The Associated Press

BOSTON - Alex Kovalev scored two goals as the New York Rangers helped their slim playoff hopes with a 3-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

The Rangers, who spoiled Boston's bid to clinch a playoff berth, are four points behind the New York Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers have four games left. The Islanders have five games remaining.

The Bruins, 2-2-1 since general manager Mike O'Connell took over as interim coach after firing Robbie Ftorek, can earn a postseason berth with two points.

Red Wings 6, Blues 2

ST. LOUIS - Brett Hull's 33rd career hat trick lifted Detroit over St. Louis, spoiling Chris Pronger's return.

Pronger scored in his first game back for St. Louis. He missed the first 77 games of the season while recovering from knee and wrist surgery.

Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov also scored for the Red Wings, who have won 19 of 22 (19-2-0-1). Pronger was on the ice for five Detroit goals.

The Red Wings went 4-0-0-1 against the Blues this season. The teams combined for 219 penalty minutes in the third period and the coaches shouted at each other late in the contest.

Avalanche 6, Coyotes 1

DENVER - Greg de Vries and Riku Hahl each scored a career-high two goals to lead Colorado past Phoenix.

The Avalanche took control in the first period, scoring three goals in just 2 minutes, 15 seconds to erase a 1-0 deficit. Peter Forsberg had two assists, giving him 99 points on the season - second best in the NHL behind Vancouver's Markus Naslund.

Colorado raised its point total to 99 and moved ahead of St. Louis into the No. 4 position in the Western Conference. St. Louis has 97 points.

Patrick Roy had 27 saves for the Avalanche, 22-4-3-3 in their last 32 games.

Phoenix backup Zac Bierk gave up five goals on 23 shots before being replaced by Brian Boucher. Phoenix has lost five straight.

Flyers 3, Penguins 0

PHILADELPHIA - Jeremy Roenick had a goal and an assist, and Roman Cechmanek recorded his fifth shutout of the season.

Philadelphia moved within two points of Atlantic Division-leading New Jersey.

Cechmanek, who made 20 saves, earned his 19th career shutout to pass Ron Hextall and move into second place on the Flyers' career list behind only Bernie Parent.

Sabres 3, Hurricanes 1

RALEIGH, N.C. - Miroslav Satan, Maxim Afinogenov and Daniel Briere scored power-play goals in a 71/2-minute span.

Buffalo won its season-best fourth in a row, while the Hurricanes are winless in seven (0-5-2) to remain in last place in the NHL with 61 points - two behind Pittsburgh with four games remaining.

Senators 3, Canadiens 1

MONTREAL - Patrick Lalime made 30 saves for his career-high 37th win, and the Ottawa Senators eliminated Montreal from playoff contention with a 3-1 victory Saturday night over the Canadiens.

Brian Pothier, Bryan Smolinski and Jason Spezza scored for Ottawa, which halted a two-game winless skid. Ottawa has 107 points to lead the NHL.

Saku Koivu scored for Montreal, which will miss the playoffs for the fourth time in five years, the worst stretch in the franchise's 86 years in the NHL.

Panthers 1, Lightning 1

TAMPA, Fla. - Martin St. Louis tied it with 36.1 seconds left in regulation for Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay. St. Louis redirected Brad Richards' shot from the top of the left circle after goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was pulled for an extra skater.

Leafs 4, Capitals 3, OT

TORONTO - Mats Sundin scored at 2:56 of overtime. After Washington's Sergei Gonchar received a four-minute, high sticking penalty, Sundin scored his 36th goal on the power play on a 2-on-1.

Thrashers 3, Predators 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Dany Heatley and Marc Savard each had a goal and an assist.

Nashville stretched its franchise-worst winless streak to 11.

Blue Jackets 6, Flames 4

CALGARY, Alberta - Geoff Sanderson scored four goals, three in a row in the second period, and added an assist as Columbus beat Calgary.

Andrew Cassels had a goal and four assists, and Matt Davidson also scored for the Blue Jackets, who won for just the second time in 11 road games.

The Flames scored three times in the opening five minutes of the second period to take a 3-2 lead, but Sanderson responded with his 28th, 29th and 30th goals of the season in a span of 9:43. Each goal set up by Cassels.

Martin Gelinas scored twice, and Craig Conroy and Steve Montador added goals for Calgary.

Canucks 5, Kings 1

LOS ANGELES - Henrik Sedin and Markus Naslund scored second-period goals to lead Vancouver over Los Angeles.

Vancouver snapped its 14-game winless streak (0-9-3-1) in Los Angeles, that dated seven seasons to April 6, 1996. Canucks goalie Alexander Auld made 31 saves to help the Canucks maintain a four-point lead over Colorado in the Northwest Division race.

The Canucks scored two goals on just four shots in the second period, breaking open a 1-1 game. Alexander Frolov scored for the Kings, and Matt Cooke had Vancouver's goal in the first period.

Trevor Linden and Daniel Sedin added power-play goals in the third period.

Stars 4, Sharks 3

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Brenden Morrow scored a power-play goal with 2:02 left, and Teemu Selanne's apparent goal as time expired was disallowed as Dallas beat San Jose.

Dallas held on to first place in the Western Conference and swept the season series from the Sharks - but only after a five-minute video review.

Jere Lehtinen had a goal and an assist, Ulf Dahlen got his 300th career goal, and Scott Young also scored as the Stars stayed one point ahead of Detroit in the race for home-ice advantage through the conference finals.

Teemu Selanne ended a 15-game goal-scoring drought, and Marco Sturm scored two goals - including the 100th of his career - for the Sharks, who never led while losing for the ninth time in 12 games.