Simon Holmstrom scored consecutive goals late in the first period to cap a three-goal flurry Saturday night by the New York Islanders, who ensured they would maintain their spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race by edging the Calgary Flames 3-2 in Elmont, N.Y.

Casey Cizikas opened the scoring for the Islanders, who entered the day tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for second place in the Metropolitan Division and tied with the Detroit Red Wings for the top wild-card spot.

David Rittich made 30 saves as New York improved to 6-3-0 since returning from the Olympic break.

Mikael Backlund and Blake Coleman scored in the third for the Flames, who have lost seven of 10 (3-6-1) since resuming play following the Olympics. Dustin Wolf stopped all 17 shots he faced in relief of Devin Cooley, who gave up the three first-period goals on 10 shots.

A gritty effort by Cizikas led to his goal with 9:54 left in the first. After checking Olli Maatta into the back boards, Cizikas teamed up with Kyle MacLean to steal the puck from Flames defenseman Kevin Bahl. Cizikas then approached the right post and poked the puck into the far corner of the net with his third shot.

Holmstrom scored twice exactly three minutes apart later in the period.

Holmstrom, who changed his number from 10 to 92 after Brayden Schenn was acquired from the St. Louis Blues on March 6, teamed up with Schenn to finish off a 2-on-1. With Bahl between them, Schenn fed Holmstrom, who sent a shot over Cooley’s stick with 3:25 left.

The Islanders’ Calum Ritchie was whistled for tripping with 1:56 left, but Yegor Sharangovich whiffed on a shot and Jean-Gabriel Pageau picked up the puck and dished to a streaking Holmstrom, who bore in on Cooley and scored to cap his second multi-goal game of the season and the sixth of his career.

The Flames began their comeback bid 2:17 into the third, when Backlund, stationed in the slot, redirected Maatta’s shot. Calgary pulled within a goal following a fortuitous line change 6:11 later, when Coleman got a step on Ritchie and beat Rittich stick side.

–Field Level Media

Hany Mukhtar scored in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time Saturday night and visiting Nashville SC stayed unbeaten with a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew.

The match appeared destined for a scoreless draw without much in the way of true high-danger chances until Mukhtar received expert service from Cristian Espinosa. After taking a pass in the box from Andy Najar, Espinosa spun defender Rudy Camacho around twice and then fed Mukhtar near the goal mouth, where he poked the ball past Patrick Schulte.

The goal enabled Nashville (3-0-1, 10 points) to remain unbeaten despite Columbus (0-2-2, 2 points) controlling the ball most of the night. The Crew possessed the ball for 55.3% of the fixture and made 171 more passes than their visitors.

But they couldn’t convert that into goals and remained winless through four matches under first-year coach Henrik Rydstrom. Meanwhile, Nashville goalie Brian Schwake (two saves) recorded his second clean sheet — both on the road.

Prior to Mukhtar’s marker, neither team generated a scoring opportunity of better than 9%. Each finished the match with eight shots, while Nashville had a 4-2 advantage in shots on frame.

Nashville came into the match boasting a top 10 offense and defense, scoring seven times in its first three fixtures while conceding just twice. Meanwhile, Columbus found its defensive shape last week but couldn’t find the back of the net in a scoreless draw with Chicago.

This one trended more toward that match and less towards the wide-open affairs the Crew played in the first two matches. Neither team generated a chance with a goal expectancy of even 10% in a scoreless first 45 minutes.

Columbus came the closest to scoring in the third minute of stoppage time but Max Arfsten’s long-range try from outside the box struck the crossbar and bounced away.

Jack Maher logged Nashville’s only first-half shot on net in the 39th minute on a header but Schulte (three saves) was able to parry it away.

–Field Level Media

Anze Kopitar scored twice to become the all-time points leader in Los Angeles Kings history, but Jack Hughes scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period that sparked the host New Jersey Devils to a wild 6-4 victory on Saturday in Newark, N.J.

Nico Hischier scored twice in a four-point performance, Arseny Gritsyuk and Timo Meier both collected one goal and one assist, and Cody Glass added a single for the Devils, who snapped a two-game losing skid.

New Jersey goaltender Jake Allen made 27 saves.

Kopitar, who announced this will be his final NHL season — all 20 with Los Angeles — netted his 1,308th career point to move ahead of Marcel Dionne’s total for the Kings.

Artemi Panarin scored once in a three-point game, Taylor Ward tallied once and Brandt Clarke collected three assists for the Kings, who are battling for the Western Conference’s final wild-card spot.

Goalie Anton Forsberg stopped 22 shots.

With overtime looming, Hughes potted the difference-maker on the power play by converting a one-timer from the right circle with 2:29 remaining in regulation time.

Meier’s empty-net goal sealed the victory in the back-and-forth clash.

The Devils, who are all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, staked a 2-0 lead. Glass opened the scoring with a wobbly shot from the slot at 7:58 of the first frame, and Hischier doubled the lead three minutes later by burying the rebound off his own deflected chance.

The Kings regrouped at the intermission and took the lead in the second period.

Kopitar kicked off the comeback on the power play by redirecting Clarke’s cross-ice pass to the doorstep at 4:15 of the frame.

Panarin tied the clash less than two minutes later with a top-shelf shot from the high slot.

Ward gave the Kings the lead with a one-timer from the point at 11:43 of the period.

Then it was New Jersey’s turn to cue a comeback with a four-goal final period. Gritsyuk evened the affair 25 seconds into the third period by batting home a Lenni Hameenaho pass during a 2-on-1 rush.

Hischier’s second of the game, a power-play marker from pouncing on a loose puck, put the Devils ahead again at 12:42 of the period.

Kopitar tied the clash 4-4 with another power-play goal, a fluttering one-timer from the right circle 60 seconds later, but the Kings could not find another go-ahead goal.

–Field Level Media