Associated Press
The NHL roundup …
RALEIGH — Jeff Skinner had two goals and an assist, fellow rookie Jamie McBain also scored twice and Cam Ward made 38 saves for Carolina in a 6-2 win over Montreal on Wednesday.
Cory Stillman had a goal and an assist and Joni Pitkanen added a goal for the ninth-place Hurricanes, three points behind Buffalo and the New York Rangers in the race for one of the eight Eastern Conference playoff spots. Carolina has won six of its last eight. Mike Cammalleri and rookie P.K. Subban scored power-play goals for Montreal, which held a 40-35 shots advantage yet lost for the fifth time in seven games.
Carey Price stopped 22 shots but allowed four goals in two periods for the Canadiens. Alex Auld replaced him to start the third and finished with seven saves.
Sabres 1, Rangers 0
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Jhonas Enroth capably filled in for injured Ryan Miller by stopping 23 shots for his first career shutout, leading the Buffalo Sabres to a 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers in a seventh-place showdown.
Tim Connolly scored 5:28 into the second period to help the Sabres (39-29-9) earn their 87th point and move into tie with the Rangers (41-31-5) for seventh in the Eastern Conference with 10 days left in the season. Buffalo also was able to maintain a three-point edge over ninth-place Carolina.
The Rangers lost in regulation for the first time in eight games (6-1-1) to drop to 8-2-1 in their past 11.
While Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots for the Rangers, New York has scored just three goals in its past four games, including a pair of 1-0 shutout victories.
Devils 3, Islanders 2
NEWARK, N.J. — Andy Greene broke a tie with 4:56 left and New Jersey beat New York Islanders to remain barely alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
After the Islanders erased a 2-0 deficit on a pair of goals by Frans Nielsen 4:06 apart earlier in the period, Greene took a pass from Patrik Elias, glided into the left circle, and snapped a shot over Rick DiPietro’s left pad to give the defenseman his first goal in 34 games, dating to Jan. 8.
Blues 10, Red Wings 3
DETROIT — Cam Janssen and Chris Porter scored for the first time this season, and Jaroslav Halak, meanwhile made 41 saves to help St. Louis rout Detroit.
Porter had two goals and Chris Stewart, Matt D’Agostini, Brandon Crombeen, David Backes, Roman Polak, Vladimir Sobotka and Patrik Berglund also scored for the Blues.