Toronto — The Boston Bruins moved back into a tie for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Byron Dafoe made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season, and Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist in the Bruins' 3-0 victory over Toronto on Wednesday night.
Boston's Brian Rolston, left, celebrates his goal with teammate Eric Weinrich. The Bruins blanked the Maple Leafs, 3-0, Wednesday night in Toronto.
Boston tied the Carolina Hurricanes, who lost to Washington. Both teams have 79 points and six regular-season games remaining.
"Hopefully, Carolina will keep on losing, and we'll keep on winning and we'll sneak in there," Thornton said.
Bill Guerin and Brian Rolston also scored for the Bruins, who are 4-1-2 in their last seven games.
"We want to keep the must win attitude because we're not out of the woods yet," Guerin said. "I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves and say it's over. It was one good game, and we'll accept that."
The Leafs, who haven't won consecutive games since March 1, were loudly booed throughout the third period.
"We had a terrible night," Toronto captain Mats Sundin said. "The fans expect more from us, we expect more from us."
Toronto is seventh in the Eastern Conference, five points ahead with five games remaining.
"We weren't very good, and there's no excuse," Toronto's Gary Roberts said. "We have to find a way to gear ourselves up for the final five games."
Mikko Eloranta passed the puck in front to Thornton, who banged in his own rebound at 1:13 of the first.
Stars 3, Canucks 1
Vancouver, British Columbia Ted Donato scored twice and added an assist as Dallas beat Vancouver. Donato opened the scoring 15:10 into the first period on a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that beat Vancouver goaltender Bob Essensa.
Capitals 7, Hurricanes 0
Washington Washington, breaking out of a two-week scoring funk, all but wrapped up its second consecutive Southeast Division title with a victory over Carolina. Trevor Linden had a goal and an assist, his first points since he was acquired from Montreal at the trade deadline on March 11.
Rangers 4, Islanders 2
New York Jan Hlavac had a goal and two assists, and Guy Hebert made 33 saves as the Rangers beat the Islanders. Petr Nedved, Michal Grosek and Manny Malhotra also scored for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Nedved reached 30 goals for the fourth time in his career.
Senators 5, Blackhawks 2
Chicago Shawn McEachern and Mike Sillinger each had a goal and an assist as Ottawa extended its unbeaten streak to five games. Alexei Yashin's goal midway through the second period broke a 2-2 tie and stood up as the game-winner. Marian Hossa and Mike Fisher also connected for Ottawa.
Red Wings 5, Blues 2
Detroit Brendan Shanahan broke a tie with 24.4 seconds left in the second period and Detroit went on to beat St. Louis. Shanahan's 30th goal of the season came on a wrist shot from the high slot and trickled through St. Louis goaltender Roman Turek's pads.
Devils 4, Thrashers 2
Atlanta Alexander Mogilny scored twice, including the go-ahead goal with about six minutes remaining, as New Jersey won its eighth straight road game.
Oilers 4, Avalanche 1
Edmonton, Alberta Ryan Smyth scored twice and Tommy Salo made 23 saves to lead Edmonton over Colorado. Ethan Moreau and Mike Grier also scored for the Oilers.
Panthers 2, Canadiens 2
Sunrise, Fla. Oleg Petrov scored with just 12.6 seconds left in regulation to lift Montreal to a tie with Florida. Martin Rucinsky also scored for the Canadiens, who are just 1-2-2 in their last five. Vaclav Prospal and Rob Niedermeyer scored for Florida.
Coyotes 2, Wild 0
St. Paul, Minn. Shane Doan had two goals and Sean Burke made 29 saves to lead Phoenix to a victory over Minnesota and move the Coyotes ahead of Los Angeles in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
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