LAS VEGAS -- Mitch Marner registered the fourth hat trick of his career and the Golden Knights improved to 2-0 under coach John Tortorella after coming from behind to defeat the Calgary Flames 6-3 on Thursday night.
Vegas two-game win streak comes at a perfect time, as the team will embark on its final road trip of the season, a four-game trek that begins in Edmonton on Saturday.
The Oilers and Anaheim Ducks lead the Pacific Division with 87 points, while the Knights sit third with 84. The Ducks have a game in hand on the Oilers and Knights.
Pavel Dorofeyev, Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev also scored for the Knights, while Carter Hart made 19 saves in his first appearance since Jan. 8.
The Golden Knights hit the road on a four-game point streak.
KEY MOMENT
Though it would be easy to pinpoint Howden's game-winning goal with 7:40 left in the game, the key moment goes to Hart, who made a key stop on Blake Coleman, who had two goals for the Flames. He could have had three, but Hart stymied the left wing during a short-handed odd-man rush with 11:31 left in the game. Marner showed off his defensive skills there, too, as he batted the puck from the air off the rebound from Hart's save to help keep the game tied at 3-all.
KEY STAT
+3 ... The Hockey News colleague Hannah Kirkell makes an excellent point that the number of 2-on-1 situations Vegas gave Calgary could easily be the key stat. Unfortunately, the eye test doesn't give us an official stat for that. Instead, the +3 goal differential in the third period for the Knights was the difference, as they continued their domination in the final period. For the season, Vegas has outscored teams, 97-57.
WHAT A KNIGHT
Marner had his hand in five of the team's six goals, scoring three of them and assisting on two others. Tortorella said he planned on shaking things up with his forward lines, most notably moving Marner around in the lineup, including a potential top line of Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Marner. For Thursday, Marner centered wingers Barbashev and Stone, a line that produced nine points (4 goals, 5 assists).
UP NEXT
The Golden Knights open a four-game road trip on Saturday, when they'll visit their Pacific Division rival, the Edmonton Oilers.
PHOTO CAPTION: Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner (93) celebrates after scoring his third goal of the game against the Calgary Flames during the third period at T-Mobile Arena.
It's not often that the Detroit Red Wings pick up a victory in the City of Brotherly Love, but for just the fourth time since early 1997, they did just that - and at a most critical time of their season.
Detroit defeated the Philadelphia Flyers by a 4-2 final score at Xfinity Mobile Arena, moving into a three-way tie with the Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets in the ultra-tight standings.
The Red Wings were paced by a pair of goals from Alex DeBrincat and a strong performance in net by goaltender John Gibson, who made his 13th straight start and rebounded from being pulled twice in a row.
While they were outshot by the Flyers, Detroit's intensity was far more apparent than it had been in three of their four previous outings, all regulation losses.
"Great effort, right from the start of the game, we knew it would be a tough road game," said Patrick Kane, who scored the game-winning goal in the third period. "It's hockey. Nothing is going to go perfectly throughout the game. We found a way to get some timely goals for sure."
Alex DeBrincat scored his team-leading 38th and 39th goals of the season, the latter of which came just 15 seconds after Travis Konecny scored to bring the Flyers back to within a single tally.
"Right from the start, we played hard and matched the physicality and their intensity," DeBrincat said. "I thought we played pretty well for the whole game. Obviously, in the third period, they came on us a little bit, and it took us a little bit to settle into that speed, but overall, right after their goal, we scored another one and got a big two points."
DeBrincat is now one goal away from becoming Detroit's first 40-goal forward since Marian Hossa in the 2008-09 NHL season.
As said by head coach Todd McLellan, the Red Wings need to make this winning feeling contagious as they head into another pivotal game on Saturday against the New York Rangers.
"Going forward, winning and losing is contagious: lose, and you get down and question yourself, maybe question your system or your linemates," McLellan said. "But a win can turn that and go the other way."
"We worked real hard tonight," he continued. "We had a formula we thought would give us a chance at success. And that shouldn't change as we head to New York. We'll get a quick practice in tomorrow and move on."
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The Calgary Flames dropped a 6-3 decision to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday night.
It was the first meeting with Rasmus Andersson since his departure from Calgary, while Zach Whitecloud was welcomed back with a standing ovation from the Vegas crowd. Connor Zary and Yan Kuznetsov returned to the lineup after missing time with injury, and Dustin Wolf got the start in goal.
