TAMPA, Fla. – Martin St. Louis scored twice in the third period, helping the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 Thursday night.

St. Louis scored his second goal of the game and 37th overall from just below the left-circle off a pass through the slot by Cory Stillman to put the Lightning ahead with 2:20 remaining.

The Panthers had tied it at 3 on Lyle Odelein’s goal from the blue line at 14:14 of the third.

The Lightning took a 3-2 lead earlier in the period on goals by St. Louis and Fredrik Modin.

Flyers 2, Canadiens 0

MONTREAL – Simon Gagne and Michal Handzus scored, and the Philadelphia Flyers strengthened their hold on first place in the Atlantic Division with a 2-0 victory over the slumping Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Sean Burke made 24 saves for his second shutout of the season and 35th of his career. Philadelphia had lost its previous two games with Robert Esche in goal.

The Canadiens lost a fifth straight game and missed a chance to clinch seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

Red Wings 3, Blues 2

ST. LOUIS – Marc Lamothe won in his second start of the season and Chris Chelios had two assists, helping the Detroit Red Wings clinch first place overall in the NHL with a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.

The Blues missed a chance to clinch their 25th straight playoff berth, which would extend the longest current streak in professional sports. Instead, the loss in their regular-season home finale put them in a three-way tie with the Oilers and Predators for seventh in the Western Conference with two games to go.

Predators 3, Blackhawks 1

CHICAGO – Steve Sullivan and Jeremy Stevenson had a goal and an assist each, and Tomas Vokoun made 34 saves for the Nashville Predators, who moved into a tie for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 3-1 victory Thursday night over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The victory gave the Predators 89 points as they try for their first postseason berth in their sixth year in the NHL. Nashville is tied with idle Edmonton and St. Louis, a 3-2 loser to Detroit. The Predators and Blues have two games remaining; the Oilers one.

NBA
Trail Blazers 88, 76ers 82

PHILADELPHIA – Zach Randolph scored 18 points, and Darius Miles had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to an 88-82 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.

The surging Blazers (39-36) have won nine of their last 12 games and moved into a tie with the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Mavericks 127, Kings 117

DALLAS – Michael Finley scored 29 points, Steve Nash had a career-high 19 assists and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Western Conference-leading – and suddenly struggling – Sacramento Kings 127-117 Thursday night.

Finley made seven straight field goals in one stretch. The first four came in a 10-0 run at the end of the first half that pushed the Mavericks ahead 67-50.

Sacramento scored the first five points of the second half before Finley scored. Then Finley’s 3-pointer gave Dallas its first 20-point lead, 74-54.

Nash had 20 points to go along with his 19 assists, the most in the NBA this season and a franchise record for a regulation game. Jason Kidd had 25 assists in a double-overtime game in 1996.

Dirk Nowitzki followed a 35-point, 18-rebound effort Tuesday against Cleveland with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Marquis Daniels and Antawn Jamison had 16 points each.

Mike Bibby led six Kings in double figures with 23 points. Chris Webber had 22 points and Peja Stojakovic 21.

Finley, coming off a season-low two points in 10 minutes against Cleveland after missing three games with a strained right calf, hit 13 of 22 shots in his team-high 42 minutes.

His 13-foot fadeaway jumper with 2:44 left started the first half-ending spurt. His follow-up slam dunk of Jamison’s missed layup came with 2.3 seconds left.

Mavericks coach Don Nelson, whose team has already clinched a playoff spot, said he is emphasizing the small lineup in hopes of getting the team in a positive frame of mind.

That means more time for rookies Daniels, who started his fifth straight game, and Josh Howard. Eduardo Najera, who scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, also plays more.

Healthy center Danny Fortson didn’t play, and 7-foot-6 Shawn Bradley was on the court only seven minutes. Scott Williams, a 6-11 center, was in street clothes with a sore right knee though an MRI was negative.

Dallas has won three straight since a three-game losing streak. The Mavericks are still sixth in the conference, and could miss out on a chance for homecourt advantage for at least one postseason round.

Sacramento was coming off a 107-89 loss at San Antonio a night earlier, and ends its Texas trip Sunday at Houston.

The Rockets played later Thursday night against Los Angeles. The Lakers carried a nine-game winning streak into the game, with a chance to match Sacramento for the Western Conference and Pacific Division lead with seven games left in the regular season.

After trailing by as many as 27 points, the Kings cut the gap to 120-111 with just under three minutes left. But they never got closer after Stojakovic missed two short baseline jumpers.

Notes: Webber, who has been bothered by an injured pinkie, had X-rays before the game. They were negative, but he then had a cortisone shot. … Brad Miller sat out again for the Kings because of a sore right elbow.

AP-ES-04-01-04 2300EST