Bruins 3, Ducks 0

The Boston Bruins have been trending in the right direction for a while.

Jaroslav Halak is starting to round into form again.

Halak made 30 saves in his fourth shutout of the season, and the Bruins beat Anaheim on Friday night for their fourth consecutive victory.

"It's a team effort all the time," Halak said. "Like anytime we win a game or I get a shutout, it has to be everybody on the same page and I think tonight we were for 95 percent of it, and that makes you successful. We opened up the trip on the right note."

Noel Acciari and Jake DeBrusk scored for the Bruins, who have earned at least a point in nine consecutive games. Chris Wagner added an empty-netter with 1:31 remaining.

Halak has won consecutive starts since a 1-4-2 stretch during which he allowed 23 goals. Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy attributed the rough patch to the defense's inability to clear traffic from in front of the net and give the Slovakian goalie a chance to see the puck.

"He had a real hot streak at the start, cooled off a little," Cassidy said. "A product of both those streaks is usually the team in front of you. You play well, they keep the net clear, the goalie is going to look good."

Halak did his part, denying Corey Perry on an odd-man rush that was set up by Rickard Rakell's stellar backhand pass in the opening minute of the second period.

Halak also got some help when defenseman Brandon Carlo deflected Brandon Montour's follow-up shot of a breakaway by Ducks rookie forward Max Jones late in the first period.

Jones didn't have the angle he wanted initially and hesitated to shoot after racing past three Bruins at the blue line, allowing Halak to square up and make the initial save.

"A couple of times I got help from my D by clearing the puck or making a save for me, but I think it was a good effort," said Halak, who got his 46th career shutout.

Acciari put the Bruins in front 5:31 into the first period when he tipped Carlo's powerful slap shot past Boyle, ending a 16-game scoreless streak.

The Bruins made it 2-0 on DeBrusk's power-play goal 5:07 into the second. Anaheim goalie Kevin Boyle got caught out of position after challenging David Krejci, who easily skated past the rookie and fed DeBrusk for an easy tap-in. DeBrusk scored for the second straight game.

"Yeah, I was grinding for that one, that's for sure," DeBrusk joked. "It was pretty much lying in the crease and I had a front-row view to it, and it was just nice to be in the right place at the right time and help the team."

The Ducks have dropped 20 of their past 23 games. They have been shut out three times in their past nine games and scored a total of nine goals in that span.

"You can't expect to shut teams out every night," Ducks defenseman Josh Manson said. "It's unfortunate, but we know we have to score. It doesn't change anything for us."

Boyle made 26 saves.

Torey Krug had the secondary assist on DeBrusk's goal, his sixth assist during a five-game streak. Krug has nine assists in his past nine games.

Rangers 6, Sabres 2

The New York Rangers were locked up in another tight game before pulling away at the very end.

It was quite a relief for coach David Quinn.

Rookie Alexandar Georgiev stopped 31 shots and Vladislav Namestnikov scored two of New York's three goals in the final four minutes of a victory over Buffalo.

"It was a relief for about four minutes because for 56 of them it was a one-goal game, and playoff-type hockey," Quinn said.

"Seriously, we're on the thread trying to get into the playoff picture, and they're there," he added. "There was a lot at stake especially when you're this deep into the season."

The Rangers put it away when Pavel Buchnevich and Namestnikov scored eight seconds apart to make it 5-2 with 3:53 remaining.

Buchnevich tipped in Kevin Hayes' pass from the blue line. Namestnikov scored into an open net off the ensuing faceoff after goalie Linus Ullmark misplayed the puck. It caromed off Ullmark's stick and toward the front of the net to Namestnikov, who snapped a 23-game goal drought.

"It's a huge relief," Namestnikov said. "I had chances. The puck just wouldn't bounce in. So it was nice to see that one go in."

Namestnikov then added an empty-netter with 58 seconds remaining for his first two-goal game since Jan. 25, 2018, for Tampa Bay.

The Sabres closed out a 3-3-1 homestand. They were trying to win consecutive games for the first time in more than two months.

"It's tough to really pinpoint right now, to be honest with you," captain Jack Eichel said. "Obviously, it's frustrating. We would have liked to end our homestand on a better note. But we play Jersey on Sunday. It's a big game for us."

Buffalo squandered a chance to close the gap on idle Pittsburgh in the race for the Eastern Conference's eighth and final playoff spot. The Sabres (28-22-7) remain four points behind the Penguins.

Jeff Skinner scored twice for Buffalo, including his team-leading 36th, and Ullmark stopped 23 shots.

New York improved to 8-5-1 in its past 14 and earned its 58th point to move into 12th in the East.

Jesper Fast and Boo Nieves staked the Rangers to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Jimmy Vesey also scored for New York, which had 10 of its previous 14 games decided by one goal.

Georgiev stopped 13 shots in the third period, and was particularly sharp in the opening six minutes to preserve a 3-2 lead. First, he got across to his left to stop Rasmus Dahlin's one-timer 58 second in. Some five minutes later, the goalie squared up in his crease to stop Tage Thompson's shot from the slot.

Georgiev won his third straight start. He was coming off a 55-save performance in a 4-1 win over Toronto on Sunday.

"I don't know if it's what I'm learning, it's more confirming what I already knew about him is that he's a really good goalie," Quinn said. "He's a lot better today than he was in October."

Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei departed in the second period after sustaining a lower-body injury. He is considered day to day.

Devils 5, Wild 4 (OT)

Nico Hischier scored 3:19 into overtime and Cory Schneider got his first win in nearly 14 months as New Jersey rallied for the victory.

Hischier, Marcus Johansson and Kyle Palmieri each had a goal and an assist for the Devils, who won for the second time in eight games. Will Butcher and Ben Lovejoy also scored.

Schneider had 15 saves in relief, including three in overtime. He allowed five goals Thursday in Chicago and was 0-17-4 since his last win on Dec. 27, 2017.

Mikael Granlund and Brad Hunt each had a goal and an assist for Minnesota, which dropped to 1-5-2 in its past eight games. Joel Eriksson Ek and Nick Seeler also scored, and Ryan Suter had two assists.

Hurricanes 3, Oilers 1

Nino Niederreiter scored two goals for Carolina, and Curtis McElhinney stopped the final 40 shots he faced.

Lucas Wallmark also scored and Sebastian Aho had two assists for the Hurricanes, who have won 15 of 21 since Dec. 31 for the best record in the NHL in that span. Carolina moved a point behind idle Pittsburgh for the final wild-card playoff spot in the East.

Leon Draisaitl scored his team-leading 34th goal on the Oilers' first shot, and Mikko Koskinen stopped 24 shots while losing his sixth straight decision. Edmonton is 1-7-2 in its last 10.

McElhinney improved to 7-0-0 against Edmonton — his best career record against any opponent.