A busy weekend for two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference concludes on Sunday evening when the Carolina Hurricanes host the newly crowned Atlantic Division champion Boston Bruins in Raleigh, N.C.

The Bruins (56-11-5, 117 points) turned Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Boston — their sixth consecutive — into a No. 1 seed in their division for the seventh time in a span of 20 years.

Garnet Hathaway scored the winning goal in the second period after dropping the gloves only nine seconds into the game. Captain Patrice Bergeron netted the other Boston goal to extend his point streak to a season-long five games.

“As a team we’ve been looking forward to (playing) a team that’s going to be in the playoffs and we potentially could see,” Hathaway said. “(Tampa is) a team that’s battling right now, and you’re going to play that same way. It’s encouraging for us as a line, but encouraging for us as a team to play that way.”

Only Hathaway’s former team, the Washington Capitals (10), along with the Detroit Red Wings (seven) and Vancouver Canucks (seven) have won as many division titles as Boston over the past two decades.

The Bruins also became the third-fastest team in NHL history to clinch a division championship in the 82-game, four-division format. Only the 1995-96 Red Wings (68 games) and 1996-97 Colorado Avalanche (70 games) reached the division title in fewer games.

As a result of the Saturday victory, Boston is now on pace for 63 wins and 133 points. Both marks would set single-season NHL records.

“We want to improve, we want to get better,” Bergeron said. “We like the effort 5-on-5 and the 60-minute effort from top to bottom. … We go out and play against a really good team and come out on top.”

Saturday marked defenseman Dimitry Orlov’s 700th career game and forward David Krejci’s 1,028th, which vaulted him into fifth place on the Bruins’ all-time list.

With those milestones and the Bruins moving within one win of tying the franchise record of 57, the division title was almost lost on coach Jim Montgomery.

“You know, I forgot because things were happening so quickly,” Montgomery said. “We didn’t actually talk about the Atlantic Division, but it’s a tremendous feat with 10 games left.”

The Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes (47-16-8, 102 points) have won three of four and gone 6-4-0 in their past 10 games, becoming just the second of now three teams to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The New Jersey Devils became the third on Saturday night.

Carolina has banked those wins during what coach Rod Brind’Amour called his team’s toughest stretch of the regular season “by a mile,” and it continued with finding a way to a 5-3 Saturday triumph against Toronto.

Sebastian Aho scored 17:34 into the third period to win the game and ensure his 17th multi-point game of the season, tying Martin Necas for the team lead.

Pyotr Kochetkov made a career-high 41 saves.

“Unless you have a goalie making saves, you’re going to be in trouble,” Brind’Amour said.

Not long after an important win, the Canes face another stiff test in a Bruins team that it will hope to see down the road in the postseason.

“Just go 1-0,” said Aho, who has nine game-winning goals. “It’s cliche but it’s how we try to live by. We’ve been doing a pretty good job all year just going 1-0 and not thinking ahead or in the past.”

Carolina has gone 8-2-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season.

–Field Level Media

Garnet Hathaway scored the deciding goal with 2:28 left in the second period, and the Boston Bruins held on for a 2-1 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning to clinch the Atlantic Division title on Saturday afternoon.

The Bruins have won six consecutive games. Hathaway has scored three goals since joining the Bruins in late February, two of which have been go-ahead tallies. Patrice Bergeron netted Boston’s first goal, extending his season-long point streak to five games. Linus Ullmark made 11 of his 26 saves in the third period, improving to 11-1-0 in his last 12 starts.

For the Lightning, Victor Hedman scored the lone goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy was credited with 32 saves. The loss was Tampa Bay’s fourth in a row.

“That’ll get you excited for playoff hockey, yeah,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “Loved our effort.”

Canadiens 8, Blue Jackets 2

Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored his first NHL hat trick and Nick Suzuki had a goal and three assists for Montreal in a blowout win against visiting Columbus.

Mike Hoffman had a goal and two assists and Mike Matheson had three assists for the Canadiens, who won for only the third time in their past 13 games (3-8-2). Sam Montembeault made 21 saves.

