The wild-card berth has suited Minnesota well.

The race for the two wild-card playoff spots in the NHL’s Eastern Conference is full of surprises.

Red Wings forward David Perron has been suspended for six games by the NHL for cross-checking Ottawa defenseman Artem Zub in the aftermath of a hit on Dylan Larkin that knocked out the Detroit captain.

Claude Giroux and Vladimir Tarasenko each had a goal and an assist and the Ottawa Senators beat Detroit 5-1 on Saturday night in a game overshadowed by a hit from behind that left Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin face-down and motionless on the ice.

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was face-down and motionless on the ice for about a minute after being cross-checked in the back of the head and neck by Ottawa’s Mathieu Joseph on Saturday night.

Tage Thompson had three goals and three assists for a career-high six points to lead the Buffalo Sabres to an 8-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Johnny Gaudreau leaving Calgary for Columbus headlined a busy offseason of player movement around the NHL.

The Columbus Blue Jackets made the biggest splash in NHL free agency, stunning the league by landing Johnny Gaudreau with a seven-year contract for $68.25 million.

David Perron scored twice, Jordan Binnington made 30 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 to tie their second-round series at a game apiece.

Jordan Kyrou and David Perron each scored twice, Jordan Binnington made 28 saves in his first start this postseason and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 to even the best-of-seven Western Conference series at 2-2.

David Perron had a hat trick and an assist to lead the St. Louis Blues past the Minnesota Wild 4-0 in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Players testing positive for the coronavirus late in the NHL's regular season and at the start of the playoffs affected multiple teams.

The NHL has cleared the St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights after virus testing errors.

Several St. Louis Blues players who returned positive COVID-19 tests have been cleared to play in Game 2 on Wednesday night against Colorado after the results from a lab were investigated with follow-up tests coming back negative.

CORRECTS TO SHOOTOUT, INSTEAD OF OVERTIME - St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn (10) scores on Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90) in the shootout of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)LAS VEGAS – Missing all their coaches, Max Pacioretty and the Vegas Golden Knights still managed to earn a point. David Perron and Brayden Schenn scored in a shootout Tuesday to give the St. Louis Blues a 5-4 victory over Vegas. Pacioretty got his seventh career hat trick for the Golden Knights, who were without their entire coaching staff because of COVID-19 concerns. The Golden Knights were 1 for 6 with a man advantage and are 3 of 26 (11.5%) this season.