Cole Sillinger had a goal and two assists and Zach Werenski had three helpers as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the visiting Seattle Kraken 5-2 on Saturday.

Mathieu Olivier had a goal and an assist and Danton Heinen, Damon Severson and Kent Johnson also scored for Columbus (37-21-11, 85 points), which won its fourth in a row and extended its point streak to 12 games (8-0-4). Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made 15 saves.

Kaapo Kakko had a goal and an assist and Vince Dunn also tallied for Seattle (31-29-9, 71 points), which lost its third straight. Joey Daccord stopped 23 of 27 shots.

The Blue Jackets outshot Seattle 13-7 in the first period while taking a 3-1 lead.

Heinen opened the scoring at 2:48 as his wrist shot from between the top of the faceoff circles deflected off Kraken forward Jacob Melanson and over Daccord’s shoulder.

Severson made it 2-0 at 8:58 on a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that found its way inside the far post. Daccord claimed he was obstructed, but the Kraken did not challenge the goal.

Olivier extended the advantage at 15:16 after Sillinger’s pass to the top of the crease from the left wing went off Kraken defenseman Ryan Lindgren’s stick. Olivier located the loose puck, spun and slid it inside the right post.

The Kraken responded on Dunn’s blistering slap shot from the top of the left circle at 16:17 after taking a pass from Kakko in the right-wing corner.

Seattle pulled within a goal on the power play at 8:31 of the second as Kakko beat Merzlikins with a sharp-angled wrister from low on the right wing.

The Blue Jackets responded quickly with a 3-on-2 rush at 9:33. Conor Garland drove the puck to the goal line on the left wing before sending a backhand pass to Johnson for a snap shot from just outside the top right of the crease.

Sillinger clinched the victory with an empty-netter at 17:34 of the third.

Kraken forward Jared McCann, the franchise’s career scoring leader, was a late scratch after suffering a lower-body injury in pregame warmups.

–Field Level Media

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Cameron Boozer scored 17 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to help lead No. 1 Duke past No. 9 TCU for an 81-58 victory in a second-round East Region matchup on Saturday.

Isaiah Evans added 17 points and Dame Sarr scored 14 for Duke (34-2), which advanced to the Sweet 16 against the winner of No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 St. John’s. Boozer added a game-high 11 rebounds while Maliq Brown finished with 12 points and nine rebounds for the Blue Devils, who outscored TCU by 19 points in the second half.

Micah Robinson led TCU (23-12) with 18 points, followed by Xavier Edmonds’ 12. The Horned Frogs were outrebounded 42-25 for the game, but 24-14 during the second half.

Trailing by four at halftime, TCU opened the second half on a 6-0 run — including Brock Harding’s behind-the-back assist to Robinson — forcing Duke’s timeout with 16:11 remaining.

After Jayden Pierre’s layup tied the score at 44, Cayden and Cameron Boozer each completed a 3-point play and Nikolas Khamenia laced a 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils a 53-44 lead at the 11:48 mark.

Harding’s triple stopped the run, but Sarr’s stepback 3-pointer gave Duke its first double-digit lead at 57-47.

TCU head coach Jamie Dixon picked up a technical foul with 8:57 left, leading to Cayden Boozer’s two free throws and Sarr’s third 3-pointer that opened up a 64-50 Blue Devils lead.

Cameron Boozer’s dunk and subsequent layup pushed the margin to 18.

The Horned Frogs went nearly five minutes without scoring before Pierre’s jumper cut Duke’s lead to 70-52 with 4:58 remaining. Brown’s dunk extended the lead to 22, icing the Blue Devils victory.

To a warm ovation from the Duke-heavy crowd, Patrick Ngongba II came off the bench early after a foot injury kept him out for five games. He made his first basket at the 15:29 mark of the first half, giving the Blue Devils a 9-7 lead.

TCU went ahead, 12-9, on Robinson’s five straight points before Evans’ triple stamped a 10-3 Duke spurt. Evans scored 11 straight for the Blue Devils, including a four-point play to give Duke a 27-22 lead.

After Brown’s dunk put Duke ahead by eight, TCU trimmed its deficit to two on Tanner Toolson’s corner trey with 1:12 remaining. Duke led 38-34 at halftime thanks to Evans’ 13 first-half points.

–Jack Batten, Field Level Media

The streaking Nashville Predators moved into a Western Conference wild-card spot on Saturday.

On Sunday, they’ll aim to strengthen their playoff positioning.

Winners of three straight and four of six, Nashville (32-28-9, 73 points) is set to visit the slumping Chicago Blackhawks (26-31-12, 64 points).

Nashville is coming off Saturday’s 4-1 home victory against the Vegas Golden Knights. Coupled with the Los Angeles Kings’ home loss to Buffalo by the same score, the Predators climbed into the final wild-card spot in the West.

“It’s just the belief in the guys in this room, and that’s all that matters,” Nashville’s Steven Stamkos said. “The coaching staff has a belief. The players have a belief. It’s not always going to be pretty. We understand at this time of the year points are more important than how the game looks, but you want to build and we have.”

Stamkos tallied two goals and an assist for the Predators while Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and assist to back a 39-save effort from Justus Annunen.

Stamkos and O’Reilly scored on the power play in the second period as special teams continued to be an asset in the club’s surge. Stamkos moved past Brendan Shanahan with his 238th career goal on the man advantage, good for seventh all-time.

“As a group there’s urgency there (on the power play),” O’Reilly said. “We’re putting pucks at the net, and we’re winning battles. We’ve got to keep building off of that. Obviously, the last couple of games that’s helped us, and we’ve got to continue to do that.”

Chicago will aim to salvage a split of an abbreviated two-game homestand before playing four straight on the road next week.

Playing the second leg of a back-to-back on Friday, the Blackhawks were outmatched in a 4-1 loss to the NHL-leading Colorado Avalanche.

Wyatt Kaiser scored the only goal for the Blackhawks while goaltender Arvid Soderblom kept the hosts somewhat close by making 45 saves.

“(Colorado’s) level is a level that we want to get to,” Chicago forward Ryan Greene said. “They’re going to be a contending team this year, so that’s definitely a measuring stick.”

No matter the foe, the Blackhawks know they must improve their special teams to stay afloat during the stretch run.

Colorado scored two power-play goals on five opportunities as the Blackhawks get acclimated to different personnel amid various injuries. Forward Andrew Mangiapane and defenseman Louis Crevier missed the game with undisclosed injuries. Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said he expected the duo to rejoin the lineup during its upcoming trip.

“Penalty kill’s one of those things where there’s so many different nuances that happen,” Blashill said. “We certainly have our structure, but I don’t know any way to learn it without going through it.”

Nashville can clinch the season series with a victory. The Predators won 4-3 in Chicago on Nov. 28 and 4-2 in Nashville on Feb. 26. In between, the Blackhawks earned a 3-0 road shutout behind call-up goaltender Drew Commesso on Jan. 10.

–Field Level Media