Lane Pederson and Kirill Marchenko scored for the Blue Jackets, who have allowed at least six goals in four of their past five games. Elvis Merzlikins gave up six goals on 24 shots before leaving the game with an undisclosed injury with 2:58 remaining in the second period.

Golden Knights 4, Oilers 3 (OT)

Nicolas Roy put in a rebound of his own shot at 2:26 of overtime to give Vegas the victory over host Edmonton, which had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Jack Eichel had a goal and two assists, Jonathan Marchessault added a goal and an assist, and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for Pacific Division-leading Vegas.

Laurent Brossoit, the fourth different starting goalie in four games for the Golden Knights, made 27 saves in his first game since suffering a lower-body injury on Feb. 25 against the Dallas Stars. Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and Zach Hyman and Warren Foegele also scored for Edmonton. Skinner finished with 30 saves.

Devils 5, Senators 3

Defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period to lift New Jersey to a playoff-clinching victory over Ottawa in Newark, N.J.

New Jersey officially punched its ticket to the postseason for the first time since 2018 after the Florida Panthers dropped a 4-3 decision to the New York Rangers earlier on Saturday. Jack Hughes scored his 40th goal of the season to become the first member of the Devils to reach that plateau since Zach Parise in 2008-09.

Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk scored his seventh goal in seven games and Mark Kastelic and defenseman Thomas Chabot also tallied. Dylan Ferguson turned aside 30 shots for the Senators, who have lost seven of their last nine games (2-6-1).

Penguins 4, Capitals 3

Evgeni Malkin stole the puck from Anthony Mantha for a breakaway and scored with 1:20 left in regulation as Pittsburgh recovered from blowing a three-goal lead to top visiting Washington.

Ryan Poehling, Chad Ruhwedel and Jake Guentzel also scored for the Penguins, who moved within a point of the New York Islanders for the top Eastern Conference wild-card spot. Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith, making his career-high 31st start of the season, made 31 saves.

Dylan Strome had a goal and an assist, and Tom Wilson and Alex Ovechkin also scored for the Capitals.

Flyers 3, Red Wings 0

Scott Laughton had one goal and one assist to lift host Philadelphia past Detroit.

Kieffer Bellows and Tyson Foerster added one goal apiece for the Flyers, who won their third in a row. Flyers goaltender Carter Hart made all 29 saves in the shutout.

Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 19 shots. Nedeljkovic was making his first start for Detroit in 3 1/2 months, having been recalled from the Grand Rapids Griffins on Thursday.

Kraken 7, Predators 2

Eeli Tolvanen scored twice against his former team, his first multi-goal game in the NHL, as Seattle crushed host Nashville.

Jared McCann had a goal and two assists, Oliver Bjorkstrand had one of each and Daniel Sprong and Adam Larsson also scored for Seattle, which leads the Western Conference’s wild-card playoff race. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who returned after missing two games with a non-COVID illness, made 14 saves.

Tyson Barrie and Matt Duchene each had a goal and an assist, Philip Tomasino added two helpers and Juuse Saros stopped 32 of 39 shots for Nashville, which had a two-game winning streak snapped. That included a 2-1 shootout victory against the Kraken on Thursday in the opener of the two-game series.

Flames 5, Sharks 3

Walker Duehr scored one goal and assisted on Nazem Kadri’s third-period game-winning marker as host Calgary kept its flickering playoff hopes alive with a win over San Jose.

Tyler Toffoli scored twice, and Mackenzie Weegar added a single goal for the Flames, who are four points out of a playoff spot with eight games remaining. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves.

Logan Couture, Nico Sturm and Martin Kaut scored for the last-place Sharks. San Jose’s Erik Karlsson collected two assists and now has 90 points in his quest to become only the sixth defenseman to reach 100 points in a season and first since 1991-92.

Kings 4, Jets 1

Viktor Arvidsson scored twice and Drew Doughty had a goal with an assist as Los Angeles extended its point streak to 11 games with a win over visiting Winnipeg.

