Jacob Markstrom sparkled in net, backstopping the host Calgary Flames to a much-needed 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

Andrew Mangiapane and Walker Duehr scored for the Flames, but the hero was Markstrom, who made 33 saves in one of his best performances of the season.

Markstrom loomed large all game, and he made scintillating, highlight-reel saves in all three periods. He denied Kevin Fiala on a breakaway chance in the final minute of the first period, blocked Rasmus Kupari’s short-handed chance in the second period and then made a sprawling save on Fiala late in the third period.

Calgary (34-26-15, 83 points) is just outside the final Western Conference playoff spot with seven games remaining.

Sean Durzi scored for the Kings, who lost in regulation for the first time in 13 games. Goalie Joonas Korpisalo stopped 30 shots. The Kings (43-21-10, 96 points), who are battling for top spot in the Pacific Division and Western Conference, went into the clash riding a three-game winning streak and on a franchise-record point streak (10-0-2).

Mangiapane gave the Flames the quick start they wanted when he opened the scoring 1:54 into the clash on a power play. A shot was stopped but Mangiapane was at the doorstep for the loose puck and buried his 15th of the season.

Shortly after the Flames thought they had doubled the lead only to see it called back after a review for offside, Durzi tied the clash before the midway point of the opening frame. Durzi joined an odd-man rush and upon receiving a drop pass, ripped a top-corner shot for his eighth of the season.

Duehr restored Calgary’s lead with 2:01 remaining in the opening frame. Trevor Lewis missed the net on a two-on-two rush, but the puck bounded to the other side right to Duehr to bury for his sixth of the season and second in as many games.

The Flames thought they scored an insurance goal in the second period, but a video review didn’t find conclusive evidence. Calgary also had an empty-net goal denied due to an offside call.

–Field Level Media

Four scorers helped the Dallas Stars to a 4-1 win against the host Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.

Tyler Seguin, Colin Miller, Joe Pavelski and Luke Glendening tallied for the Stars (40-20-14, 94 points), who are one point behind the Central Division-leading Minnesota Wild and tied in points with the second-place Colorado Avalanche, who hold a game in hand.

Jake Oettinger made 17 saves.

Tyler Johnson scored for the Blackhawks (24-44-6, 54 points), who have lost six straight. Alex Stalock made 26 saves before he was given a game misconduct at 16:32 of the third period. Petr Mrazek stopped all three shots faced in relief.

Seguin gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 5:45 of the first period. Jani Hakanpaa carried the puck down the right side in transition, skating to the right faceoff dot before dishing to Seguin, who beat Stalock from the slot.

Miller made it 2-0 in the final second of a power play at 18:59. Evgenii Dadonov, along the right wall, found a wide-open Miller with a cross-ice pass and the defenseman fired a shot from the top of the left circle.

The Stars outshot the Blackhawks 9-4 in the first period and, by early in the second, held a 20-8 advantage in shot attempts.

Taylor Raddysh had a rare chance for Chicago midway through the middle frame on a 3-on-2 rush, but his backhand from low in the left circle skipped just wide of the far side of the net.

Pavelski pushed Dallas’ lead to 3-0 at 11:24 when he tipped Joel Hanley’s point shot in the slot by the glove side of Stalock.

The Blackhawks couldn’t muster any form of attack for much of the second, going nearly 17 minutes with just one shot on goal in the period. They finally got their second of the frame with just over three minutes left, earning sarcastic cheers from the crowd.

Glendening capitalized on a short-handed 2-on-1 to extend it to 4-0 at 7:04 of the third period.

Johnson snapped a 14-game goal drought when he swept in a rebound in front of the net to cut it to 4-1 at 10:33.

–Field Level Media

Jakub Vrana scored twice, including the overtime winner, as the host St. Louis Blues edged the Vancouver Canucks 6-5 on Tuesday.

Justin Faulk had a goal and two assists and Pavel Buchnevich added a goal and an assist for the Blues (34-34-6, 74 points).

