Evgeni Malkin scored twice, James Neal had four assists and the Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a playoff spot with a 5-1 victory over the visiting Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

Chris Kunitz, Matt Cooke and Pascal Dupuis also scored to help Pittsburgh pull within a point of the New York Rangers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with nine games remaining. Marc-Andre Fluery made 29 saves for his NHL-leading 40th victory.

Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby was held without a goal for the 12th straight game and failed to score a point, but it hardly stopped the Penguins from winning their ninth straight home game.

Flyers 2, Capitals 1, SO: Matt Read and Wayne Simmonds scored shootout goals to lift host Philadelphia past Washington.

Sharks 2, Bruins 1: Joe Pavelski and Danie Winnik scored to lift San Jose past visiting Boston.

Lightning 3, Oilers 2, SO: At Tampa, Fla., Teddy Purcell scored in the sixth round of a shootout and Tampa Bay beat Edmonton.

Kings 1, Blues 0, SO: Mike Richards and Jeff Carter scored in the shootout to lift Los Angeles past visiting St. Louis.

Canucks 2, Stars 1: Cory Schneider made 25 saves and Vancouver won at Dallas.

Wild 3, Flames 2, SO: At St. Paul, Minn., Devin Setoguchi scored in the fourth round of a shootout and Minnesota rallied past Calgary.

Coyotes 3, Avalanche 2: At Glendale, Ariz., Mike Smith made 39 saves and Phoenix beat Colorado.