Hull Helps Detroit Get Past Avalanche

Brett Hull reached another milestone and the defending Stanley Cup champions appear ready to defend their title.

Hull scored his 709th goal to move into fifth place on the NHL’s career list as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-3, Saturday in Detroit.

Pavel Datsyuk -- who assisted on the goal that moved Hull past Mike Gartner -- Brendan Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov and Igor Larionov also scored for the Red Wings, who have won 14 of their last 16 games.

Hull, who has 30 goals this season, trails Phil Esposito (717), Marcel Dionne (731), Gordie Howe (801) and Wayne Gretzky (894) on the list.

New Jersey 3, New York Rangers 1 -- The win at East Rutherford, N.J., ended a two-game losing streak and enabled the Devils to clinch a playoff berth for the seventh straight season. It also kept them two points ahead of Philadelphia in the race for the top spot in the Atlantic Division.

Philadelphia 4, Pittsburgh 1 -- The Flyers, ranked most of the season among the league’s worst teams with a manpower advantage, used power-play goals by center Jeremy Roenick 4:07 apart in the second period to win at Pittsburgh.

Boston 4, Florida 1 -- Jonathan Girard broke a tie with a goal early in the third period and the Bruins won for the fifth time in seven games (5-1-0-1) to move within one point of Washington in the race for the sixth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

New York Islanders 5, Ottawa 2 -- At Ottawa, the Islanders ended an 11-game winless streak against the Senators -- the league’s top team -- and moved five points ahead of Montreal for the final playoff spot in the East.

Tampa Bay 2, Montreal 1 -- The win at Montreal gave the Lightning a three-point lead over Washington for first place in the Southeast Division with 82 points. They also remained undefeated in their last five games (4-0-1).

Columbus 5, Minnesota 0 -- The Blue Jackets set a franchise record with five first-period goals at Columbus, Ohio. The Blue Jackets had lost four in a row while the playoff-bound Wild had been 7-2-1-1 in their previous 11 games.

Toronto 1, Vancouver 0 -- Owen Nolan scored a power-play goal in the final minute of the second period at Vancouver and the Maple Leafs stayed four points behind Philadelphia in the race for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

St. Louis 1, Nashville 0 -- Cory Stillman scored with four minutes left at Nashville. The Blues lead the NHL when it comes to outscoring opponents in the third period.

Atlanta 5, Buffalo 3 -- Slava Kozlov scored the go-ahead goal with 4:02 left at Atlanta and the Thrashers won their 24th game, breaking the team record set two seasons ago.

Edmonton 4, Dallas 3 -- Ethan Moreau scored the game-winner with 8:36 left at Edmonton. The Stars’ lead in the Western Conference was cut to one point over Detroit.

San Jose 3, Calgary 2 -- Vincent Damphousse scored the tie-breaking goal early in the third period at San Jose and the Sharks ended a four-game losing streak. The Flames’ Jarome Iginla scored his team-leading 32nd goal.