Jason Robertson had a goal and three assists to cross the 100-point plateau, and the Dallas Stars clinched a Stanley Cup playoff berth with a 5-1 win against the visiting Nashville Predators on Monday.

The 23-year-old Robertson has 43 goals and 58 assists.

Joe Pavelski had a goal and an assist and Scott Wedgewood made 26 saves for the Stars (42-21-14, 98 points) in his return from a lower-body injury that kept him out for a month-and-a-half. Miro Heiskanen had two assists.

Dallas also moved into a tie with the Minnesota Wild for first place in the Central Division. Both teams have five games remaining.

Cal Foote scored and Juuse Saros made 21 saves for the Predators (38-30-8, 84 points).

Nashville has dropped four of its past six games and is five points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The Stars appeared to take a 1-0 lead on a goal by Ty Dellandrea just 1:54 into the game, but Nashville challenged the goal, and the play was ruled offside after a video review.

Roope Hintz did make it 1-0 at 4:21 of the first period, taking a pass from Robertson behind the net and scoring on a wrist shot from the slot.

Colin Miller increased the lead to 2-0 at 12:31 of the second period, getting a pass from Radek Faksa and scoring on a one-timer from just above the right faceoff circle.

Pavelski made it 3-0 with a power-play goal at 16:07, setting up in front of Saros and tapping in Heiskanen’s pass from the left circle.

Robertson pushed the score to 4-0 at 8:29 of the third period, taking a pass from Heiskanen, moving into the right circle and scoring on wrist shot to the far side during a power play.

Tyler Seguin made it 5-0 with his 20th goal of the season at 14:23, and Foote ended Wedgewood’s shutout bid at 15:10.

Dallas won the season series 4-0.

–Field Level Media

Reilly Smith scored the game-winner in the fifth round of a shootout and Pavel Dorofeyev netted two goals in regulation during the Vegas Golden Knights’ 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Monday in Saint Paul, Minn.

Despite the defeat, the Wild clinched a playoff berth thanks to the point for the overtime loss plus the Nashville Predators’ 5-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

After Joel Eriksson Ek and Dorofeyev traded goals in the fourth round of the shootout, Vegas goaltender Laurent Brossoit made a blocker save on Ryan Hartman to start the fifth round. Smith then put a backhander through the pads of Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson to win it and also give the Golden Knights a three-game sweep of their season series with the Wild.

William Karlsson had two assists and Keegan Kolesar also scored for Vegas (48-22-7, 103 points), which increased its Pacific Division lead to three points over the idle Los Angeles Kings. Brossoit finished with 30 saves.

Matt Boldy scored his 30th goal of the season and also had an assist and Brandon Duhaime and John Klingberg also scored goals for Minnesota (44-23-10, 98 points). Gustavsson stopped 23 shots.

Vegas, which won the front half of the home-and-home with the Wild 4-1 on Saturday in Las Vegas, took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period on Monday.

Kolesar, stationed in front of the right side of the crease, tipped Ben Hutton’s point shot over Gustavsson’s left shoulder for his career-high eighth goal of the season.

Minnesota tied it at the 3:36 mark of the second period. Duhaime broke down the left wing and fired a wrist shot past Brossoit’s glove side for his ninth goal.

Klingberg then gave the Wild a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal. He dragged the puck in front of the blue line before snapping a wrist shot through traffic into the top right corner of the net at 13:57 of the second.

The Golden Knights tied it when Dorofeyev, a late addition to the lineup when center Chandler Stephenson was scratched due to illness, blasted a one-timer from the top of the left circle off a drop pass from Smith inside the near left post at 16:34 of the second.

The Wild regained the lead with just 41 seconds to go in the period. Boldy tapped Eriksson Ek’s crossing pass at the end of a give-and-go into a wide-open right side of the net for his 13th goal in 12 games.

Vegas pulled Brossoit for an extra attacker with 2:15 remaining and Dorofeyev, left alone in the slot, tied it with 34.2 seconds left when he slapped a touch pass from Karlssson past Gustavsson’s blocker side.

–Field Level Media

With just over a week left in the regular season, the playoff fate of the Colorado Avalanche is still unknown. The reigning champs could win the Central Division, finish second or third, possibly fall into the wild card or win out and make a bid for the top seed.

Colorado has seven games left in its season, starting with the Sharks in San Jose on Tuesday night, the first of two games there. The Avalanche have one game in hand on Dallas and Minnesota, the two teams they are battling with for the division title, and there are signs they’re getting healthier.

