The Carolina Hurricanes are heading back to the postseason, but there still is work to be done.

Despite losing four of its last seven games, Carolina clinched a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs Thursday night.

Now, it’s time to shore up certain areas when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit for Saturday night’s game in Raleigh, N.C.

“There’s lots of challenges because we have so many tough games,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “We’re trying to win every night. The challenge is going to be to keep pushing and trying to give some guys some rest and at the end here to have something left in the tank.”

The Hurricanes (46-16-8, 100 points) lost Thursday night in a 2-1 decision to the New York Rangers to begin a four-game homestand. Sebastian Aho scored the Hurricanes’ lone goal. Carolina clinched a postseason spot thanks to Toronto, who defeated the Florida Panthers on Thursday.

Recent games have given the Hurricanes a glimpse at what might be ahead.

“It’s tight, for sure,” Brind’Amour said. “You’re going to see more of that type of play here for the rest of this month and hopefully we move forward.”

There will be a string of challenges for Carolina. The Maple Leafs (43-19-9, 95 points) also are contending for one of the top positions in the Eastern Conference.

“We’ve been talking a lot about that — putting ourselves in position to win and finishing the job,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

Toronto has picked up standings points in four of its last five games (3-1-1), including Thursday night’s 6-2 romp at Florida. It was the Leafs’ third road victory in its last four chances.

Three times in a two-week span, the Maple Leafs have racked up five or more goals in regulation. Those have come from a variety of sources, though Auston Matthews scored twice Thursday night.

“That’s part of where we’ve been at with being healthy,” Keefe said of having lineup options.

In particular, the Maple Leafs are trying to keep defensemen fresh. It was alternate captain Morgan Rielly’s turn to take the night off in the Florida game.

“We’ll look at it,” Keefe said of giving some players nights off. “This little phase of the schedule is something we’ve talked about. I told them this was going to be coming. I think you’ll see more of that kind of trend continue.”

Toronto won 3-1 on Nov. 6 in Raleigh and 5-2 on March 17 at home.

The Hurricanes were 0-for-3 on the power play in Thursday night’s game against the Rangers. They’ve been 1-for-5 on power plays this season in two games against Toronto.

Carolina has also failed to score more than one goal in three of its last four home games.

Despite that, Brind’Amour has directed the Hurricanes to a playoff berth for the fifth time in his five seasons as coach.

“We should be happy,” Brind’Amour said. “You come into the season, the goal in training camp is to get to that, give yourself a chance. It says a lot about the group. Check the box, now it’s you try to get better.”

–Field Level Media

The New York Rangers are still trying to sort out their offense after acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane before the trade deadline and will continue the process when they visit the Florida Panthers on Saturday in Sunrise, Fla.

For now, the Rangers (42-20-10, 94 points) are playing Tarasenko with Artemi Panarin and center Mika Zibanejad for a dynamic top line.

Zibanejad leads New York with 37 goals and ranks second in points (79). He is also the hottest Ranger over the past six games with five goals and 11 points during that span.

The Panthers are 0-2-0 against the Rangers this season, losing 5-3 in Sunrise and 6-2 in New York, and Zibanejad has four goals in those two games.

Panarin leads the Rangers in assists (58) and points (82). He had the tying goal and winning assist in New York’s 2-1 victory at the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.

Tarasenko, who played his first 10 1/2 seasons with the St. Louis Blues, has five goals and 14 points in 21 games with the Rangers.

In total, he has just 15 goals this season. That’s low for a player with six 30-plus-goal seasons.

“I don’t think everything works yet,” Tarasenko said when asked about his Rangers line. “We’re making progress, but I don’t think this is the best we can do.”

New York’s second line is star-studded, too, with Kane; Chris Kreider, who is second on the team with 32 goals; and Vincent Trocheck, a former Panthers star who is fifth on the Rangers with 19 tallies.

The Rangers are 7-1-1 in their past nine games, and a lot of that has to do with goalie Igor Shesterkin (33-12-7, 2.55 goals-against average). He is three wins short of his career high, set last year.