Alexey Toropchenko and Robert Thomas also scored, Brandon Saad and Sammy Blais had two assists, and Jordan Binnington made 32 saves as St. Louis won for the fifth time in seven games (5-1-1).

Quinn Hughes logged two goals and an assist and Andrei Kuzmenko also scored twice for the Canucks (34-34-6, 74 points). Brock Boeser had a goal and two assists.

J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson had two assists apiece and Thatcher Demko made 25 saves as Vancouver took just its third loss in 13 games (10-2-1).

Vrana decided the game 21 seconds into overtime with a point-blank shot off Brayden Schenn’s pass.

With 7:42 left in the third, Kuzmenko left cut the Blues’ lead to 5-4 by cutting to the slot and scoring off Pettersson’s deft pass.

With Demko pulled for an extra attacker, the Canucks tied the game with 53 seconds remaining on Hughes’ shot from the blue line through traffic.

The Canucks grabbed a 1-0 lead 6:06 into the game. Boeser fired a shot from the left circle, and Hughes converted the weak-side rebound.

Toropchenko tied the game 1-1 by stealing a pass and creating a two-on-one break that he finished with 8:10 left in the first period.

Faulk put the Blues up 2-1 with 3:12 in the opening period with a one-time blast from the left faceoff dot.

Vancouver tied the game with 19 seconds left in the period on a power play. Kuzmenko drove toward the net front and punched in Miller’s centering pass.

The Blues took a 3-2 lead at 7:24 of the second period when Saad set up Vrana’s goal from the slot.

Thomas made it 4-2 on a power-play snap shot from the top of the right circle. Then Buchnevich made it 5-2 by redirecting in Kasperi Kapanen’s pass with 6:24 left in the period.

Vancouver cut the deficit to 5-3 with another power-play goal. Hughes shot from the center point and Boeser deflected it in.

–Field Level Media

David Perron scored three third-period goals to help lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 7-4 home win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.

Perron scored two goals in a span of 45 seconds to give Detroit a 6-4 lead with 2:55 remaining in the game.

First, while on a power play, Perron fired a shot from the left faceoff circle that went through the legs of Pittsburgh goalie Casey DeSmith to make it 5-4 Detroit with 3:40 left. Perron then fluttered a backhand shot underneath the crossbar with 2:55 to go.

Dylan Larkin added an empty-net goal for Detroit with 36.9 seconds left.

Larkin also had two assists for a three-point night for the Red Wings (32-32-9, 73 points).

Four different players scored for the Penguins (36-28-10, 82 points) and Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell each had two assists. Pittsburgh lost for the sixth time in eight games.

The Red Wings took a 1-0 lead with 8:57 left in the first on a power-play goal by Jonatan Berggren.

Just 34 seconds later, Andrew Copp tipped in a point shot from Moritz Seider to double the lead.

The Red Wings went up 3-0 with 3:53 to go in the first when Gustav Lindstrom fired a shot from the point that hit Dominik Kubalik and went in.

Pittsburgh cut Detroit’s lead to 3-1 with 15:20 left in the second on a goal by Jason Zucker.

The Penguins made it 3-2 with 12:14 to go in the second when Jake Guentzel scored on a two-man advantage, tipping in a shot from Malkin.

Pittsburgh tied it at 3-3 with 11:19 to go in the second on a power-play goal by Jeff Carter, who tipped a shot that barely crossed the goal line.

Detroit challenged the goal, citing goalie interference when Zucker appeared to tap the pads of Red Wings goalie Alex Nedeljkovic just before the puck crossed the line. After officials confirmed the goal, Detroit coach Derek Lalonde was ejected from the game for arguing.

In the third period, Detroit took a 4-3 lead with 15:55 remaining when Perron fired a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle past DeSmith.

Pittsburgh tied the game at 4-4 with 14:34 left when Josh Archibald scored on a wraparound.

–Field Level Media

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves and Brayden Point provided two goals and an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning snapped a four-game losing streak with a much-needed 4-0 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night in Raleigh, N.C.