Forward Artturi Lehkonen (broken finger), defenseman Josh Manson (lower body), goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) and captain Gabriel Landeskog (knee), who has yet to play this season, are all on this four-game swing through California, but on Monday, coach Jared Bednar wouldn’t say if any of them would be able to play on the trip.

Getting any — or all — of them back would be a huge boost for Colorado (45-24-6, 96 points). All four made big contributions in the playoffs last season and their returns would make the Avalanche one of the deeper teams in the postseason.

Lehkonen and Landeskog are top-six forwards, and adding them to a group led by Nathan MacKinnon (97 points) and Mikko Rantanen (49 goals) would make the Avalanche tough to beat.

MacKinnon has found another gear down the stretch despite teams game-planning for him. He had two goals in a key 5-2 win over Dallas on Saturday, his 32nd multi-point game of the season.

“Some guys will dry up offensively. Well, Nate’s the exact opposite,” Bednar said. “The tougher it gets, the more he finds ways to be a big difference-maker.”

While Colorado has its eyes on a repeat, the Sharks are in a race to the bottom. San Jose (22-39-15, 59 points) have the fourth-fewest points in the NHL and are going to receive a high pick in the June draft.

The Sharks have hurt their chances of drafting everyone’s top pick, Connor Bedard, by putting together a winning streak. San Jose was 17-26-11 on Feb. 12 and then went 2-13-4 to fall to last in points. Then came wins over Winnipeg, Vegas and Arizona, and its chances of winning the No. 1 pick dropped from 25.5 percent to 9.5.

The coaches and players aren’t focusing on the lottery, just playing hard.

“You get rewarded for doing the right thing, and we’re going to keep playing our (backsides) off and we want to win hockey games,” Sharks coach David Quinn said after his team’s 4-3 overtime win against Vegas on Thursday. “I get the narrative and the big picture, but you get rewarded for doing the right thing.”

Even though they won’t be in the playoffs, the Sharks might have reason to celebrate. Erik Karlsson has 95 points to lead all NHL defensemen and is one of the leading contenders for the Norris Trophy, given to the top defenseman. Twenty-two points separate Karlsson from the next defenseman in scoring, and he has nine more points than last year’s winner — Cale Makar of the Avalanche.

–Field Level Media

The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings clinched Stanley Cup playoff spots with their most recent victories.

Now, it’s all about positioning.

When the Oilers visit the Kings on Tuesday night, second place in the Pacific Division will be on the line, and potentially first place as well.

Edmonton (45-23-9, 99 points) enters the game in third place, one point behind Los Angeles (45-22-10, 100 points) with five games left for both teams.

Sitting on top of the division are the Vegas Golden Knights, who brought a one-point lead over the Kings into their game against the Minnesota Wild on Monday night.

“The regular season is all about giving yourself a chance to play in the playoffs, and we checked that box,” Edmonton star Connor McDavid said after scoring his league-leading 62nd goal of the season in a 6-0 win against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.

The Oilers, known for their offensive explosiveness, have won their past two games via shutout. Edmonton beat the visiting Kings 2-0 on Thursday night.

All three teams atop the Pacific Division played extremely well in March. The Oilers went 12-2-1, the Kings went 9-2-2 and the Golden Knights finished 11-3-1. The three teams were a combined 4-0 through the first two days of April as well.

“Every night, it seems like everyone wins in the Pacific Division,” Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said.

The two best players for Edmonton have never really cooled down this season, but Leon Draisaitl and McDavid are playing exceptionally well as of late.

Draisaitl has a 12-game point streak (nine goals, 15 assists), and McDavid has an 11-game point streak (eight goals, 14 assists).

Meanwhile, the Kings have been quietly stringing together one of their best regular seasons in team history.

They reached triple-digit points with a 4-1 win at the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night. Only the 1974-75 team reached triple digits quicker (76 games).

Locking down a playoff spot for a second consecutive season also took some weight off the shoulders of Kings coach Todd McLellan, who earned his 139th win with Los Angeles on Sunday night, tying Terry Murray for the fourth most in franchise history.

“I don’t want to say (qualifying for the playoffs is) a relief, because we’ve sensed that it’s been coming, but once you get that asterisk by your name you can breathe a little bit,” McLellan said. “That’s a hell of an accomplishment for our group.”

Los Angeles has been receiving contributions from a variety of sources throughout the season. One player who has stood out lately is forward Alex Iafallo, who has delivered back-to-back multi-point performances.

