EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Patrik Elias’ goal and assist helped New Jersey clinch a playoff berth and hurt the New York Rangers’ chances of getting to the postseason with a 3-1 win on Saturday.

Pascal Rheaume and Scott Stevens also scored, and Martin Brodeur made 16 saves.

Red Wings 5, Avalanche 3

DETROIT – Brett 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.

Flyers 4, Penguins 1

PITTSBURGH – Jeremy Roenick scored two power-play goals as Philadelphia beat Pittsburgh 4-1.

Maple Leafs 1, Canucks 0

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Owen Nolan scored a power-play goalas Toronto beat Vancouver 1-0.

Lightning 2, Canadiens 1

MONTREAL – Ben Clymer scored midway through the third to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens.

Blue Jackets 5, Wild 0

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Andrew Cassels scored twice as the Columbus Blue Jackets set a franchise record with five first-period goals in beating the Minnesota Wild 5-0.

Thrashers 5, Sabres 3

ATLANTA – Slava Kozlov scored the go-ahead goal with 4:02 left and Ilya Kovalchuk set a franchise record with his 33rd of the season as Atlanta beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-3.

Hurricanes 0, Kings 0

RALEIGH, N.C. – Los Angeles’ Cristobal Huet made 30 saves and Carolina’s Kevin Weekes stopped 23 shots as the Hurricanes and Kings skated to a scoreless tie.

Islanders 5, Senators 2

OTTAWA – Mattias Weinhandl scored two goals as the New York Islanders beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2.

The Islanders moved five points ahead of Montreal for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and a snapped an 11-game winless streak against the Senators – the NHL’s top club.

Dave Scatchard, Roman Hamrlik and former Senator Alexei Yashin also scored for the Islanders.

Bryan Smolinski and Marian Hossa scored for Ottawa.

Scatchard opened the scoring at 11:46 of the first period, beating Martin Prusek with a shot high to the stick side.

Bryan Smolinski tied it less than two minutes later with his first goal for the Senators, beating Snow a shot from the side.

Ottawa then lost Prusek at 15:52 of the first period after he was kneed in the head by Mike Peca during a scramble in the crease. Prusek was slow to get up and had to be helped off the ice. He had allowed one goal on eight shots before being replaced by Patrick Lalime, who allowed four goals on 16 shots.

Weinhandl scored his first of the night with under three minutes remaining in the first when Wade Redden failed to tie him up at the blue line, allowing the rookie to go in alone and beat Lalime with a low wrist shot.

Yashin, who was given his usual unfriendly welcome by Ottawa fans, put the Islanders up 3-1 with a power-play goal at 11:43 of the second.

Less than a minute later, Weinhandl scored his second of the night, jumping on a loose puck in front of the net and beating Lalime.

Hamrlik made it 5-1 midway through the third, scoring a power-play goal on a shot from the point. Hossa scored his 41st goal of the season with 2:36 remaining in the game.

Coming into the game the Islanders, had just one win in their last 29 meetings with the Senators (1-21-7-0), the lone victory coming April 6, 2000.

Notes: Ottawa C Todd White returned to the lineup after missing two games with a hip flexor. … Ottawa D Curtis Leschyshyn remains sidelined with an ankle injury, while Vaclav Varada missed his fifth straight game due to a knee injury. … Chris Neil and Jason Spezza were healthy scratches for the Senators. New York’s Justin Mapletoft and Radek Martinek also were healthy scratches.

AP-ES-03-15-03 2159EST

bres are winless in five games (0-2-2-1).

Kovalchuk, a second-year player, broke the season record for goals by skating from his own end into Buffalo’s zone, then moving across the ice and putting the puck past Biron. Atlanta goalie Pasi Nurminen got an assist on the goal.

Donald Audette scored 32 goals for Atlanta in 2000-01.

The Thrashers, trying to avoid finishing with the worst record in the NHL for the second year in a row, moved into a tie with Buffalo at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

James Patrick nearly tied it again moments after Kozlov’s goal, taking a pass from Connolly on a 2-on-1 right in front of Nurminen. But the goalie leaped to his right and just kept the puck out of the net with his stick.

A video replay confirmed that the puck never crossed the line.

Notes: Kozlov nearly scored in the first period when he tried to stuff a rebound by Biron. But video review showed the puck stayed in the crease. … During the second period, a fan was surprised by a message from her husband, who’s overseas in the Armed Forces. A picture of her husband was shown on the scoreboard while his message was read aloud. … Buffalo fell to 6-8-1-0 against the Thrashers.

AP-ES-03-15-03 2139EST

right wing that slipped between the leg pads of goaltender Manny Fernandez.