Steven Stamkos added a goal and two assists for the Lightning (43-26-6, 92 points). Alex Killorn’s empty-net goal came with 4:21 remaining.

Vasilevskiy’s third shutout of the season came in a thorough performance as the Lightning kept the Hurricanes in check. He made 14 of his saves in the third period.

Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov notched his 75th and 76th assists of the season.

The Hurricanes (47-17-9, 103 points) were shutout victims for the third time this month, ending a four-game homestand with a frustrating result. Pyotr Kochetkov made 17 saves.

The Hurricanes lost for the third time in four games. Carolina maintained its three-point lead on the idle New Jersey Devils for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.

Stamkos was waiting to the side of the crease, took Mikhail Sergachev’s pass and slid the puck under Kochetkov’s pads for his 31st goal of the season at 5:58 of the second period to open the scoring.

Point’s first goal of the game came after he chased down a rebound. Despite being beyond the goal line, he flicked the puck off the back of Kochetkov’s leg.

Point pushed his season total to 47 goals by scoring again at 12:17 of the third period.

Tampa Bay finished a four-game road stretch by avenging a 6-0 loss from earlier in the month in the same building.

Former Carolina defenseman Ian Cole was out of Tampa Bay’s lineup as a healthy scratch, missing a game for the first time since October. Another ex-Hurricane, defenseman Haydn Fleury, entered the Lightning lineup for the first time in 10 games.

–Field Level Media

Juuse Saros made 35 saves as the Nashville Predators earned a 2-1 victory in Boston on Tuesday, ending the Bruins’ seven-game winning streak.

Cody Glass had a goal and also assisted on Cole Smith’s empty-netter for Nashville (37-28-8, 82 points), which lost its previous two games.

Boston (57-12-5, 119 points) broke Saros’ shutout bid with 0.3 seconds left when David Pastrnak buried a turnaround shot at the left crease for his 52nd goal of the season.

Saros faced his biggest workload in the third period, as Boston held a 16-4 shot advantage. The game total was 36-23 in the Bruins’ favor.

Linus Ullmark stopped 21 shots, but Boston lost in regulation for just the fourth time this season on home ice (30-4-3). The Bruins need 14 points in their last eight games to set the NHL’s single-season record for points, a mark currently held by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens (132 points).

Both teams were 0-for-5 on the power play.

In a rather sleepy start, the game was scoreless after the first period despite each team going to the power play three times. Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo nearly scored a short-handed goal between the legs of Saros, but the puck was cleared off the goal line.

The man-up scoring drought continued for both sides before Nashville took a 1-0 lead late in the second.

The Predators finally broke through with 1:49 left in the middle frame, as Glass followed up Boston defenseman Hampus Lindholm’s shot block and buried a wrister top corner past Ullmark.

Saros made key stops about seven minutes into the third, including one point-blank save on Lindholm, who took a slick feed from Trent Frederic.

Lauzon scored an empty-net goal from long distance, cushioning the Predators’ advantage with 1:19 left.

Nashville was playing its first game after six people lost their lives Monday in a shooting at The Covenant School. The arena observed a moment of silence before the game, while both teams wore helmet decals with the school’s insignia.

–Field Level Media

–Field Level Media

Morgan Frost scored two goals, Owen Tippett added another and the host Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Tuesday.

It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Flyers (29-32-12, 70 points).

Flyers goaltender Felix Sandstrom made 27 saves. Sandstrom was a late addition to the lineup following an injury to Carter Hart.

Brendan Gallagher and Rafael Harvey-Pinard each scored for the Canadiens (30-39-6, 66 points), who had their two-game winning streak snapped.

Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau stopped 24 shots.

Frost scored the go-ahead goal at 17:45 of the third period when he skated up the side, weaved around a couple defenders and flipped a wrist shot into the net.

Primeau was then pulled for an extra skater and Tippett capitalized with an empty-net goal at 18:14 for a 3-1 advantage.

