Blues defeat Cunucks and take playoff spot - NHL Highlights

Brian Elliott posted his third consecutive shutout and Kyle Brodziak and Robby Fabbri scored first-period goals as the St. Louis Blues clinched a playoff spot with a 4-0 win Friday night over the Vancouver Canucks.

The win also pulled the Blues into a tie with the idle Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division with 97 points. Each team has seven games remaining in the regular season.

John Carlson scored with 2:43 left in overtime to lead the Washington Capitals to a 1-0 win over New jersey Devils at the Prudential Centre on Friday.

Braden Holtby made 22 saves as Washington improved to 53-15-5.

After losing defenseman Anton Stralman to injury early in Friday's game, the Tampa Bay Lightning got three goals from defensemen in the third period, pulling away for a 7-4 win over the New York Islanders at Amalie Arena, moving back into first place in the Atlantic Division.

Tied 4-4 in the third, Tampa Bay (43-26-5) got two goals in a 23-second span, with Tyler Johnson giving them the lead on a rebound for his 13th goal of the season, then defenseman Jason Garrison -- who already had two assists -- scoring the sixth goal for a two-goal cushion. Another defenseman, Victor Hedman, added an empty-net goal with 1:25 to set a season high for scoring for Tampa Bay.