Jonathan Marchessault scored during a wild opening minute of overtime to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Monday that strengthened the defending Stanley Cup champions' bid for a play-off spot.
Marchessault's goal came just 19 seconds after Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson denied Pavel Buchnevich on a penalty shot that the Blues were awarded when Knights' defenseman Noah Hanifin tripped Buchnevich from behind 30 seconds into overtime.
Thompson recorded 31 saves in Vegas' third straight win, which increased the Golden Knights' lead on St. Louis to five points for the Western Conference's final wild-card berth.
The Blues lost for just the second time in their last eight games, but still managed to pick up a point when Brandon Saad knocked in a cross-ice pass from Brayden Schenn to tie the game at 1-1 with 5:07 left in regulation.
Vegas' Pavel Dorofeyev had the game's lone goal up to that point, a close-range attempt he powered past St. Louis netminder Jordan Binnington 5:59 into the contest.
Binnington regrouped to stop all 12 shots he faced in the second period and finished with 32 saves.
Kings hold on to edge Canucks for fourth straight win
The Los Angeles Kings were able to maintain a two-point edge over Vegas for third place in the Pacific Division by hanging on for a 3-2 win over the first-place Vancouver Canucks.
Anže Kopitar had a goal and an assist and Cam Talbot came up with 21 saves as Los Angeles extended its winning streak to four games.
The Kings took a 3-1 lead when Blake Lizotte and Kopitar scored less than two minutes apart late in the second period, but Vancouver fought back to make it a one-goal game when Brock Boeser's shot deflected off Kopitar and trickled past Talbot with 2:53 left to play.
Vancouver had a chance to draw even when Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty received a tripping penalty with 21 seconds remaining, but the Kings held on with the Canucks pulling goaltender Casey DeSmith for a 6-on-4 advantage.
Kevin Fiala's 24th goal of the season gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 7:01 in, but Vancouver drew even when Sam Lafferty stuffed the puck past Talbot with 7:10 to go in the first period.
DeSmith had 16 saves for the Canucks, who had a three-game winning streak halted.
NHL: Oilers beat Stars for 3-2 lead in Western final
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice on the power play and Stuart Skinner took a shutout late into the third period as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the top-seeded Dallas Stars, 3-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference final on Friday night.
Philip Broberg had the other goal and Evan Bouchard had a pair of assists for the Oilers, who can advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2005-06 with a win at home in Game 6 on Sunday night.
Skinner was perfect until Wyatt Johnson’s goal with 5:51 remaining. He held the Stars scoreless the rest of the way to finish with 19 saves in his second straight win after losses in Games 2 and 3.
There hadn’t been a power-play goal by either team in this series until Nugent-Hopkins scored on a rebound 18 seconds after a penalty in the first period. He struck again just 16 seconds after the Stars took a penalty early in the second period for a 2-0 advantage.
Dallas was limited to six shots on goal halfway through the game and dropped to 4-6 at home this postseason. The Stars are 0 for 11 on the power play in this series.
NHL: Panthers hold off Rangers for 3-2 lead in East final
Anton Lundell snapped a tie midway through the third period and Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist to give the Florida Panthers a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers and a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference final on Thursday night.
Gustav Forsling also scored for the Panthers, who can book a return trip to the Stanley Cup Final with a win at home in Game 6 on Saturday.
If a seventh game is necessary, it will be at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
The Panthers, who got 25 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky, lost to Vegas last year in the championship series.
Chris Kreider scored a short-handed goal and Alexis Lafreniere tallied in the final minute, but the Rangers couldn’t find the equaliser and lost their second straight.
New York is 3-5 in its last eight playoff games after opening with seven consecutive wins.
The go-ahead goal came after the Rangers lost the puck in the Florida end. Eetu Luostarien got the puck, found Lundell at the New York blue line. His shot from the right circle beat Igor Shesterkin, although it may have hit off the stick of Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider.
Bennett’s empty-net goal proved necessary when Lafreniere made it a one-goal game with 50 seconds left.
NHL: Oilers score 2 in 51 seconds to even Western Conference final
Mattias Janmark scored a short-handed goal in the second period to snap a tie and Leon Draisaitl tallied 51 seconds later as the Edmonton Oilers rallied for a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars to even the Western Conference final at two games apiece on Wednesday night.
Ryan McLeod and Evan Bouchard had first-period goals and Connor McDavid set up three scores for the Oilers, who trailed 2-0 less than six minutes into the game.
The series shifts back to Dallas for Game 5 on Friday night.
Stuart Skinner bounced back from consecutive losses with 20 saves.
Wyatt Johnston staked the Stars to a lead just 58 seconds into the game and Esa Lindell made it 2-0 at 5:29 of the opening period.
Dallas had a power play with eight minutes left in regulation and a chance to make it a one-goal game, but Edmonton killed its 23rd straight penalty before Mattias Ekholm’s empty-netter sealed the win.
The Oilers made three lineup changes, inserting defenseman Philip Broberg along with McLeod and fellow forward Corey Perry for Vincent Desharnais, Warren Foegele and Sam Carrick.
Stars defenseman Chris Tanev left in the second period with a lower body injury and did not return.
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