Edmonton Helps Kings by Beating Nashville

Igor Ulanov scored the go-ahead goal with 1:31 left in a wild third period as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Nashville Predators, 5-4, Friday night at Edmonton.

The Oilers moved to within two points of the Predators in the race for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. Edmonton is in 10th place with 78 points, one fewer than the ninth-place Kings.

Ulanov banged in Jarret Stoll’s rebound for his third game-winning goal. It capped a period that featured six goals, 29 shots, three lead changes and three ties.

Nashville’s Scott Walker tied the score at 4-4 at 12:29 with his second goal of the game. Radek Dvorak had given the Oilers a 4-3 lead at 11:01 with a pass that banked in off the skate of Nashville defenseman Kimmo Timonen.

The Predators are winless in seven games (0-3-3-1). The Oilers, who have won three in a row, haven’t lost in regulation in 11 games (6-0-2-3).

New Jersey 1, Montreal 1 -- Martin Brodeur made 30 saves at East Rutherford, N.J., helping the Devils move to within a point of clinching their eighth consecutive playoff berth. They can advance to the postseason with either a win or tie, or a tie or loss by Buffalo.

The only thing that separated the Devils from the postseason -- and Brodeur from becoming the youngest goaltender to win 400 games -- was Canadien goaltender Mathieu Garon, who made a fully extended pad save on Scott Niedermayer with the net wide open with about 15 seconds left in overtime.

New York Islanders 3, Minnesota 1 -- At Uniondale, N.Y., former King Jason Blake recorded his second career hat trick to lift the Islanders closer to their third straight playoff appearance. Blake’s hat trick, the first by an Atlantic Division player this season, moved the Islanders six points ahead of Buffalo in the race for the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Pittsburgh 4, Carolina 3 -- Aleksey Morozov, returning to the lineup after sitting out two games because of a sore back, scored a power-play goal at 1:17 of overtime. Dick Tarnstrom’s goal with 5:15 left in regulation tied the score for the Penguins, who increased their home unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1).

Atlanta 3, Florida 2 -- Ilya Kovalchuk scored his NHL-leading 39th goal with 23.7 seconds left at Atlanta to lift the Thrashers over the Panthers. Andy Sutton tied the score at 2-2 with 1:51 left, beating Roberto Luongo with a slap shot from about 35 feet with the Thrashers on their eighth power play.

Chicago 4, Vancouver 3 -- Tyler Arnason’s third goal of the game 1:44 into overtime gave the Blackhawks the victory at Chicago.

Arnason beat Alexander Auld from the edge of the crease. Auld was called up from Manitoba of the AHL because starting goalie Dan Cloutier is day to day with what the team said is a lower body injury.

The Canucks are 1-4-2 in their last seven games and 1-3-2 since the suspension of forward Todd Bertuzzi.