Read the reports of the games played Wednesday in the NHL.
Andrew Mangiapane and Nikita Zadorov each had a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames defeated the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 on Wednesday in a crucial game for their National Hockey League playoff chances.
The Flames (37-27-15) and Jets (43-32-3) are tied at 89 points, but the Jets sit eighth in the Western Conference due to their best winning percentage.
The Jets have four games left in their season, one more than the Flames.
Walker Duehr also scored for the Flames, who lost to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. The Flames, however, are 5-1-0 in their last six games. Jacob Markstrom stopped 33 shots.
Kyle Connor scored for the Jets, who lost for the first time in three games and won three of their last six games.
Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves in his NHL-high 61st start of the season and 10th in a row.
The Jets led 1-0 after the first period. However, the tie was created in the second period.
The Jets got a four-minute power play when forward Milan Lucic was kicked out for high-sticking midway through the first period.
Connor made the Flames pay, picking up a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers and firing a one-timer that beat Markstrom from the mitt side at 11:42.
It was Connor’s 31st goal of the season, having scored in his last three games.
The Flames saw a goal by Zadorov disallowed after 4:38 of play in the second period, due to obstruction against the goalkeeper.
However, they scored less than two minutes later when Mangiapane netted their 17th of the campaign.
Duehr broke the tie by rounding the net at 4:08 of the third period, 10 seconds after another one-man opportunity for the Flames.
Zadorov confirmed the victory for his team by beating Hellebuyck with a shot he couldn’t catch, midway through the third period.
The Jets have another big game on Saturday when they take on the Nashville Predators. The Predators have 86 points and have five games in their season.
Chris Kreider and Tyler Motte each scored twice as the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-3 on Wednesday.
Kaapo Kakko and Artemi Panarin also scored for Rangers. Mika Zibanejad had three assists, while Barclay Goodrow and Adam Fox both had two assists.
The Rangers have won five of their last seven games, improving to 11-2-2 in their last 15 games. Igor Shesterkin stopped 28 shots en route to his ninth victory in his last 11 meetings.
In the loss, Alex Killorn had a goal and an assist. Darren Raddysh and Brandon Hagel also scored for the Lightning, who had won their previous three games. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished the match with 31 saves.
Kreider scored his second goal of the game and his 35th of the season to put Rangers ahead 5-3 with less than nine minutes left in the third period.
Kreider took advantage of a rebound from a backhand shot from Zibanejad, which hit the post. Zibanejad picked up his 600th point on the streak.
Panarin scored on the power play with 6:11 to go, his 26th of the campaign, to make it 6-3.
Trailing 3-1 after one period, the Lightning closed the gap through Raddysh, whose shot appeared to deflect off the stick of Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider. It was Raddysh’s first career NHL goal, in his 17th game.
Motte beat Vasilveskiy 15 seconds later on the breakaway, scoring his second of the game and his eighth of the season.
The Lightning cut the deficit to 4-3 with less than nine minutes left in the second period thanks to Hagel’s 28th goal after a video review of the footage.
Kreider opened the scoring in the game by deflecting Vladimir Tarasenko’s shot on the power play 6:13 into the game, scoring on Rangers’ second shot in the first period.
Kakko made it 2-0 less than two minutes later on Rangers’ next shot. Kakko notched his 17th of the season by beating Vasilevskiy on the tackle side.
Motte tripled his team’s lead with a shot from the left circle, midway through the first period.
Killorn redirected Mikhail Sergachev’s point shot on the power play to put the Lightning on the board. It was Killorn’s 25th net of the season.