Harvey-Pinard closed Montreal within 3-2 with only 22.4 seconds remaining.

But that’s as close as the Canadiens would get.

Philadelphia’s James van Riemsdyk set up in front of the net and redirected a shot from the point at 5:28 of the third. Primeau stopped the deflection and cleared the puck.

The Canadiens’ David Savard fired a shot on goal at 16:52 which was stopped in front and pushed aside.

Gallagher, who scored his 200th career goal in Monday’s 4-3 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres, fired a shot off the post at 11:00 of the first period.

Frost had the best scoring chance for the Flyers at 18:10, but Primeau slid across the crease to deny the potential goal.

Frost continued his aggressive play in the second period and connected under the arm of Primeau on the short side for a 1-0 lead just as a power play ended at 3:41.

The Canadiens nearly equalized at 6:25 when Jake Evans corralled a loose puck following a rebound from Gallagher’s shot. Sandstrom, however, was able to cover up the puck.

Montreal’s pressure paid dividends as Gallagher soon equalized at 9:39. The puck ricocheted off Philadelphia’s Scott Laughton and Justin Braun and Gallagher snapped the puck past Sandstrom.

–Field Level Media

Patrick Kane capped a three-goal flurry in the first period as the host New York Rangers continued their roll with a 6-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

The Rangers (44-20-10, 98 points) improved to 9-1-1 in their past 11 contests and moved within two points of the second-place New Jersey Devils in the Metropolitan Division. New York visits New Jersey on Thursday.

Filip Chytil and Vladimir Tarasenko scored before Kane netted his fifth goal since being acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks on Feb. 28. It also was the first time Tarasenko and Kane scored in the same game.

Artemi Panarin added a power-play goal late in the second period and set up Mika Zibanejad’s tally with about 5 1/2 minutes left in the third. Vincent Trocheck contributed an empty-net goal shortly after Zibanejad scored.

Kiril Marchenko scored his 20th goal to match the Columbus rookie record set by Pierre-Luc Dubois in 2017-18. Johnny Gaudreau set up Marchenko’s power-play goal and then scored late in the first, but the Blue Jackets (23-43-7, 53 points) fell to 3-8-1 in their past 12 contests.

New York’s Igor Shesterkin made 28 saves, including a sprawling glove save on Jack Roslovic with about 11 minutes remaining.

Columbus goalie Michael Hutchinson allowed five goals on 35 shots.

The Rangers scored three times in a span of 3:37 to race out to a three-goal lead.

Chytil scored off a scramble in front by getting to the rebound of an Alexis Lafreniere shot 5:23 into the game.

Tarasenko made it 2-0 by going to the net and deflecting a pass from Braden Schneider at 6:50, and Kane ripped a wrister from the left circle into the top left corner of the net 70 seconds later.

Columbus scored twice in the final 8:15 of the opening period.

Marchenko, after getting a pass from Roslovic, ripped a shot from the left circle that appeared to change directions at 11:45. Gaudreau made it a one-goal game with 29 seconds remaining in the frame, ripping a shot from the right circle that sailed over Shesterkin after Boone Jenner made a backhanded pass while falling to the ice.

Panarin made it 4-2 at 17:36 of the second when he ripped a shot from the left faceoff dot to reach 25 goals for the sixth time in his career.

Panarin then made a pass to Zibanejad, who finished it off with a one-timer from the left circle to increase the gap to three goals late in the third period.

–Field Level Media

After months of chasing down the top teams in the Central Division, the Colorado Avalanche have an opportunity to move into first place.

Colorado is 9-1-0 in its last 10 games to overtake Dallas in the standings and now sets its sights on the division-leading Minnesota Wild. The teams will meet on Wednesday night in Denver night to wrap up the three-game season series.

The Avalanche (44-23-6, 94 points) won the first two games in Minnesota and would jump over the Wild in the standings with a win Wednesday.