Vegas controlled the early pace, but Calgary opened the scoring. Following a penalty kill, Morgan Frost forced a turnover, held the puck with time and space, and beat Carter Hart at 7:41 for an unassisted goal. The Flames couldn’t capitalize on a late 5-on-3 advantage and were outshot 14-7 in the first, with Wolf keeping the game in check.
The Golden Knights tied it early in the second. Mitch Marner tipped a Shea Theodore point shot past Wolf at 1:47, with Brayden McNabb adding an assist.
Calgary answered quickly after a key save from Wolf, who broke up a breakaway with a one-handed poke check. The Flames transitioned the other way, and Mikael Backlund found Blake Coleman in stride. Coleman finished the rush at 4:38 to restore the lead, with Joel Farabee picking up the secondary assist.
Vegas responded again. Jack Eichel found Andersson jumping into the play, and Andersson set up Marner for his second of the night at 6:42 to make it 2-2.
Coleman struck again midway through the period. After chipping the puck out of the defensive zone, he raced up ice and beat Hart with a shot off the post at 12:11 to give Calgary a 3-2 lead.
The Golden Knights pulled even before the intermission on the power play, as Marner set up Pavel Dorofeyev for a one-timer at 16:21 to tie it 3-3.
Vegas took control in the third. Brett Howden finished a rush from the high slot at 12:20 to give the Golden Knights their first lead, and Ivan Barbashev added insurance at 14:59.
Marner capped the night late, completing the hat trick with a wraparound tally at 18:31 to seal the 6-3 final.
Three Takeaways:
1. Coleman led the Flames offence with two goals, continuing his strong stretch and pulling into a share of the team lead with 19.
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid set up Matt Savoie's power-play goal to pad his NHL-leading points total and help the Edmonton Oilers win their season-high fifth straight game, 3-1 over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night.
Chicago lost its fifth straight to drop out of playoff contention, extending its postseason drought to six seasons. Edmonton matched Pacific Division-leading Anaheim with 87 points, but has played one more game than the Ducks.
Adam Henrique and Vasily Podkolzin also scored for the Oilers, and Tristan Jarry made 17 saves. They have won seven of their last nine, surging with star forward Leon Draisaitl out for the rest of the regular season because of a lower-body injury.
Nick Lardis scored for Chicago. Spencer Knight stopped 31 shots for Chicago, and Arvid Soderblom made four saves and allowed a goal while Knight dealt with an equipment issue.
McDavid's goals streak ended at five games. He has 43 goals and 83 assists for 126 points, two more than Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov for the NHL lead.
The Chicago Blackhawks traveled up to Alberta, Canada, to take on the Edmonton Oilers. With under two weeks remaining in the regular season, Jeff Blashill’s team is about developing habits that they can bring with them to training camp in September.
This is also a chance for roster bubble players to prove their worth heading into the summer. As the two-time defending Western Conference champions, the Oilers are playing meaningful hockey as they attempt to win the Pacific Division late in the year.
The last stretch of games has not been good for the Blackhawks. It continued with a 3-1 loss to the Oilers on Thursday night. They are now 2-5-3 in their last 10 games, and are officially eliminated from postseason contention.
The Blackhawks were outshot 38-18 in the game and were severely dominated in puck possession metrics throughout. Spencer Knight (and Arvid Soderblom) kept the score much closer than it should have been.
Soderblom had to come into the game because of Knight's equipment malfunction. During that time, he played well, but he did allow a breakaway goal to Adam Henrique, who buried his own rebound.
That goal was more of a fault on the team rather than Soderblom, as the defense failed him on the play. He also made a breakaway save on Connor McDavid during his stint in the game.
Knight came back in once the trainers got his gear right, and he only allowed 1 goal on 32 total shots faced. Overall, goaltending was more positive than negative.
Chicago's one goal was scored by Nick Lardis, who had a bounce go his way as he hit it into the net after Connor Bedard sent one on net. That is the 9th goal of the season for Lardis, who is slowly racking up goals to prove his abilities at the NHL level.
Late in the game, Lardis took a puck off his left hand. Clearly in pain, he left and didn't return. Jeff Blashill did not have an update, but it seems like he is going to be okay.
