ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brayden Schenn scored 56 seconds into overtime and the St. Louis Blues wrapped up a playoff spot, beating the Minnesota Wild 6-5 on Saturday for their season-high eighth straight victory. Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev, David Perron, Brandon Saad, and Pavel Buchnevich scored in regulation and Ville Husso made 31 saves. Schenn ended it after Minnesota rallied with a four-goal third period. The Blues swept the season series against Minnesota, their likely first-round opponent, and reached the 100-point mark for the ninth time. Ryan Hartman scored twice for Minnesota and Frederick Gaudreau, Marcus Foligno, and Kirill Kaprizov added goals. Cam Talbot made 24 saves, pushing his career-high points streak to 12 games.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
— The Avalanche have clinched the top seed in the Western Conference with a 7-4 win over the Hurricanes. JT Compher and Nathan McKinnon each scored twice for Colorado, which had seven players with at least two points. The outcome allowed the Rangers to move into a first-place tie with the Canes in the Metropolitan Division.
— Alexis Lafreniere (ah-LEHK’-see lah-frehn-YEHR’) scored twice and Igor Shesterkin (shehs-TUR’-kihn) stopped 20 shots as the Rangers blanked the Red Wings, 4-0. Mika Zibanejad (MEE’-kah zih-BAN’-eh-jad) added a goal and an assist to support Shesterkin’s fifth shutout of the season.
— Anthony Mantha scored two goals in 34 seconds and added two assists as the Capitals crushed the Canadiens 8-4. Dmitry Orlov chipped in a goal and three assists to help Washington move to the brink of a playoff berth.
— Nikita Kucherov (KOO’-cheh-rahv) scored twice and added two assists to help the Lightning tie a season high for goals in a 7-4 thumping of the Jets. Steven Stamkos and Nick Paul each had a goal and an assist, and Victor Hedman set up four tallies as Tampa Bay stayed three points ahead of Boston for third place in the Atlantic Division.
— The Bruins ended a three-game skid and clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 victory over the Penguins. Trent Frederic and Erik Haula scored first-period goals for the Boston, and Jeremy Swayman shook off a rough stretch to finish with 23 saves.
— The Maple Leafs knocked off the Senators, 5-4 on Mark Giordano’s overtime goal. Mitchell Marner had two goals with Michael Bunting and Kyle Clifford also scoring for Toronto.
— Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk (kah-CHUHK’) each had two goals and two assists in the Flames’ 9-1 blowout over the Coyotes. Dillon Dube (doo-BAY’) also scored twice and Elias (eh-LEE’-uhs) Lindholm had a goal and three assists for Calgary, which clinched a playoff berth when Vegas lost hours earlier.
— Mike Smith turned back 39 shots for his second consecutive shutout and 44th overall, leading the Oilers’ 4-0 win over the Golden Knights. Evander Kane had a goal and an assist to help Edmonton improve to 14-3-2 in its last 19.
— Phillip Danault (dah-NOH’) scored his career-high 24th goal and Dustin Brown also scored in the first period to send Los Angeles past the Blue Jackets, 2-1. Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the third-place Kings in just their second win in six games.
— Mikael Granlund had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-3 victory over the Blackhawks. Eeli (EE’-lee) Tolvanen, Roman Josi (YOH’-see), and Matt Duchene (doo-SHAYN’) also scored, and Juuse Saros (YOO-see SAH’-rohs) made 28 saves in Nashville’s second win in three games.
— Tyler Seguin (SAY’-gihn) scored early and Michael Raffl (RAH’-ful) added a short-handed goal in the Stars’ 2-1 victory against the Sharks. Dallas remains tied with Nashville for the two West wild-card spots, four points ahead of Vegas.
Ryan Donato provided the only shootout goal as the Kraken downed the Devils, 4-3.
— Tage Thompson’s go-ahead score capped a four-goal second-period outburst in the second period of the Sabres’ 4-3 verdict over the Flyers.
