The Pittsburgh Penguins kept them in the playoffs when they muzzled the Nashville Predators 2-0 at PPG Paints Arena on Thursday.

Thanks to their win over the Montreal Canadiens, the Florida Panthers temporarily ranked second among the Eastern draft teams. The “Pens” remedied this by adding the win to their record and regaining a one-point lead over the Panthers while they had a game in hand.

Often criticized for his inconsistency this season, Tristan Jarry responded to the match of the day. The British-Colombian goalkeeper signed a 114th win in his 200th career game by repelling each of the Preds’ 28 attempts.

California forward Jason Zucker opened the scoring in the second period. In doing so, he capitalized on the great patience of his teammate Brian Dumoulin, who drew two opponents before serving him a perfect pass.

Jake Guentzel is on fire these days, and it was he who sealed the game’s outcome in the third twenty. He guided a precise relay from Rickard Rakell with a massive attack into the back net and scored a 10th goal in his last 13 games.

The Tennessee team couldn’t get any closer to the Winnipeg Jets and last spot with bouncy ball access in the West.

The loss of the Predators also formalized the Vegas Golden Knights’ participation in the playoffs.

The Bruins President

At TD Garden, the Boston Bruins clinched the Presidents’ Trophy by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime.

David Pastrnak ー who else ー dealt the deathblow to the surprising guests in overtime. He scored his 53rd goal of the season by defeating Michael Hutchinson on a top-speed breakaway.

The Jackets, who are among Connor Bedard’s most serious Derby contenders, have managed to complicate the Oursons’ task. They even led half the game on the scoreboard thanks to Jack Roslovic’s goal in the first period.

Tyler Bertuzzi, well positioned in front of the net, leveled the game by redirecting a perfect pass from Pavel Zacha. It’s only his second goal in 14 games with the mighty Bruins.

A preview of the playoffs?

At the Prudential Center, the New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Rangers 2-1 in a game that could serve as a preview of the first round of the playoffs.

Indeed, if the post-season tournament started on Friday, the two neighboring teams would meet in the first round. And one thing is for sure, this confrontation promises.

Timo Meier scored the winning goal late in the first period. He accepted a throw from Jack Hughes and fired a hard one-timer on the power play.

Erik Haula had just opened the shot on goal.

Chris Kreider answered for the Blueshirts, otherwise frustrated 24 times by Vitek Vanecek.