Whenever you play the Oilers, the top challenge is slowing down Connor McDavid. You don't stop him; you can only hope to contain him. In this game, the Hawks kept him to one assist, despite him having tons of grade-A chances.
This was the first time that the Blackhawks faced Jason Dickinson and Connor Murphy since the trade. They each assisted on Vasily Podkolzin's empty net goal, and they look extremely happy to be on a team with Stanley Cup aspirations going into the postseason.
For Chicago, no matter how the remaining six games of the season go, they are going to be focused on certain players playing well. They are a lock for top-five draft lottery odds, so it is more of a worry for them to have a strong finish on the ice.
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The Florida Panthers completed a sweep of their two-game homestand on Thursday night in Sunrise.
Fresh off defeating the Ottawa Senators, Florida took down another team fighting for their playoff lives, earning a gritty 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins at Amerant Bank Arena.
Interestingly, all the goals in this game would come during the opening period.
Getting the party started just 4:20 into the game was Panthers youngster Mackie Samoskevich.
First, he picked off a pass from Bruins defenseman Henri Jokiharju deep in Boston’s zone before cutting to the middle of the ice and wiring a shot past Jeremy Swayman to set up Florida with a 1-0 lead.
For Samoskevich, it was his third consecutive game with a goal, the longest such streak of his NHL career.
Just 3:39 later, Sam Bennett was in the right place at the right time when A.J. Greer’s long wrist shot was blocked by Jokiharji.
The puck came right to Bennett’s stick as he skated through the slot, and the quick-thinking forward put the puck past Swayman before the goaltender could react, doubling the Cats’ lead.
Ultimately, the goal would end up being the game-winner After Fraser Minter picked up his 17th goal of the season during the final minute of the opening frame.
From there, Sergei Bobrovsky stood tall for the Cats, stopping all 20 shots Boston put on him the rest of the way, including 15 that came during the third period.
He also stopped 10 of the Bruins’ high-danger shots on a night Bob’s expected goals against was 4.59.
Next up for the Panthers is their final road trip of the season, a five-gamer that begins with back-to-back games in Pittsburgh on Saturday and Sunday.
Photo caption: Apr 2, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) makes a save against Boston Bruins left wing Viktor Arvidsson (71) during the third period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
It’s official: the Vancouver Canucks will finish the 2025–26 season dead-last in the NHL. With their 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild tonight, Vancouver officially secures the best odds at picking first-overall in the 2026 NHL Draft.
Tonight’s result ensures that regardless of how the remaining games go, the Canucks will remain 32nd in the NHL. Vancouver was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention last week and currently hold a record of 22–45–8 with 52 points in 75 games. Ahead of them in the standings are the Calgary Flames (70 points in 74 games) and Chicago Blackhawks (68 points in 75 games), who now have too-high a point lead on the Canucks to challenge for the best draft lottery odds.
Through their 56 years of existence, the Canucks have yet to pick first-overall in any NHL Entry Draft. They have made a total of eight selections within the top-three: Daniel Sedin (2nd, 1999), Petr Neded (2nd, 1990), Trevor Linden (2nd, 1988), Dale Tallon (2nd, 1970), Henrik Sedin (3rd, 1999), Dennis Ververgaert (3rd, 1973), Don Lever (3rd, 1972), and Jocelyn Guevremont (3rd, 1971).
The 2026 NHL Draft lottery date is set for May 5. The 2026 NHL Entry Draft itself will take place at KeyBank Centre in Buffalo, with the first-round taking place on June 26 and round two to seven occurring on June 27.
Jan 12, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; View of a Vancouver Canucks logo on a jersey worn by a member of the team during the second period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Wild have clinched a spot in the NHL playoffs, giving them another chance to advance in the postseason for the first time since 2015.
The Wild earned a bid 75 games in after clinching last year in the 82nd and final game of the regular season. They beat league-worst Vancouver 5-2 on Thursday night to get in.
“We knew all we had to do was win a game and we're there,” winger Ryan Hartman said. “Happy with the result tonight.”
Minnesota was eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round last year, ending coach John Hynes’ debut season.
The Wild failed to advance in seven postseason appearances between 2016 and 2023. Their deepest run in the playoffs was a trip to the conference finals in 2003 in the franchise’s third year of existence.