“He’s a very valuable player for us. Very trusting, a guy that you can put anywhere in the lineup, on any line,” McLellan said. “He cleans up a lot of messes and mistakes that are made, he anticipates well defensively and he can obviously put it in the net when he gets a chance.”

Anze Kopitar produced two assists against Vancouver for his 20th multi-point game of the season and 281st of his career, tying Dave Taylor for fourth most in franchise history.

Los Angeles could be down a key defenseman, as Alex Edler departed late in the first period against the Canucks with an upper-body injury and did not return.

McLellan did not have an update following the game and the Kings did not practice on Monday.

“He couldn’t finish the night, so that wasn’t good,” McLellan said.

–Field Level Media

One month ago, the Calgary Flames’ playoff hopes were sinking. Now they find themselves with a chance to move into a tie for a postseason berth when they host the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.

The Flames (36-26-15, 87 points) are two points back of the Winnipeg Jets, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference with five games remaining for both clubs. A win on Tuesday would put that playoff spot on the line Wednesday, when the Flames and Jets square off in Winnipeg.

“Every year at this time of the year you check the standings and scores more than you do earlier in the year or at midseason,” forward Mikael Backlund said. “Of course you check how Winnipeg is doing. At the same time, we’ve got to take care of our own business first and win our games. If we don’t do that it doesn’t matter.”

Calgary has won four straight entering Tuesday’s tilt and is 9-3-2 since losing five straight from Feb. 23 to March 4.

“I think (the belief) is maybe the strongest it’s been all year right now,” forward Blake Coleman said. “Guys are feeling confident in their games. It’s still going to be hard work. It’s still an uphill climb. It’s not easy to leapfrog a team in the standings at this time of year and this few games left. But I like where we’re at and I like our group right now. As long as guys keep this preparation and buy-in. It’s going to be a real exciting last couple of weeks.”

The Flames have won their last two games despite trailing after two periods, something they had not done all season before this past weekend. Milan Lucic and Michael Stone scored third-period goals Sunday to rally the Flames past the Anaheim Ducks, 5-4.

“Even the games we weren’t winning, they were close games and we were in it,” forward Tyler Toffoli said. “(Jacob Markstrom) was keeping us in games. It’s that time of the year and when things are stressful, there’s no panic in our room. We just keep playing and don’t change the way we play and we grind games out.”

The Blackhawks (24-46-6, 54 points) find themselves in sole possession of the NHL’s basement. They’ve lost eight in a row, the third time this season they’ve had such a streak.

It was clear from the get-go that the only thing general manager Kyle Davidson hoped to win this season was the draft lottery, as he traded away the likes of Alex DeBrincat and Kirby Dach during the offseason and Patrick Kane prior to the trade deadline last month.

Captain Jonathan Toews was also expected to be among those finding new homes, but ongoing battles with long COVID-19 and chronic immune response syndrome have limited his appearances this season.

The 34-year-old returned to the lineup Saturday against the New Jersey Devils, his first game since Jan. 28, and played 14 minutes while picking up an assist.

“It was good to have him back,” coach Luke Richardson said. “I thought he was a big presence on the bench, very vocal, and made a nice play (on Andreas Athanasiou’s goal) … I thought he gave us some energy.”

Forward Taylor Raddysh is enjoying a career year in his first full season in Chicago, with 37 points (20 goals, 17 assists) in 76 games. He has four assists in his past two games and is the only Blackhawks player to play in every game so far this season.

–Field Level Media

Teams playing out the final stretch of lackluster seasons meet on Tuesday when the St. Louis Blues host the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Blues (35-35-7, 77 points) were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since the 2017-2018 season with a 4-3 shootout loss to the visiting Boston Bruins on Sunday.

“It’s very disappointing,” St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. “This organization, and what’s expected of everybody, we’re not very happy for sure.”

The Flyers (29-34-13, 71 points) are coming off a 4-2 loss against the host Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, marking Philadelphia’s third straight loss (0-2-1) following a four-game winning streak. Philadelphia will miss the playoffs for the third straight season.

The Blues trailed the Bruins 3-0 after Oskar Steen’s goal at the 8:02 mark of the second period before Jordan Kyrou got St. Louis on the scoreboard with nine seconds left in the period.

Torey Krug pulled the Blues to within 3-2 at the 9:47 mark of the third period before Kyrou’s equalizer with 25 seconds left sent the game into overtime.