One issue for the Rangers, however: Defenseman Ryan Lindgren has missed 12 of New York’s past 13 games due to an upper-body injury.

Florida’s injury concern is with forward Sam Bennett, who scored a career-high 28 goals last season. He has 16 goals this season, but he has missed two straight games with an undisclosed injury.

While the Rangers are solidly in the playoff picture, things are more precarious for Florida.

The Panthers (36-29-7, 79 points) are just one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

After three straight victories, the Panthers have dropped two in a row and are desperate for points.

“We just have to get a win (against the Rangers),” said Matthew Tkachuk, who leads the Panthers in assists (62) and points (97). “We have to do everything it takes. Hopefully we get help (from other teams), but we’re in the race.”

Carter Verhaeghe leads the Panthers with a career-high 36 goals. He is on a seven-game points streak with four goals and six assists during that span.

Tkachuk, who is second on the Panthers with 35 goals, is also on a seven-game points streak. He has seven goals and nine assists during that span.

Center Aleksander Barkov on Saturday is expected to pass Stephen Weiss for second place in career games played by a member of the Panthers. It will be game No. 655 for Barkov.

Sergei Bobrovsky has been Florida’s No. 1 goalie this season, posting a 24-18-3 record and a 3.03 GAA. That’s on pace to be his highest GAA since 2019-2020.

–Field Level Media

Forgive Eeli Tolvanen if he wasn’t feeling too nostalgic Thursday.

The Seattle Kraken forward received a tribute on the video board in the first period of his first game back in Nashville since being picked up off waivers from the Predators in December. The teams will complete their two-game series in Nashville Saturday afternoon.

A first-round pick by Nashville in 2017, Tolvanen has found success in Seattle, scoring 13 goals and adding 10 assists in 37 games.

But rather than reflect, he preferred to talk about the playoff implications of the mini-series.

“It’s kind of big for both of these teams,” Tolvanen said. “I feel like it’s going to be kind of like a playoff match. … They’re playing for a playoff spot, and we’re still playing for a playoff spot. So, it’s going to be a big two games.”

Thursday’s game felt like a postseason contest, with the Predators winning 2-1 in a shootout.

The Kraken (39-24-8, 86 points) are currently atop the Western Conference’s wild-card standings, while the Predators (36-26-8, 80 points) are trying to track down Winnipeg, which has 85 points, for the second and final wild-card berth. Nashville has three games in hand on the Jets and one on the Kraken.

“Yeah, all we can do is continue to play hard like we are and win hockey games, kind of let the chips fall where they may,” Predators defenseman Tyson Barrie said. “We’re proud of the work we’re putting in here, and you never know where it can take you.”

Goaltender Juuse Saros made 27 saves and didn’t allow a goal in the shootout and Kiefer Sherwood scored in regulation for the Predators, who have won two straight and are 5-2-1 over their past eight games.

“We’ve had great goaltending all year long,” Predators coach John Hynes said. “(Saros) is playing really well. … You need good goaltending to win. You look at any team that’s in the playoffs. It’s one of the most important positions in the game. When you have solid goaltending, it gives you a chance every night.”

Daniel Sprong scored for Seattle, which had a six-game road winning streak snapped. Goalie Joey Daccord made 23 saves in his second straight start since being called up on an emergency basis from AHL affiliate Coachella Valley because Philipp Grubauer has been suffering from a non-COVID illness.

“I think we had our opportunities,” said the Kraken’s Morgan Geekie, who assisted on Sprong’s goal for a fourth line that has scored four of the team’s past five regulation goals. “You know, they’re a good team over there and fighting just as much as we are. I think there are some good things we can take out of Thursday and some things we can learn from.”

As for those lessons, Geekie sounded like a schoolteacher.

“Minimize some of their Grade-A chances and make them into some Bs and Cs,” Geekie said.

