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 on Friday night over the Vancouver Canucks at the National Hockey League.
Elliott made 15 saves as 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.
“We got better and better as it went on,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “I thought we were loose in the D-zone in the first period and everything tightened up. As the game went on we got more and more engaged.”
Elliott hasn’t allowed a goal since returning from a lower-body injury March 19. He is 9-0-1 in his last 11 games with a 1.61 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage during that span. But he prefers to deflect the credit. “I think the guys are feeling it,” Elliott said. “I’m kind of the beneficiary on the back end with how they’re playing.”
 
Capitals 1, Devils 0 (overtime)
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 Center on Friday.
Braden Holtby made 22 saves as Washington improved to 53-15-5.

Lightning 7, Islanders 4
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.