The Minnesota North Stars lost in the 1981 and 1991 Stanley Cup Final. They relocated to Dallas in 1993, becoming the Stars, and hoisted the Cup in 1999.
The Wild proved their commitment to contending this season by signing Kirill Kaprizov to an eight-year, $136 million contract extension — the richest deal in league history. The star winger has a team-high 83 points and now has Minnesota back in the postseason again.
“We make playoffs, it’s nice," Kaprizov said. “It's the best time of the year.”
Goaltender Filip Gustavsson has won twice as many games as he’s lost while giving up a little more than 2 1/2 goals per game.
“He's such a talented kid, but now you're starting to see the talent come into, I think, a mindset and a little bit of a swagger that you need to have as the main guy, and he's done a good job of that,” Hynes said. “I think the guys play hard in front of him, and he's done a good job too, I think, of earning the trust and respect of the group.”
Minnesota has the league’s longest active streak of consecutive winning seasons at 14.
The Vancouver Canucks took on Quinn Hughes and the Minnesota Wild for the first time since their trade in December, losing by a score of 5-2. Tom Willander and Jake DeBrusk scored Vancouver’s two goals of the game, while Nikita Tolopilo stopped 32 of 34 shots faced in his 14th start of the season.
Tonight, all eyes were on the four pieces involved in Vancouver and Minnesota’s blockbuster deal. It was former Wild forward Liam Öhgren who made the biggest impression at the beginning of the game tonight, putting his trademark forecheck to work on a Vancouver penalty kill to break the puck back out into the O-zone and even drawing a penalty for his efforts. The Canucks took a 2–1 lead off the ensuing power play.
Tolopilo has had a rough go in his most recent starts, though that was not the case tonight. The goaltender stepped up big-time for Vancouver when Minnesota began to press during the first period. He also made a couple of grade-A saves on Quinn Hughes — one moments after Minnesota’s second goal of the game and another off a breakaway after the defenceman exited the penalty box.
After scoring three goals and putting up an assist the night before, Brock Boeser continued his stretch of success by producing some solid scoring chances in the first period. Not only did he manage to get a chance in on Filip Gustavsson all alone off the rush, he also created a strong rebound chance from the right of the Minnesota goaltender.
Turnovers were an issue for the Canucks tonight, as three of Minnesota’s goals came about after Vancouver’s defencemen were unable to properly get the puck off their sticks. Pierre-Olivier Joseph was unable to clear it on the first goal, while a giveaway by Zeev Buium gave Matt Boldy his second goal of the game. Defenceman Elias Pettersson’s pass ended up on Kirill Kaprizov’s stick before ultimately winding up in the back of Vancouver’s net.
Given the fact that Vancouver played in Colorado the night before — and won, no less — their early effort in this game wasn’t bad at all. Having said that, the Canucks noticeably slowed down towards the third period, during which Minnesota took the opportunity to build on their one-goal lead.
Post-game, Hughes spoke on what playing against his former teammates was like.
"Definitely a little weird, but I think that you move on and I'm happy to be here right now. Probably [playing] in Vancouver would be a little bit weirder than this, but yeah, it was nice. We got the win, and we've got a big weekend coming up."
With the loss, Vancouver officially clinches 32nd in the NHL, giving themselves the best odds at selecting first-overall in the 2026 NHL Draft. Minnesota officially secures a playoff spot with the win.
Apr 2, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek (14) is called for tripping on this play with Vancouver Canucks forward Liam Ohgren (92) during the first period at Grand Casino Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
Stats and Facts:
Tom Willander takes sole possession of fifth in the NHL in scoring by a rookie defenceman with his 20th point of the season
Jake DeBrusk scores his third power play goal in four games
Elias Pettersson extends his current point streak to four games
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
8:32 - MIN: Matt Boldy (39) from Marcus Johansson and Joel Eriksson Ek
16:00 - VAN: Tom Willander (5) from Teddy Blueger and Max Sasson
16:42 - VAN: Jake DeBrusk (18) from Filip Hronek and Elias Pettersson (PPG)
2nd Period:
0:23 - MIN: Matt Boldy (40)
6:08 - MIN: Kirill Kaprizov (40) from Mats Zuccarello
3rd Period:
6:03 - MIN: Ryan Hartman (19) from Mats Zuccarello and Quinn Hughes
18:52 - MIN: Ryan Hartman (20) from Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy (ENG)
Up Next:
The Canucks will now head back to Vancouver for another matchup against a Central Division team, this time taking on the Utah Mammoth in what will be their third-last home game of the season. Though the game will be played in Vancouver, puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 pm PT.