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said he envisions more of the same Saturday.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get the extra point (Thursday), but we’ve got to turn the page quickly and look at a couple of areas to be a little bit better in, and pretty much expect a very similar game,” Hakstol said. “These two teams are going to be fighting hard for points on Saturday afternoon.”

–Field Level Media

Saturday on home ice, the Dallas Stars will look to do something they have not done in a while against the Vancouver Canucks – win a hockey game.

After defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Thursday night, Dallas will meet the improved Canucks — 14-9-2 under new coach Rick Tocchet — for the second time in 12 days.

If the Stars and coach Pete DeBoer receive the kind of sterling play they got from goaltender Jake Oettinger on Thursday, they stand a good chance of halting their five-game skid (0-4-1) against Vancouver.

The Stars’ last victory over the Canucks was a 6-1 home win on Nov. 19, 2019.

Against Pittsburgh, the Stars (39-19-14, 92 points) won as the 24-year-old Oettinger made five saves in the final 68 seconds with the visitors on a six-on-four power play and their goaltender pulled.

“We’ve talked all year, it’s about your response,” said DeBoer after watching the goalie stymie the Penguins. “His response tonight tells you what he’s about. We weren’t going to lose that game, and he made sure of it. He was our best player by far.”

Oettinger (31-10-11) stopped 40 of 42 shots from the desperate Penguins, who cling to the final wild-card spot by one point over the Florida Panthers entering Friday.

“I feel like I’m one of the best goalies in the world, and I haven’t shown that,” said Oettinger. “A lot of people have been saying they think I’m exhausted. No one knows how I feel except for me. I feel great. No one can say that about tonight.”

Dallas center Tyler Seguin (leg laceration) returned after missing six games. Miro Heiskanen’s assist gave him a 12-game points streak – the longest by a defenseman in franchise history.

In its ninth straight win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night, Vancouver (32-34-5, 69 points) saw 27-year-old Andrei Kuzmenko set the club record for most goals by a first-year player with his 35th.

That number broke the team record set by Pavel Bure, who netted 34 in his rookie campaign in 1991-92 over 65 games — the same amount as Kuzmenko.
The milestone pleased Kuzmenko, but he expects more going forward.

“I’m happy. It’s important for my family, for me as well,” said the Russian left winger. “It’s good, but I need to be better. I need to score a lot of goals, maybe 40, 45. Keep working.”

Tocchet said the club’s ability to finish and put the puck away can be contagious.

“It was nice to see a couple of guys finish because they’ve had some chances in the past, but it’s nice to finish,” said Tocchet, whose squad is 8-2-0 in its past 10 matches. “It gets your confidence (up), loosens you up a little bit.”

During a career-high 10-game points streak, leading scorer Elias Pettersson (90 points) has five goals and nine assists.

Vancouver will be starting a three-game road trip with stops Saturday night at Dallas, Sunday at Chicago against the Blackhawks and Tuesday at St. Louis against the Blues.

Going back to February of 2018, the Canucks have won nine of the past 12 games against the Stars.

–Field Level Media

The Calgary Flames potentially are staring at their last strike.

Heading into Friday’s home game against the cellar-dwelling San Jose Sharks, the Flames (32-26-15, 79 points) are six points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the final playoff spot with nine games remaining.

The Flames already knew they need a miracle finish to reach the playoffs, but their chances took another hit in Thursday’s 3-2 home loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Disappointment was the buzzword in the aftermath.

“It’s always disappointing to lose, especially the situation we’re in,” defenseman Rasmus Andersson said. “I don’t know if it’s nerves or we’re thinking about it too much. We’re not thinking about the game that we’re playing if we’re thinking about the situation we’re in too much. … Nine games left and a lot of stuff can still happen.”

The Flames have plenty to be disappointed about.

Calgary has a ghastly 15-12-15 record in one-goal games. The Vegas clash is the 22nd loss when the Flames outshot their opposition by 10 or more, an NHL record. They are also the only team without a win when trailing after two periods (0-18-3).

The capper, though, is they fell behind by a 2-0 score for the third time in four games. It showed a lack of urgency for a veteran-laden team with the season on the line.

