RALEIGH, North Carolina — Ray Whitney brought up his 300th NHL goal with a hat trick on Friday as the Carolina Hurricanes boosted their Eastern Conference playoff hopes with a 6-1 thrashing of the Calgary Flames.
Whitney scored three power-play goals for the Hurricanes, who piled on three goals in just over five minutes to end the first period and moved within a point of the East's playoff spots.
Flames goalie Curtis McElhinney, standing in for league wins leader Miika Kiprusoff, allowed all six goals.
Stars 3, Ducks 2
In Anaheim, California, Dallas beat Anaheim to leave the Pacific Division rivals locked together for the vital eighth place in the Western Conference, along with Edmonton.
Loui Eriksson scored two goals and Marty Turco made 36 saves for the Stars.
Sabres 5, Coyotes 1
U.S. & World
In Buffalo, New York, Buffalo also moved within a point of the East's playoff spots with an easy win over Phoenix.
Tim Connolly had two goals and two assists for the Sabres. He has five points in two games after signing a two-year, $9 million contract extension.
Goalie Patrick Lalime made 29 saves. He has stopped all but two of 69 shots in the past two games.
Thrashers 2, Canadiens 0
In Atlanta, home goalie Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves to shut out Montreal.
Bryan Little scored the opener goal late in the first period, with an empty-net goal in the final minutes sealing the win.
The Canadiens have won only two of their past 14 road games.
Blues 4, Lightning 3, OT
In Tampa, Florida, Brad Boyes scored in the first minute of overtime to give St. Louis victory over Tampa Bay.
Boyes, who also set up two first-period goals, won it with his 26th goal of the season after the Blues blew a two-goal lead in the final 8 minutes of regulation.
It was the Blues' fourth consecutive road victory.
