National Hockey

MONTREAL — Matthew Tkachuk etched his name into the history books in impressive fashion on Thursday. Tkachuk had a hat trick and one assist in leading the Florida Panthers to a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers gave a glimpse of a possible first-round playoff series in a couple of weeks, and it's going to be fun if it happens. There are no guarantees, though.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tristan Jarry typically speaks in a monotone, symbolic of a goaltender who when he's at his best takes a boring, almost zen-like approach to his job.

BOSTON (AP) — David Pastrnak scored his 53rd goal of the season 41 seconds into overtime and the Boston Bruins wrapped up the Presidents’ Trophy with their franchise-record 58th victory, 2-1 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

WINNIPEG — When Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness criticized some players this week for lack of effort, veteran forward Nino Niederreiter agreed there have been “passengers” on the struggling team’s ride to the playoffs.

TORONTO — Marty Walsh was a couple months short of his eighth birthday. He should have been out playing with friends. The youngster instead spent the winter of 1975 in hospital battling cancer. One day, however, a special visitor appeared.

Marty Walsh is still fresh in his new job as head of the NHL Players' Association and trying to learn what members of the union want. It didn't take long to figure out a couple of priorities. The former U.S.

Florida Panthers (37-31-7, fourth in the Atlantic Division) vs. Montreal Canadiens (30-39-6, eighth in the Atlantic Division) Montreal, Quebec; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NHL LINE : Panthers -230, Canadiens +188; over/under is 6.

Dallas Stars (40-20-14, second in the Central Division) vs. Arizona Coyotes (27-35-13, seventh in the Central Division) Tempe, Arizona; Friday, 10:30 p.m. EDT BOTTOM LINE: The Arizona Coyotes play the Dallas Stars after losing five games in a row.

Washington Capitals (34-32-9, sixth in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (43-26-6, third in the Atlantic Division) Tampa, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m.