New York
Nash broke a 1-1 tie with his second goal of the contest at 4:12 of the third period, beating Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss from the slot for his seventh goal of the season. Dominic Moore assisted on the decisive goal, which lifted Boston two points ahead of the Islanders for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
John Tavares scored for New York and Greiss finished with 16 saves.
Tavares had a golden chance to knot the score with just over six minutes left in the third period, but rang the puck off the crossbar with the Islanders on their sixth power play of the game.
New York is now 0-3-1 on home ice since earning points in 11 straight (9-0-2), their longest such streak at home since 1982.
Tavares opened the scoring at 10:05 of the first, rifling the puck past Khudobin after skating through and around the Boston defense. Tavares’ 28th goal this season tied the captain with Bob Nystrom for eighth place on the franchise list with 235 goals.
Nash quickly answered, beating Greiss low on the stick side 36 seconds later. The unassisted goal brought loud cheers by many Bruins fans scattered throughout the sellout crowd of 15,795 at Barclays Center.
The Islanders outshot the Bruins 8-3 in the brisk first period.
The playoff-like pace continued throughout the second. Greiss made a number of acrobatic saves and also stopped Drew Stafford and David Krejci on point-blank chances with just under five minutes left.
The chippy play led to several skirmishes particular after Bruins forward David Pastrnak clobbered Islanders forward Stephan Gionta in front of the home team’s bench with about four minutes left in the period. Pastrnak received only a 2-minute roughing penalty.
It was the home team’s third power play of the second but they couldn’t convert against Khudobin, who started in place of starter Tuukka Rask.
Sabres 5, Maple Leafs 2
Buffalo, n.y.
The Maple Leafs’ hold on third-place in the Atlantic Division dwindled in having a three-game winning streak end and losing in regulation for just the second time in their past 10 (7-2-1).
With 85 points, Toronto has a one-point edge over Boston after the Bruins beat the New York Islanders.
Canadiens 3, Senators 1
Montreal
Shea Weber also scored for Montreal, which leads Ottawa by three points, although the Senators have a game in hand.
Panthers 7, Blackhawks 0
Sunrise, Fla.
Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and three assists, and Aleksander Barkov added a goal and two assists for Florida.
Flames 3, Blues 2 (ot)
St. Louis
Troy Brouwer and Matt Bartkowski also scored for the Flames, who improved to 13-4 in overtime this season.
Hurricanes 3, Devils 1
Newark, n.j.
Capitals 4, Coyotes 1
Washington
Ovechkin became the third player in league history to score 30-plus goals in each of his first 12 seasons, joining Mike Gartner (15) and Wayne Gretzky (13).
Blue Jackets 1, Flyers 0
Columbus, Ohio
Bobrovsky was terrific in his NHL-leading 40th win, and Alexander Wennberg tipped in the game’s only goal in the second period.
Canucks 4, Wild 2
St. Paul, Minn.
Brock Boeser and Jack Skille also scored for Vancouver, while Richard Bachman stopped 25 shots in just his third start of the season.