“We weren’t ready to go on time,” defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. “We need to be ready in these games, these situations, the last 10 to go. We need to be desperate right off the start.”

The Sharks (19-38-15, 53 points) have no sympathy for their Pacific Division rivals.

San Jose is at the bottom of the Pacific Division and ahead of only the Columbus Blue Jackets in the standings. That situation may be good in the hopes of winning the draft lottery and claiming phenom Connor Bedard, but it has been a difficult spell.

A 7-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday leaves the Sharks winless in eight games and only one victory in their last 14 outings (1-9-4).

The Sharks had plenty of turnover leading up to the trade deadline and have been integrating prospects ever since. A night like the one in Vancouver did not come as a surprise.

“When you make so many changes, some of the things that are happening out there are not really the fault of the new players,” coach David Quinn said. “They just haven’t been accustomed to playing the way you want to play, but the guys that have been here have to keep this thing together and understand we’ve got a season to finish, and we’ve got to do a better job finishing on a strong note.”

In a rare positive, defenseman Erik Karlsson can reach 100 points in a quest to claim the Norris Trophy. Karlsson has collected 22 goals and 88 points in 72 games. Even his assist against the Canucks could easily be overlooked, though, with veterans failing to lead the way.

“We just killed ourselves in the first because the three goals, we just give it to them,” forward Tomas Hertl said. “And after it was too many penalties, and that’s how it’s going for us lately. … I am one of the guys here and (it) just can’t happen like that.”

–Field Level Media

A longstanding late-season pratfall plagued the Minnesota Wild Thursday in their pursuit of the top spot in the Central Division.

They lost to a foe well out of playoff contention.

While Minnesota nevertheless picked up a point with its 5-4 shootout loss at Philadelphia, the team will aim to regroup Saturday against the skidding Chicago Blackhawks, taking the Flyers game as a lesson learned.

“They’ve got nothing to lose and you’re trying to climb the standings,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said. “I’ve been on teams like that and you can beat some teams late. It’s got to come down to character and leadership and understand that we have to play the right way no matter what the circumstances are.”

Minnesota (41-22-9, 91 points) fell one point behind the Central-leading Dallas Stars, who edged visiting Pittsburgh 3-2 on Thursday. The clubs each have 10 games remaining, but none against one another.

Faltering late is never a good feeling, but it’s especially bitter under the Wild’s circumstances. Minnesota took a 3-2 lead late in the second period and surged ahead 4-3 on Matt Boldy’s second goal of the night 13:32 into the third before letting the Flyers force overtime.

“We weren’t very good,” Wild coach Dean Evason said. “They were good. We knew they were playing well; they played well tonight. We were loose. We were not firm. Turnovers. It didn’t look like our hockey club.”

Chicago (24-41-6, 54 points) hopes to salvage the finale of a five-game road trip. After winning 2-1 at Nashville on March 16, the Blackhawks have been outscored 15-3 in successive losses at Arizona, Colorado and Washington.

Blackhawks goaltender Anton Khudobin allowed first-period goals 18 seconds apart on Thursday in Washington, and the team trailed 5-0 before Nikita Zaitsev registered Chicago’s lone tally early in the third. It marked Khudobin’s first action in more than 14 months after his recovery from March 2022 hip surgery.

Chicago went 0-for-5 on the power play.

“It’s definitely tough right now and it’s a little embarrassing,” the Blackhawks’ Tyler Johnson said. “We have to play a lot better. We’re not sticking to our structure and sticking to our system. We’re just kind of out there right now. We have to compete and play a lot harder for each other.”

Teammate Jarred Tinordi agrees.

“I think we need to tighten up and simplify our game a little bit,” he said. “I think we’re kind of circling too much and kind of giving pucks away, and I think the way we had success earlier was just more of a north-south game.”

Wild defenseman John Klingberg (upper-body injury) missed Thursday’s game, but Evason said the team was hopeful for a return in the coming days.