Alex Iafallo also scored and Joonas Korpisalo made 25 saves to improve to 4-0-1 since coming over from Columbus for the Kings, who tied a franchise record with their current 9-0-2 stretch. Sitting second in the Pacific Division and a winner of four of five, Los Angeles is also amid a 10-0-2 home stretch.

Meanwhile, Pierre Luc-Dubois scored his 25th goal and Connor Hellebuyck stopped 25 shots for Winnipeg, which was trying for a third consecutive victory. Owners of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, the Jets have dropped three of their last five on the road.

Rangers 4, Panthers 3

Patrick Kane scored the go-ahead goal in the third period as New York rallied past Florida in Sunrise, Fla.

Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil and Alexis Lafreniere — known as New York’s “Kid Line” — each scored one goal and had one assist for the Rangers, who got 31 saves from backup goalie Jaroslav Halak.

Florida got two goals from captain Aleksander Barkov and one from third-line forward Ryan Lomberg. But it wasn’t enough as the Panthers lost their third straight game. With 13:00 left, Florida cut its deficit to 4-3 on a Barkov goal, but couldn’t tally the equalizer.

Wild 3, Blackhawks 1

Ryan Hartman scored the go-ahead goal with 1:11 remaining in the third period to fuel Minnesota to a win over Chicago in Saint Paul, Minn.

Hartman gave the Wild a 2-1 lead after converting a partial breakaway for his 13th goal of the season and third in his last six games. He was selected by the Blackhawks in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft. Frederick Gaudreau sealed the win 40 seconds later by scoring into an empty net.

Saint Paul native and former Wild member Alex Stalock turned aside 22 shots for the Blackhawks. Chicago has mustered just four goals during its four-game losing skid.

Sabres 2, Islanders 0

Kyle Okposo’s goal with 6:29 left lifted Buffalo to a win over host New York in Elmont, N.Y.

Okposo broke a scoreless tie off an assist from Ilya Lyubushkin, while Jeff Skinner’s empty-net goal off assists from Dylan Cozens and Casey Mittelstadt secured the win with 31.8 seconds remaining. Buffalo backup goalie Eric Comrie made 26 saves to earn his second career shutout after allowing 10 goals in his last start, a 10-4 pummeling by the Dallas Stars on March 9.

The Islanders, who own the Eastern Conference’s top wild-card spot, have dropped two straight games after falling at Columbus, 5-4 in overtime, on Friday to end a three-game winning streak. Cozens had a golden opportunity to give Buffalo the lead just over a minute into the third period. But his backhander on a breakaway was stopped by Semyon Varlamov, who finished with 33 saves.

Hurricanes 5, Maple Leafs 3

Sebastian Aho scored with 2:26 left to lift host Carolina past Toronto in Raleigh, N.C.

Brent Burns and Jordan Staal had first-period goals and Stefan Noesen scored in the third period for Carolina. Teuvo Teravainen added an empty-net goal. Aho has a team-high 32 goals. The Hurricanes won for just the fourth time in their last eight games. Pyotr Kochetkov made 41 saves.

Auston Matthews scored two goals for the Maple Leafs, who dominated portions of the game as they rallied from a two-goal hole. Calle Jarnkrok had the first goal for the Maple Leafs, who had won three of their previous four games. Matthews tied a Maple Leafs franchise record with 15 shots on goal.

Canucks 3, Stars 1

Brock Boeser and Jack Rathbone scored in the second period, and visiting Vancouver netted three unanswered goals to sweep the season series from Dallas.

The Canucks improved to 9-2-0 in their past 11 matches and won for the sixth straight time over Dallas.

Dakota Joshua notched a short-handed marker, and goaltender Thatcher Demko stopped 25 of 26 shots and moved to 6-0-0 in his career against the Stars.

Blues 6, Ducks 3

Brayden Schenn and Kasperi Kapanen each had two goals and an assist as St. Louis defeated host Anaheim to complete a three-game season series sweep.

Jakub Vrana and Sammy Blais each had a goal and an assist for the Blues (33-33-6, 72 points), who are 6-2-1 in their last nine games. Colton Parayko had three assists and Justin Faulk had two. Jordan Binnington made 22 saves in his first start for the Blues since March 12.