Minnesota (43-22-9, 95 points) has been surging in its last 10 games, going 7-1-2 to take the top spot in the Central Division. Wednesday night’s game might prove to be more important for the Wild than Colorado considering their next three games — a home-and-home against Vegas and a trip to Pittsburgh to play a hungry Penguins team.

Minnesota has been riding the incredible streak winger Matt Boldy is having lately. He notched his second hat trick in five games in the win over Seattle on Monday night and has nine goals in that five-game span.

What matters most to Boldy is winning the division to avoid playing Colorado or the Stars in the first round of the playoffs.

“We want to be first,” Boldy said. “We want to win every game. To kind of have it start coming all together in a way and playing good hockey, it’s exciting.”

Boldy has stepped up in the absence of Kirill Kaprizov, who has not played since suffering a lower-body injury on March 8. Defenseman John Klingberg (upper body) has missed three straight games and Ryan Reaves left Monday’s game with an upper-body injury.

There has been no update on Reaves’ status for Wednesday.

The Avalanche understand injuries and riding the hot hand down the stretch. Colorado has played the whole season without captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee) and defenseman Josh Manson (lower body) has missed significant time, but others have stepped up.

Nathan MacKinnon can’t match Boldy’s goal production of late, but he has at least one point in 19 straight home games and is five points from the first 100-point season of his career. He has 24 points in March, second most in the NHL behind Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid — who both have 25 — and has played great down the stretch.

“The more important the game, the more he’s going to show up for his team. It’s just another level of determination,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s probably hard to maintain or stay up through the course of 82 games, but when the games get big, he’s the guy that is going to show up for you.”

MacKinnon had a goal and an assist in Monday’s 5-1 win at Anaheim, which capped a back-to-back set and a move into second place.

“We’ve been able to collect some points,” Colorado defenseman Bowen Byram said. “We’re in a tight race, so it means a lot.”

Colorado has a chance to gain on both division rivals this week. Dallas comes to town Saturday night and a sweep of those two games, ahead of two games in San Jose next week, would put the reigning champions in control of the division.

–Field Level Media

Chicago Blackhawks veteran center Jonathan Toews returned to practice on Tuesday after two months away, telling reporters afterward that he’s aware his time with the club — and possibly in the NHL — could be winding down.

Toews, 34, last played in a game Jan. 28 and has been sidelined since then with what he’s revealed was the effects of long COVID-19 and chronic immune response syndrome. The latter condition kept him out for the entire 2020-21 season amid the pandemic.

“Regardless of what happens in the future this summer, it’s definitely on my mind that this could be my last few weeks here in Chicago as a Blackhawk,” Toews told reporters at the team’s morning skate before hosting the Dallas Stars. “And so that’s definitely very important for me to just go out there and enjoy the game and just kind of soak it in and just really appreciate everything I’ve been able to be a part of here in Chicago and show my appreciation to the fans as well.”

Toews did not offer a timeline for if and when he would return to game action. Chicago (24-43-6, 54 points) has long been out of the running for a playoff spot and has just nine regular-season games remaining, starting against Dallas.

“Regardless, I wouldn’t say to expect much,” Toews said. “But I’m just going to try and go out there and play with energy and have some fun, so we’ll see when that might be.”

Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson told reporters he was hopeful Toews can take another step later this week and could eventually give the team “the green light” to play in a game.

“We’re just going to go day by day here,” Richardson said. “He deserves anything he wants to try to achieve here.”

In 15 NHL seasons, all with Chicago, Toews has tallied 880 points (371 goals, 509 assists) across 1,060 games. He is the team’s captain, was named one of the NHL’s 100 greatest players of all time in 2017 and was part of the franchise’s three Stanley Cup victories in 2010, 2013 and 2015, alongside longtime teammate Patrick Kane.

Kane was dealt to the New York Rangers ahead of the trade deadline on Feb. 28 as the Blackhawks continue to rebuild. Toews said the trade “shocked” him but that it was good that Kane will be headed to the playoffs with his new team.

Toews had 14 goals and 14 assists in 46 games for Chicago this season before his leave of absence.

–Field Level Media