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DALLAS (AP) — Jake Oettinger made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season in a matchup of Team USA Olympic goaltenders and rookie Arttu Hyry had a goal in his first multipoint NHL game as the Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-0 on Thursday night.
Adam Erne also had a goal and an assist and Matt Duchene also scored for the Stars, who opened a five-game homestand that will close their home season. They are second in both the Central Division and the overall league standings, coming off a 1-2-1 road trip with only one regulation win in their previous 10 games.
Oettinger was an Olympic backup while Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck backstopped Team USA to the gold medal.
Oettinger has 31 wins, third in the NHL, with his first shutout since Dec. 3. In his previous five starts, he was 1-2-1 plus a no-decision when he was pulled after allowing four first-period goals.
Hellebuyck, who stopped 18 shots, is 20-21-11 after posting a career-high 47 wins last season while winning his third Vezina Trophy.
Duchene and Hyry scored 89 seconds apart midway through the first period to put Dallas ahead 2-0. Duchene collected his own rebound off the outside of the net behind the goal line and banked it off Hellebuyck. It was a power-play score for the NHL’s best home power play.
Hyry had the secondary assist on Erne’s deflection early in the second period.
Dallas led after one period for the first time in six games and improved to 22-4-3 when in that position.
The Stars went 4-0 in the season series, their first sweep of the Jets since the franchise moved from Atlanta in 2011.
With multiple forwards sidelined with injuries, Dallas played 11 and seven defensemen.
Up next
Stars: Host league-leading Colorado on Saturday.
Jets: Finish a four-game road trip on Saturday night at Columbus.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes had two goals and three assists and Dawson Mercer scored twice as the New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals 7-3 on Thursday night.
Hughes scored his first goal for the Devils 9:10 into the second period on a wrist shot, assisted by Jesper Bratt and Johnathan Kovacevic. He tacked on a wrist shot 8:10 into the third, assisted by Bratt and Connor Brown. Hughes has 24 goals and 44 assists this season.
Bratt, Dougie Hamilton and Cody Glass also scored for the Devils.
Tom Wilson, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cole Hutson scored for the Capitals.
Jake Allen made 29 saves in the win for the Devils. Logan Thompson had 23 saves for the Capitals.
Up next
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Capitals: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.
After what was a disastrous start to their critical three-game road swing, the Detroit Red Wings managed to rebound and pick up a victory in a venue they've had very little success in over the last 30 years.
Thanks to two goals from Alex DeBrincat, the Red Wings doubled up the Philadelphia Flyers, winning by a 4-2 final score at Xfinity Mobile Arena. It was just Detroit's fourth regulation victory in the venue since 1997.
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) April 3, 2026
Despite being tied with 88 points, the Red Wings moved ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the standings. But because the Ottawa Senators managed to defeat the Buffalo Sabres, they are now in the second Wild Card position, also with 88 points.
During the contest, the Red Wings also lost defenseman Justin Faulk to an undisclosed injury.
DeBrincat, who has now matched his season total of 39 goals from last season, broke the ice late in the first period with a power-play goal.
While the Flyers got the tying marker early in the second period from Tyson Foerster, Detroit restored the one-goal lead after Lucas Raymond fired a shot at the side of the net past sprawling goaltender Samuel Ersson late in the frame.
While the Red Wings were outshot by the Flyers in the third period, they moved ahead 3-1 thanks to the 14th goal of the season from Patrick Kane, who had broken in on a two-on-one rush with DeBrincat.
In doing so, he passed former Red Wings forward Brett Hull to become the 26th highest-scoring player in NHL history (1,392 points).
Flyers rookie forward Porter Malone, who was recently signed to an entry-level contract after finishing his time with Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine with the Michigan State Spartans, soon picked up his first NHL point with an assist on a goal by Travis Konecny that was upheld following a video review.
However, DeBrincat answered just seconds later, spinning 180 degrees along the goal line before firing a sharp-angle shot past Ersson.