After a scoreless overtime, Kyrou missed in the shootout before Boston’s first shooter, Charlie Coyle, scored what turned out to be shootout’s lone goal. Boston goalie Linus Ullmark saved Brayden Schenn’s wrist shot in the final round to secure the win.

St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington made 28 saves, while Schenn had three assists in the team’s third loss in its past five games (2-2-1).

“Obviously, they had a good start, but we reacted well eventually,” Krug said. “I thought for the most part we played the right way and guys showed a lot of courage sticking in the fight. We had guys battling through injuries and making big plays at big moments. Unfortunately, we just didn’t get the extra point.”

The Flyers’ comeback also fell short in their last game.

Trailing 3-0 after two periods, Philadelphia pulled to within 3-2 on goals by Nicolas Deslauriers and Travis Konecny before Pittsburgh’s Ryan Poehling’s empty-net goal secured the win with 1:12 remaining.

Samuel Ersson made 27 saves for the Flyers.

“I thought we had the higher-quality chances in the game,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “I didn’t think it was out of reach when it was 3-0. I just thought we’d keep banging away. I thought we’d get to them. We certainly tried.”

St. Louis is led by Kyrou, who leads the team in points (71) and goals (36), in addition to 35 assists. But the Blues’ second-and-third-leading scorers — Pavel Buchnevich (25 goals, 41 assists, 66 points) and Robert Thomas (17 goals, team-high 46 assists, 63 points) — haven’t played since sustaining injuries against Vancouver on March 28. They are game-time decisions against the Flyers.

Philadelphia is led by Konecny, who leads the team with 29 goals and 56 points, while Kevin Hayes has a team-high 36 assists to go along with 17 goals, but no other Flyers player has more than 42 points.

The Flyers defeated the visiting Blues 5-1 on Nov. 8 in the teams’ previous meeting this season. Noah Cates, Owen Tippett and Konecny each had a goal and an assist, while Wade Allison and Lukas Sedlak also scored for the Flyers.

–Field Level Media

There are four teams in serious contention for the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card spots.

But only the Pittsburgh Penguins truly control their own fate.

The Penguins continue their push to the playoffs Tuesday night when they visit the New Jersey Devils in a pivotal clash of longtime Metropolitan Division rivals.

Both teams were off Monday after playing Sunday. The Penguins climbed into a wild-card spot by beating the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 4-2, and the Devils’ hopes of winning the division took a hit with a 6-1 loss to the host Winnipeg Jets.

The win continued an inconsistent stretch for the Penguins (38-29-10, 86 points), who have alternated wins with losses in their last seven games. But it also ensured Pittsburgh — which moved past idle Florida — is the only team in the wild-card race that can reach the playoffs by winning the rest of its games.

The Penguins, who are one point behind the wild card-leading New York Islanders and one point ahead of the Panthers, have five games left and can finish with a maximum of 96 points.

The Islanders, who have just four games remaining, and Panthers (five games) can each max out at 95 points, as can the 10th-place Buffalo Sabres, who have seven games left, the most of any team in the East.

“It’s human nature to watch the scoreboard,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Sunday. “We’re all well aware of who’s winning and who’s losing and where we stand. I just think that’s human nature. But the most important thing is when we come to the rink to play that we don’t get distracted by that stuff.”

The Penguins have made the playoffs in 16 straight seasons, the longest active streak in the four major North American pro sports.

“We still have control of our own destiny here,” Sullivan said. “We’ve got to make sure we maximize every opportunity.”

The Devils (48-21-8, 104 points), who are headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2018, already needed a little help in their quest to win the Metropolitan even before Sunday.

But while second place New Jersey suffered its most lopsided loss of the season, the first place Carolina Hurricanes extended their lead to three points by virtue of a 2-1 win over the Islanders.

“I’m not going to stand here and make excuses,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “(The Jets) were faster, they were better in all areas of the ice. They were just a better team. They won the foot races. They played better than we did.”

The Hurricanes have one game in hand on the Devils and finish the season with six games against teams that enter Tuesday outside of the playoff picture. New Jersey has two games left against teams occupying a playoff spot, including Saturday’s game at the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins.

The defeat Sunday snapped a two-game winning streak for the Devils, who hadn’t lost by five goals or more since an 8-1 loss to the Bruins on March 31, 2022.

“Forget that game,” said Devils center Nico Hischier, who scored with 14 seconds left in the third to spoil the shutout bid by Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck. “Look forward to the next one.”

–Field Level Media