James Reimer came to play against a key divisional rival.

The Florida Panthers' backup goaltender stopped all 46 shots he faced in a 3-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

Florida is now three points behind the New Jersey Devils for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with two games in hand and one more regulation-or-overtime win than the Devils.

The Bruins sit comfortably in second place in the Atlantic Division with 96 points and 41 ROW through 69 games.

Boston was once again playing without star center Patrice Bergeron and promising rookie defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and was also missing veteran blue-liner Zdeno Chara and rookie forward Jake DeBrusk. The latter two were ruled out for Thursday's game as well as Saturday's contest in Tampa Bay.

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Andre Burakovsky wasn't exactly complimentary when asked about the New York Islanders' defensive efforts after a 7-3 win by his Washington Capitals on Thursday night.

"The Islanders just gave us a lot of room to skate on from the beginning," the Capitals forward told reporters after the lopsided victory, according to The Washington Post's Isabelle Khurshudyan. "I mean, my first three shifts, I was skating around and around and around with the puck and making plays. We didn't really expect that out of them."

Burakovsky scored the eventual winner on a deflection early in the second period.

The Islanders outshot the Capitals 38-22 and controlled possession by way of a 62.79 to 37.21 advantage in even-strength Corsi For rating, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Still, New York's defensive woes have been their downfall all season. The Islanders are allowing an NHL-worst 3.56 goals per game despite ranking ninth in the league with 3.17 goals for per contest.

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The Philadelphia Flyers are in crisis mode as they've seen their once comfortable hold on a playoff spot start to slide away over the past few weeks.

With a 5-3 defeat to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night, the team has now lost seven of its last eight games. As a result, they are now in jeopardy of falling into a wild-card spot and potentially out of a playoff spot altogether.

Thursday's loss prompted the club to reportedly hold a team meeting postgame, according to Philly.com's Sam Carchidi.

The Flyers currently sit third in the Metropolitan Division with 81 points - after leading the Metro back on Feb. 26, the game that preceded their current streak. However, they sit tied in points with the Blue Jackets - who occupy the first wild-card spot - but have the tie-breaker with one extra win in regulation or overtime. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Devils also sit just two points back of the Flyers with a game in hand.

It seems that going on long streaks of either wins or losses has been the Flyers' MO all season.

The Flyers still have time to right this ship, but if they don't correct things quickly, they just may find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture looking in for the second straight season - and third time in four years.

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The NHL's hottest team kept it going Thursday night, and Cam Atkinson was a major reason why.

He notched the fourth hat trick of his career as the Columbus Blue Jackets slid past the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 in a key Metropolitan Division matchup.

Atkinson scored in the first period to give Columbus a 3-1 lead, buried the eventual game-winner that made it 4-2 in the second period, and added an empty-netter with one second left in the third.

The Blue Jackets equaled the Flyers' 81-point total with the victory, but Philadelphia remains ahead of Columbus for third place in the Metro by virtue of having one more regulation-or-overtime win in the same number of games played.

Atkinson's had a disappointing season by his standards, with 16 goals and 33 points in 55 games. He enjoyed a career year in 2016-17, pouring in 35 goals and 62 points en route to signing a seven-year, $41.125-million contract extension.

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David Backes may be hearing from the Department of Player Safety after catching Florida Panthers centerman Vincent Trocheck with an unsuspecting, open-ice hit late in the first period on Thursday.

The Boston Bruins forward was assessed a match penalty on the play.

The hit sparked a fight between Backes and Florida's Mike Matheson. The Panthers defenseman was ejected after receiving an instigator for fighting penalty and a game misconduct.

Earlier this month Backes was suspended three games for interference on Detroit Red Wings forward Frans Nielsen. For that, he would now be considered a repeat offender.

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Patrik Laine made NHL history on Thursday.

Picking up an assist against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Winnipeg Jets superstar extended his point streak to 14 games - the longest ever by a teenager.

Laine has recorded 16 goals and 24 points over the stretch. Just how long can Laine extend the streak? He doesn't turn to 20 until April 19, after the Jets play the final 11 games of their regular-season schedule.

The 19-year-old leads the Jets with 41 goals and sits second in team scoring with 66 points.

Prior to Thursday, the streak was held by Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, who during the 2013-14 campaign netted 18 points across 13 contests.

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James van Riemsdyk is on some kind of roll.

The Toronto Maple Leafs forward scored two goals in a span of exactly three minutes against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday, one night after potting a hat trick in a win over the Dallas Stars.

He threw one in off Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner from below the goal line to open the scoring Thursday night.

One hundred and eighty seconds later, he ripped a wrist shot past Lehner to set a new career high with his 31st goal of the season.

The 28-year-old winger is a pending unrestricted free agent.

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Jacob Trouba made his long-awaited return to the Winnipeg Jets' lineup on Thursday night.

Trouba was back manning the Jets' blue line against the Chicago Blackhawks after missing the last 20 games with a lower-body injury. He'd been sidelined since Jan. 25, and Winnipeg went 12-6-2 during that stretch.

The 24-year-old has been a crucial part of the Jets' defense this season, ranking second on the club with just over 24 minutes of ice time per game. He's also contributed 20 points from the back end in his limited action.

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The Carolina Hurricanes appear to be diminishing Ron Francis' responsibilities even more than originally anticipated.

After being stripped of his general manager title and appointed to the position of president of hockey operations by new Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon last week, Francis may not represent the team at the upcoming GM meetings.

Waddell is a veteran hockey executive, but he's in his fourth year serving as president of Gale Force Sports & Entertainment, which "oversees the business sides of the Carolina Hurricanes and PNC Arena".

Related: Dundon says Francis move wasn't about him: 'I don't want to make decisions'

Even in the absence of a GM, the move would be an interesting one considering Francis would still seem to be the top hockey personnel employee on the Hurricanes' payroll.

Waddell was the Detroit Red Wings assistant GM when they won the Stanley Cup in 1998. He was also the first GM in Atlanta Thrashers history, occupying that role from June 1998 until the end of the 2009-10 season.

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