ATLANTA (AP) " Todd White scored in the shootout after Ilya Kovalchuk rallied the Atlanta Thrashers from a three-goal deficit to a 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
The Thrashers trailed 4-1 midway through the second period, but Kovalchuk had a hand in each of the next three goals.
Kovalchuk scored late in the second period and assisted on third-period goals by Colby Armstrong and White as Atlanta tied it with 6:50 remaining in regulation.
The Rangers are one point behind sixth-place Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference playoff race. New York will travel to face the Penguins on Saturday.
Rangers backup Steve Valiquette stopped shootout shots by Bryan Little, Slava Kozlov, Kovalchuk, Eric Perrin and Rich Peverley before White flipped the puck past his glove.
Canadiens 3, Lightning 2, OT
MONTREAL (AP) " Saku Koivu scored 3:15 into overtime and Montreal recovered from blowing a two-goal lead in the third period for a win over Tampa Bay.
Koivu put a rebound past Martin St. Louis after the Tampa Bay forward stuck out his left palm to stop Koivu's first attempt on a wild goal-mouth scramble.
The Montreal captain danced off to the corner where he was joined by his teammates, who celebrated after blowing a 2-0 lead in the third.
The Canadiens won their second in a row following a five-game losing streak to strengthen their hold on the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They have 85 points.
Panthers 4, Flyers 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) " Brett McLean scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, backup Craig Anderson made 40 saves, and Florida snapped a three-game losing streak.
Cory Stillman, Radek Dvorak and David Booth also scored for the Panthers, who started the night below the postseason cutoff in the Eastern Conference.
Anderson got the start over Tomas Vokoun, who surrendered three goals on 20 shots in Florida's 5-3 loss at Buffalo on Wednesday when the Panthers gave up a two-goal lead in the third period.
Jeff Carter scored his team-leading 41st goal and Scott Hartnell added a goal for the Flyers, who had won three in a row. Philadelphia leads fifth-place Carolina by one point for home-ice advantage in the first round of the East playoffs.
Predators 3, Sharks 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) " Radek Bonk scored a power-play goal and added an assist and Nashville beat San Jose.
Radek Bonk, Martin Erat and Greg Zanon also scored for the Predators. Joe Pavelski and Devin Setoguchi netted San Jose's goals.
The Sharks scored first when Christian Ehrhoff found Pavelski midway in the slot. Pavelski sent a wrist shot past Pekka Rinne, beating him to his stick side with 4:37 left in the first period. San Jose took a 2-0 lead on the power play when Setoguchi put his stick on a rebound and got the puck past Rinne from the left side 3:12 into the second.
The Predators rallied with three goals in a span of 2:38.
Blue Jackets 5, Flames 0
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) " Steve Mason made 16 of his 33 saves in the third period for his franchise record 10th shutout as Columbus beat Calgary in a possible first-round playoff preview.
Mason, who broke the mark set last season by Pascal Leclaire, leads the NHL in shutouts and has the most for a rookie since Tony Esposito had 15 for the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1969-70 season.
Jason Williams had two power-play goals, Rick Nash had a career-high four assists, and Kristian Huselius also had four assists in the penalty-filled game. The teams combined for 124 minutes " 64 by Columbus " with 110 coming in the second period when there were two fights, two game misconducts and four misconducts.
Manny Malhotra and Williams had goals in the first period, and Raffi Torres and R.J. Umberger gave Columbus a 4-0 lead in the second.