Tkachuk’s Goal Gives Ambitious Jets a Victory

While the Mighty Ducks and Edmonton ponder trying to get into the playoffs, Winnipeg, which is standing in their way, is more concerned with improving its position.

The Jets, outshot, outskated and outchecked, got a goal from Keith Tkachuk at 17:39 for a 4-3 victory over Calgary on Saturday at Winnipeg and immediately started talking about better things than eighth place in the Western Conference.

“Let’s get those teams in front of us worrying,” said Ed Olczyk, who marked his return from the injured list with a second-period goal for the Jets.

That might well happen, because the Jets have 75 points, tying Calgary and three points behind Toronto and St. Louis, which are tied for fourth.

But more important now, Winnipeg is five points ahead of the Mighty Ducks with only four games to play.

The Flames outshot the Jets, 43-29, and at times dominated as if Winnipeg was down a man. But Nikolai Khabibulin’s goaltending frustrated Calgary.

“Good teams find a way to win, even when they don’t play their best,” Winnipeg defenseman Norm Maciver said.

Calgary Coach Pierre Page was as philosophical as possible after the loss.

“We did some good things, they did the right things,” he said. “It’s not time to point fingers.”

OTHER GAMES

Felix Potvin made 36 saves for the Maple Leafs, who beat injury-riddled St. Louis, 5-1, at Toronto. . . . New Jersey, which had only two goals in the previous three games, scored six in the second period of a 6-3 victory at Hartford that pushed the Devils into a tie with Tampa Bay for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. . . . Ken Wregget made 39 saves for the Penguins, who beat Tampa Bay, 2-1, at Pittsburgh to strengthen their hold on the lead in the Eastern Conference and hurt the Lightning’s chances of making the playoffs. . . . Stephane Yelle had his first two-goal game of the season for Colorado, which held San Jose to 13 shots in a 5-1 victory at Denver. . . . Eric Fichaud stopped 20 shots for his first NHL shutout to help the New York Islanders end an 11-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over Buffalo at Uniondale, N.Y. . . . Andrew Brunette, just called up from the minor leagues, scored the winning goal 8:24 into the third period for Washington in a 4-3 victory at Ottawa.

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Playoff Race

WESTERN CONFERENCE

*--*

Team W L T Pts. 1. x-Detroit 58 13 7 123 2. x-Colorado 44 24 10 98 3. x-Chicago 39 26 13 91 4. Toronto 33 35 12 78 4. St. Louis 32 33 14 78 6. Vancouver 31 34 15 77 7. Winnipeg 35 38 5 75 7. Calgary 32 34 11 75 Mighty Ducks 31 38 8 70 Edmonton 30 41 8 68

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x-clinched playoff spot

GAMES REMAINING: Winnipeg 4, Calgary 4, Mighty Ducks 5, Edmonton 3.