Troy Terry had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (23-40-10, 56 points) before exiting with an undisclosed injury after two periods.

–Field Level Media

Brayden Schenn and Kasperi Kapanen each had two goals and an assist as the St. Louis Blues defeated the host Anaheim Ducks 6-3 Saturday to complete a three-game season series sweep.

Jakub Vrana and Sammy Blais each had a goal and an assist for the Blues (33-33-6, 72 points), who are 6-2-1 in their last nine games. Colton Parayko had three assists and Justin Faulk had two.

Jordan Binnington made 22 saves in his first start for the Blues since March 12.

Troy Terry had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (23-40-10, 56 points) before exiting with an undisclosed injury after two periods.

Nikita Nesterenko and Ryan Strome also scored, and John Gibson made 30 saves for Anaheim, which is 1-5-1 on its homestand, which has one game left.

Anaheim struck first with a power-play goal. Kevin Shattenkirk fed Terry for his blast from the left faceoff dot 1:46 into the game.

The Blues tied the game 1-1 just 15 seconds later. Faulk broke out on a 2-on-1 rush and set up Vrana’s backhand chip shot from the right wing.

But the Ducks retook the lead 2-1 just over two minutes later. Mason McTavish passed to Nesterenko, who scored his first NHL goal in his third game.

The Blues surged ahead 3-2 with two goals within 19 seconds.

First Blais pushed the puck up the right wing, then he cut left to beat Gibson. Schenn followed that by converting a breakaway off Faulk’s outlet pass.

The Blues increased their lead to 5-2 early in the second period with two goals 29 seconds apart.

Schenn scored off the left wing on a 3-on-2 rush by converting Vrana’s cross-ice pass. Then Gibson stopped Torey Krug’s left-point shot, but the rebound caromed off Kapanen and into the net.

Kapanen made it 6-2 by scoring 15 seconds into the third period with an end-to-end rush. Strome cut the deficit to 6-3 with a tap-goal at the right post.

–Field Level Media

Nicolas Roy put in a rebound of his own shot at 2:26 of overtime to give the visiting Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

Roy, left alone in front of the net, took a pass from Jack Eichel and was stopped on a backhand try by Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner. But Roy scooped up the rebound and swept it in around Skinner’s left leg for the game-winner.

Eichel had a goal and two assists, Jonathan Marchessault added a goal and an assist, and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for Pacific Division-leading Vegas (46-21-6, 98 points), which tied a team record with its seventh straight road victory. The Golden Knights improved to 24-7-5 on the road, a team record for road wins in a season.

Laurent Brossoit, the fourth different starting goalie in four games for the Golden Knights, made 27 saves in his first game since suffering a lower-body injury on Feb. 25 against the Dallas Stars.

Leon Draisaitl had a goal and an assist, and Zach Hyman and Warren Foegele also scored for Edmonton (41-23-9, 91 points), which had a five-game winning streak snapped. Skinner finished with 30 saves.

Vegas took a 1-0 lead at 1:01 of the first period. Eichel finished an odd-man rush with Ivan Barbashev with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle past Skinner’s blocker side and inside the far post for his 27th goal of the season.

Edmonton rebounded to tie it 2 1/2 minutes later when Hyman drove in a Draisaitl pass through Brossoit’s pads for his 31st goal.

The Golden Knights regained the lead near the end of the first period on a power-play goal by Dorofeyev.

The Oilers tied it, 2-2, midway through the second period on a power-play goal by Draisaitl. He took a Connor McDavid pass at the bottom of the right circle and then spun around and fired a shot through Brossoit’s pads for his 45th goal and league-leading 28th power-play tally.

Marchessault then gave Vegas its third lead of the game at the 6:57 mark of the third period, when he one-timed an Eichel pass from the top of the slot for his 24th goal.

Edmonton tied it midway through the period when Foegele skated in and snapped a shot from the top of the left circle under Brossoit’s left arm.

–Field Level Media