The red-hot New York Islanders scored three first-period goals en route to a 6-1 rout of the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday that extended their season-high winning streak to six games.

Bo Horvat and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist in the victory, which moved New York into a tie with the Detroit Red Wings for the Eastern Conference's final wild card spot. Both teams have 72 points with the Islanders holding a game in hand.

New York built a 3-0 lead despite producing only six shots on goal in the first period. Casey Cizikas' one-timer off a SImon Holmstrom feed opened the scoring 5:11 in, and Kyle Palmieri beat Anaheim netminder Lukas Dostal on a breakaway just 2:17 later before Nelson's power-play goal extended the margin with 5:32 left in the period.

Alex Killorn scored just 24 seconds into the second to get the Ducks on the board, but the Islanders struck three more times in the third to put the game out of reach.

Horvat extended his goal streak to three games only 34 seconds into the period before Pierre Engvall and Cal Clutterbuck each found the back of the net later on.

pic.twitter.com/B7vxGS15Gj

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 11, 2024

New York also received 22 saves from Semyon Varlamov, while Dostal stopped just 13 of 19 shots in the Ducks' second straight loss.

 

McDavid, Pickard help Oilers extend Penguins' slump

Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists to back a sharp 41-save effort from Calvin Pickard as the Edmonton Oilers extended the Pittsburgh Penguins' struggles by cruising to a 4-0 win.

Darnell Nurse added a pair of third-period goals in support of Pickard's spotless performance, though the goaltender did spend the final 1:16 of the second period on the bench after a collision with the Penguins' Bryan Rust. 

Pickard returned to make 16 saves in the third to help deal Pittsburgh its sixth loss in regulation in its last seven games and end Edmonton's two-game losing streak.

McDavid provided all the offence necessary when he scored off a Pittsburgh giveaway in its own end just 68 seconds after the opening face-off. The reigning NHL MVP then helped set up Mattias Ekholm's goal 8:53 into the first period that extended the margin to 2-0.

Nurse registered his seventh and eighth goals of the season just over five minutes apart, with the last coming with 4:02 left to play.

LOST AN HOUR BUT WON THE GAME

The #Oilers shut out the Penguins 4-0 in Pittsburgh. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/p53p35Zhug

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 10, 2024

Tristan Jarry finished with 38 saves for the Penguins, who have been outscored by a 15-1 margin while losing their last three contests.

 

Wild top Predators in overtime after pulling goaltender

A gutsy call from Minnesota Wild head coach John Hynes led to Matt Boldy's goal with 1:10 left in overtime and a 4-3 victory over the still-surging Nashville Predators.

Hynes had goaltender Marc Andre-Fleury skate to the bench for an extra attacker with time winding down in overtime, a move that paid off when Boldy one-timed a pass from Mats Zuccarello past Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros to end the contest.

Boldy had two assists in regulation, while Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist to help move the Wild to 3-0-1 over their last four games.

A BOLD(y) WIN

Join us on Tuesday vs. the Coyotes https://t.co/taQfoK5cym#mnwild x @TRIAOrthopedics pic.twitter.com/LfDROpp6Et

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) March 10, 2024

Nashville had a two-game winning streak snapped, but still managed to pick up at least one point for a 12th consecutive outing when Ryan O'Reilly scored on a power play with 2:02 left in regulation to tie the game at 3-3.

The Predators are 10-0-2 over their point streak and have climbed into the Western Conference's first wild card spot with the run. 

After Minnesota's Jonas Brodin and Nashville's Mark Jankowski traded first-period goals, Luke Evangelista put the Predators ahead 3:36 into the second before Kaprizov tied it with a power-play score late in the period.

The Wild grabbed a 3-2 edge when Ryan Hartman scored on a breakaway following a Nashville turnover with 7:32 left in the third period.