Lightning Gets Closer to Playoffs

Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards scored shootout goals and the Tampa Bay Lightning tightened its grip on the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference with a 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Thursday night at Tampa, Fla..

The defending Stanley Cup champions remain in eighth place in the East with 87 points -- six more than ninth-place Atlanta, which could have made the race a little more interesting if it could have found a way to beat goalie Sean Burke.

Each team has six games left, including the eighth -- and final -- meeting of the season between the Southeast Division rivals Tuesday night in Tampa.

Burke, in his second start since returning from sitting out two weeks because of a broken finger, stopped 29 shots in regulation and overtime, then rejected two of three shots by the Thrashers in the shootout.

Minnesota 2, Edmonton 1 -- Brian Rolston beat former teammate Dwayne Roloson with a stick-side wrist shot to give the Wild the shootout victory at St. Paul, Minn.

Edmonton’s Sergei Samsonov and Minnesota’s Mikko Koivu each scored on the first shootout chances, but Ales Hemsky and Marian Gaborik were denied.

Nashville 3, St. Louis 0 -- Rookie Shea Weber scored his first goal and Paul Kariya had his 28th, leading the Predators past the Blues at St. Louis. The Blues have lost a franchise-record 12 straight games, and were shut out for the fifth time this season.

Montreal 5, Ottawa 3 -- Chris Higgins scored the go-ahead goal and David Aebischer made 44 saves at Ottawa to help the Canadiens win their eighth in a row to match their longest winning streak since an eight-game run from Oct. 24 to Nov. 11, 1992.

Boston 3, Toronto 2 -- Brad Boyes scored the only goal in the shootout to lift the Bruins at Boston. Mats Sundin salvaged a point for the Maple Leafs when he tied the score with 13 seconds left.

New York Rangers 3, New York Islanders 1 -- Jarkko Immonen scored his first NHL goal in the opening minute of the second period and Martin Straka broke a tie in the closing seconds of the period at Madison Square Garden.