Columbus had not scored the first goal in its previous 14 games.

The Blue Jackets converted on the power play at the 6:09 mark, Mike Sillinger tapping in his 17th. Columbus moved the puck with almost every skater touching it, Cassels passing to Geoff Sanderson at the right post with Sanderson passing through the crease to Sillinger who was all alone at the left post.

Sanderson had two assists.

Cassels’ two goals came in a span of 18:25 – after he had scored twice in his previous 21 games.

David Ling, just called up this week from the minors, rocketed a slap shot through heavy traffic for his third goal of the season at 13:01.

Minnesota All-Star Marian Gaborik turned the puck over to Cassels near the blue line, with Cassels deking Fernandez on the breakaway for his 17th of the season.

Just 49 seconds later, Ray Whitney’s hard slap shot from the top of the right circle handcuffed Fernandez, the puck bouncing over his right shoulder and dribbling into the net while he looked back and watched it go in.

After the period ended, Gaborik pounded his stick into the short boards until it snapped.

Columbus, in its third season in the NHL, had never led a game 5-0 and had only led by five goals in one other game (a 7-2 win on Jan. 11 at Calgary).

Fernandez gave up the five goals – the most ever given up by the Wild in a period – on 12 shots. He was replaced by Dwayne Roloson at the start of the second.

Denis weathered 40 seconds of 5 on 3 in the third period and stopped the Wild on five power plays.

Notes: Whitney has nine goals and two assists in his last nine games and is now two points shy of his career high of 71. … Minnesota did not have a penalty in a 3-1 home victory over Nashville on Friday night, then had nine penalties totaling 30 minutes against Columbus. … The Wild, starting a four-game road trip, began the night in sixth place in the West 12 points ahead of ninth-place Nashville.

AP-ES-03-15-03 2143EST

firmed that Hossa’s stick made contact with the puck above the level of the crossbar.

Bulis got Montreal on the board 8:17 into the second when he put a rebound of Saku Koivu’s shot past Khabibulin for his 15th goal.

Shortly after Theodore stopped Martin St. Louis on a breakaway after defenseman Andrei Markov slipped and fell, Svitov tied the game 14:47 into the second for his fourth goal of the season.

After carrying the puck behind the net, Svitov spun around to his right as he moved in front before firing a shot into the net over goalie Jose Theodore’s left shoulder.

Clymer put Brad Lukowich’s pass beyond Theodore from the edge of the crease at 10:26 of the third to give Tampa Bay its first lead.

The Lightning held on as Montreal had another goal refused when the net came off its mooring after Bulis’ shot went into a crowded net later in the period.

Notes: Lightning center Brad Richards ended a six-game points streak. Richards had two goals and six assists over the course of the streak. … Tampa Bay forward Andre Roy fought with rookie defenseman Mike Komisarek 12:16 into the second. … Theodore was 1-10-1 prior to his last four starts.

AP-ES-03-15-03 2142EST

son during a wild power-play scramble midway through the second, and threw out the right pad to rob Trevor Linden on a one-timer from the slot in the first minute of the third.

Belfour got a little lucky when Henrik Sedin s between-the-legs drop pass was just out of reach of a streaking Naslund, who had an empty net with four minutes left.

Toronto, already playing without forwards Doug Gilmour, Gary Roberts and Alexander Mogilny, lost center Robert Reichel to what team officials called an “upper body injury in the second period.

The Canucks lost center Mats Lindgren to a similarly labeled injury in the first period, and forward Brad May was carried off the ice on a stretcher midway through the second.

May, who leveled Maple Leafs defenseman Robert Svehla earlier in the shift, had just passed the puck to a teammate and was still looking down when Toronto captain Mats Sundin jarred him with his right shoulder.

May, playing his second game since being re-acquired from Phoenix on Tuesday, lay prone on the ice, but was moving his feet and one arm while being carried off the ice. Vancouver general manager Brian Burke said May was conscious, but suffered a concussion. No penalty was called on the play.

Notes: Auld’s only other start came more than a year ago and was also against Belfour while he was still playing for the Dallas Stars. Auld recorded a 4-2 win. … Toronto announced before the game that Gilmour will be out four-to-six weeks after undergoing a MRI on his left knee. Gilmour was hurt Thursday in Calgary, his first game back with the Maple Leafs since being re-acquired from Montreal at Tuesday’s trade deadline. … Vancouver G Dan Cloutier, out the last nine games with a right knee sprain, is planning to return either Monday in Dallas or Tuesday in St. Louis.

AP-ES-03-15-03 2148EST