Minnesota leads the season series with Chicago 2-0, including a shootout victory Oct. 30. The clubs, who haven’t played since Dec. 16, are set to meet twice in the final three weeks of the regular season.

–Field Level Media

The Los Angeles Kings are amid their longest points streak of the season — a stretch that began last month with a victory over the Winnipeg Jets, who appear back to their winning ways following a bumpy span.

Looking to run that points streak to 11 games, the host Kings will try to keep the visiting Jets from a third consecutive victory on Saturday.

Currently second in the Pacific Division, Los Angeles (41-20-10, 92 points) has outscored its opponents 42-23 during its 8-0-2 stretch – one game shy of matching the club record set in 1974 and matched in 2011 and 2013.

Adrian Kempe had two goals with an assist and Carl Grundstrom also scored twice as 14 players posted at least one point for the Kings, who matched their highest-scoring game of the season with Monday’s 8-2 rout of visiting Calgary to improve to 9-0-2 at home since the All-Star break.

“We find a way to keep playing our game,” said Grundstrom, who has recorded four of his career-high 11 goals in the last three games. “We have a real deep team. I think that’s going to be key for us to make a push here.”

The Kings began their impressive 10-game unbeaten run with a 6-5 shootout victory at Winnipeg on Feb. 28. Anze Kopitar scored four of those goals but has just two in nine games since.

Owner of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, Winnipeg (41-29-3, 85 points) has posted back-to-back one-goal victories following a 1-3-0 rut. Adam Lowry broke a 2-2 tie Thursday with his goal 10:47 into the third period for the Jets’ 3-2 win at Anaheim.

Winnipeg is 4-2-0 on the road after losing five of six away from home.

“We can only control how we play, we can’t control other teams chasing us, and the teams we’re chasing,” Lowry, who recorded his 200th point Thursday and has three in two games, told the Jets’ official website.

“We look at every game as an important one, that was no different (against the Ducks). I think we’re going to try to carry this momentum into our game (versus Los Angeles).”

Teammate Kyle Connor, Winnipeg’s leader with 74 points, recorded his first in seven games with a goal on Thursday. Connor has seven goals with six assists in his last 11 games versus Los Angeles.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck has a 2.02 goals-against average while winning four of his last six starts. Winnipeg backup David Rittich has allowed nine goals during his last three starts.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles’ Pheonix Copley has a 1.58 GAA and .934 save percentage while going 4-0-1 in March. Newcomer Joonas Korpisalo has been simply stellar, posting a 1.96 GAA and .921 save percentage in going 3-0-1 since coming over from Columbus on March 1.

Kempe, one goal shy of equaling his career high of 35 set last season, has recorded six with three assists in the last eight games. However, he has just one point in seven career home games versus Winnipeg.

–Field Level Media

Boston Bruins forward A.J. Greer was suspended for one game Friday after his ejection for cross-checking Montreal’s Mike Hoffman the previous evening.

Greer delivered a shot to Hoffman’s face before a first-period faceoff, causing the Canadiens forward to stagger. The NHL Department of Player Safety held a hearing earlier Friday before determining the additional discipline.

Greer, 26, received a five-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct, although the NHL-leading Bruins still secured a 4-2 home victory.

“This cross-check is delivered cleanly to the head of Hoffman, and while we understand Greer’s assertion that he does not intend to strike Hoffman in this manner, players are responsible for their stick at all times,” a Department of Player Safety official said in a video explanation. “This is a careless cross-check delivered during a stoppage in play that strikes an opponent at a dangerous height with the force necessary to warrant supplemental discipline.”

It is the first supplemental discipline of Greer’s NHL career. He will miss Saturday’s home game with the Atlantic Division-rival Tampa Bay Lightning.

Greer has recorded 11 points (five goals, six assists) and 85 penalty minutes in 52 games this season, his first with Boston.

A second-round pick out of Boston College in 2015, Greer has 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 99 games with the Colorado Avalanche, New Jersey Devils and Bruins.

–Field Level Media