechkin, the Washington star and Laine’s boyhood favorite. Laine’s point streak is the longest active run in the NHL and adds to his league record for the longest point streak by a teenager. The streak includes 18 goals and eight assists.Ben Chiarot also scored and Blake Wheeler added an empty-netter for Winnipeg. Mattias Janmark and Jamie Benn each scored for Dallas.Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves for the Jets in the second game of a six-game homestand. The last time they reached 43 wins was 2014-15, when they made the playoffs for the first time since relocating to Winnipeg from Atlanta.GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, FLAMES 0LAS VEGAS (AP) – William Karlsson scored a natural hat trick to lead Vegas over Calgary.Colin Miller also scored as Vegas snapped a four-game home losing streak and improved to 25-9-2 at T Mobile Arena.Marc-Andre Fleury, who made his 20th start in 21 games, made 42 saves. In getting his 48th career shutout and fourth of the season, Fleury moved into a tie with Chris Osgood for 12th all-time among goaltenders at 401.Vegas improved to 3-0-0 against Calgary while outscoring the Flames 15-5. The teams meet once more, in the regular-season finale at Calgary on April 7.Mike Smith stopped 27 shots as the Flames, one of the league’s better road teams this season, dropped to 20-11-6 away from home.BLUES 5 Nashville Predators Hoodies Authentic , BLACKHAWKS 4, OTCHICAGO (AP) – Patrik Berglund scored 3:31 into overtime, and St. Louis came from behind for a big victory over lowly Chicago.Defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn each had a goal and three assists for the Blues, who are trying to rally for a playoff wild card in the Western Conference. Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist, and Vladimir Sobotka also scored.St. Louis was trailing 4-3 with 1:22 left in regulation when Pietrangelo drove a long slap shot past a screened Jean-Francois Berube for his 15th of the season. Berglund then got the winner when his shot trickled under Berube in OT.Alex DeBrincat scored three times for last-place Chicago, which has dropped five of six, including its first loss to Buffalo since December 2009 on Saturday. David Kampf also scored, and Berube made 36 saves.FLYERS 6, CAPITALS 3PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Wayne Simmonds scored two goals to help lift Philadelphia past Washington.Oskar Lindblom, Shayne Gostisbehere, Ivan Provorov and Jakub Voracek also had goals for Philadelphia, which stayed in third place in the Metropolitan Division and moved within four points of the first-place Capitals (41-24-7, 89 points). The Flyers began play tied with Columbus, which was idle Sunday, but have a tiebreaker over the Blue Jackets.Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 43rd goal of the season, and Chandler Stephenson and John Carlson had goals for the Capitals, whose four-game winning streak was snapped.AVALANCHE 5, RED WINGS 1DENVER (AP) – Nathan MacKinnon kept up his torrid scoring with two goals and an assist Nashville Predators Hats Authentic , Semyon Varlamov was sharp in making 37 saves and Colorado extended Detroit’s skid to 10 games.Gabriel Landeskog, Blake Comeau and Tyson Barrie also scored to help the Avalanche remain in playoff position with 10 games remaining. The Avs have 86 points after accumulating a league-low 48 last season.Justin Abdelkader had a goal for the Red Wings, who fell to 0-9-1 during a winless streak in which they’ve been outscored by a 41-19 margin. It’s the team’s longest winless streak since a 12-game run in 1989.HURRICANES 4, ISLANDERS 3NEW YORK (AP) – Trevor van Riemsdyk scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period and Scott Darling made 26 saves as Carolina beat New York.Van Riemsdyk’s second goal of the season came on a long slap shot with 6:49 remaining to help snap Carolina’s three-game losing streak and continue the late season swoon by the Islanders, who have just one win their last 12 games.Jaccob Slavin, Lee Stempniak and Victor Rask also scored for the Hurricanes. Anders Lee scored twice and Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist for New York. John Tavares had three assists and Jaroslav Halak finished with 35 saves.DUCKS 4, DEVILS 2ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Brandon Montour scored a power-play goal, helping lift Anaheim into third place in the Pacific Division with a win over New Jersey.Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell each had a goal and an assist, and Jakob Silfverberg also scored for the Ducks, who lead Los Angeles by two points in the division. Anaheim won its third straight game and is 6-1-0 in its last seven at home. John Gibson made 15 saves, improving to 9-2-0 in his last 11 starts.Kyle Palmieri had a power-play goal and Patrick Maroon also scored for the Devils, who had won the first three games of their six-game road trip. Keith Kinkaid made 32 saves, ending a four-start winning streak. New Jersey holds the second wild-card in the Eastern Conference, five points ahead of Florida.—