Blues, Blackhawks Drop NHL Contests

ST. LOUIS -- The Colorado Avalanche moved into the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with a 4-1 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Thursday.

Mikko Rantanen had two goals and two assists, Nathan MacKinnon had three points, and Semyon Varlamov made 44 saves for the Avalanche (38-24-8), who extended their point streak to nine games (6-0-3). Colorado leads the Dallas Stars by one point for the first wild card and trails the Minnesota Wild by one point for third place in the Central Division.

"Right now, every point matters, every point counts," Varlamov said. "Every game is like a playoff game for us. This feels great to be a part of this."

Colorado's win was its first in five games against St. Louis and first in regulation against the Blues in 13 games.

Jets 6, Blackhawks 2

J-F Berube came on in relief and went on to make 30 saves on 32 shots in the Blackhawks' 6-2 road loss to the Jets.

Thursday, March 15 Scoreboard

Winnipeg 6, Chicago 2

Colorado 4, St. Louis 1

Toronto 5,  Buffalo 2

Los  Angeles 4, Detroit 1

Winnipeg 6, Chicago 2

Washington 7, New York Islanders 3

Nashville 3, Arizona 2

Pittsburgh 5, Montreal 3

Florida 3, Boston 0

Friday, March 16 Schedule (All Times Central)

New York Islanders at Washington, 6 p.m.

Dallas at Ottawa, 6:30 p.m.

Nashville at Colorado, 8 p.m.

San Jose at Calgary, 8 p.m.

Detroit at Anaheim, 9 p.m.

Minnesota at Vegas, 9:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 17 Schedule (All Times Central)

Chicago at Buffalo, noon

Edmonton at Florida, 1 p.m.

New Jersey at Los Angeles, 3 p.m.

Montreal at Toronto, 6 p.m.

Boston at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m.

Philadelphia at Carolina, 6 p.m.

Ottawa at Columbus, 6 p.m.

New York Rangers at St. Louis, 7 p.m.

Minnesota at Arizona, 8 p.m.

San Jose at Vancouver, 9 p.m.

Sunday, March 18 Schedule (All Times Central)

Detroit at Colorado, 2 p.m.

Calgary at Vegas, 3 p.m.

Edmonton at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m.

Carolina at New York Islanders, 4 p.m.

Washington at Philadelphia, 4 p.m.

St. Louis at Chicago, 6:30 p.m.

Dallas at Winnipeg, 6:30 p.m.

New Jersey at Anaheim, 8 p.m.