Goaltender John Gibson, making his 13th straight start, rebounded from being yanked in his previous two games by making 32 saves. Ersson countered with 15 saves.
The Red Wings conclude their road trip against the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon.
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The Ottawa Senators’ relentless rash of injuries to defensemen continued Thursday night.
Already without Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, Carter Yakemchuk, Nick Jensen, and Dennis Gilbert, they lost Tyler Kleven during a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at Canadian Tire Centre. Kleven left the game in the first period and did not return after taking a puck up high that struck him either in the side of the head or the neck area.
There's no word yet on how long Kleven will be out. He has three goals and 18 points in 69 games this season.
His injury not only left the Senators with five defensemen for most of the night, but all five were right shots. Kleven, who’s been eating up huge minutes with all the injuries, was the only healthy left shot on the NHL roster.
After the game head coach Travis Green didn't have anything definitive yet on Kleven, but told the media after the game he was "not expecting it to be great news."
This is more rough news for a lineup that already included the inexperience of Cam Crotty and Lassi Thomson. Thomson had played only three NHL games this season. For Crotty, the Ottawa native, this was just his third career NHL game.
That meant the Senators leaned heavily on Jordan Spence, who was a healthy scratch at the start of the season. He played 30:18.
Meanwhile, the options in Belleville are limited. Jorian Donovan, who got into two games last week, the first of his career, seems like the most likely callup candidate if healthy NHL-level reinforcements aren't coming.
On that front, Jake Sanderson is getting close to a return from an upper-body injury. He’s been skating with the team for a few days now. Dennis Gilbert suffered an upper-body injury on March 21 and was given a three-week prognosis, so he’s at least another week away.
If Sanderson can't go, it will be yet another next man up scenario on Saturday afternoon. The Senators, now back in a playoff spot, will host the Minnesota Wild in game two of a five game homestand.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 15 saves in the third period and 28 overall as the Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday night.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers avoided elimination from the playoffs with the win.
Florida got first-period goals from Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Bennett in their second straight win.
Boston, which had won four straight, got a goal from Fraser Minten. Jeremy Swayman made 22 saves in the loss.
The Panthers also used a fast start in a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, scoring five goals in the opening period.
Samoskevich opened the scoring with his third goal in as many games when he intercepted a pass deep in the offensive zone and sent a wrist shot past Swayman.
Bennett made it 2-0 at 7:39 of the first, scoring from the slot.
Boston pulled to within a goal in the closing minute of the first period.
The Bruins put two shots on Bobrovsky near the front of the net, and the puck squirted out along the goal line right to where Minten was all alone.
Minten had plenty of time to grab the puck, put it on his backhand, and beat a sprawled out Bobrovsky to make it 2-1 with 27 seconds left in the period.
Bobrovsky, who has won five of his past seven starts, had a big challenge in the third, but held strong.
The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers avoided elimination from the playoffs with Thursday's win.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Logan Stankoven scored two goals in the first nine minutes, and the Carolina Hurricanes clinched a playoff berth for the eighth season in a row by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 on Thursday night.
Alexander Nikishin added a first-period short-handed goal and Jordan Martinook and Andrei Svechnikov also scored as the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes were on the way to winning for the third time in their last four games. Taylor Hall and Sebastian Aho each had two assists and Frederik Andersen made nine saves.
For Carolina, the 10 shots allowed matched the fewest shots against in franchise history.
The Hurricanes have qualified for the playoffs in each season under coach Rod Brind’Amour, a former team captain.
Denton Mateychuk scored for the Blue Jackets, who are winless in their last five games (0-4-1). Elvis Merzlikins stopped 16 shots.
In the third meeting between the teams in less than 2½ weeks, Stankoven scored 2:27 into the game on a deflection in front of Merzlikins on Carolina’s first shot of the game. Stankoven's 17th goal of the season – adding to his career-high total – came at 8:52 when he tapped in a loose puck in the crease.
Nikishin became the franchise’s first rookie defenseman to score a short-handed goal.
By the end of the first period, Carolina had more goals (3) than the Blue Jackets had shots (2).
Mateychuk got Columbus on the board with 8:36 left in the second, but 13 seconds later Martinook scored by sending the puck on net from just inside the blue line.
Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal played in his 1,400th career game.
Stankoven had one goal when Carolina won 5-2 on Tuesday night at Columbus.
