Brent Burns had a goal and an assist as the San Jose Sharks got a bit of relief from a late-season funk with a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.
Troy Brouwer scored a short-handed goal and Roberto Luongo stopped 30 shots to help the Florida Panthers beat Boston 4-1 on Saturday and hand the Bruins their first loss at home since January.
The Colorado Avalanche faces off against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday in the first of four games the team will play away from Denver this week. Colorado is 3-1-1 through the first five games of the season and is 1-1-0 on the road.Since 1995-96, the Avalanche is 20-13-1 all-time against the Rangers, which includes an 11-6-1 mark at MSG. The matchup will be the first of two meetings between the teams, as the Rangers will come to Colorado on Jan. 4.
John Tavares and Austin Matthews each had a goal and assist, and the Toronto Maple Leafs won for just the second time in six games, beating the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara each had a goal and an assist help the Boston Bruins clinch a playoff berth with a 7-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.