The spring was made for ice hockey. That's how Henrik Lundqvist feels, at least.

The New York Rangers goaltender was feeling pretty good Monday night, after his team clinched its sixth straight playoff berth. It took 79 games, but that's life in the NHL.

"It's a great feeling, a proud feeling," a relieved Lundqvist said, according to Newsday's Steve Zipay. "We're in. It hasn't been pretty at times, at times it's been great, but playing in this league, it's a grind and it's about finding ways to win games that can go either way. We'll see who we're going to face. This is the time of year when you really want to play hockey."

Lundqvist has played a lot of playoff hockey over the last four seasons - 76 games, almost a full season's worth. But he's a man of his word.

While the numbers are certainly impressive, Lundqvist would be the first to say the only one that matters isn't in the above table: 16 wins. He hasn't been able to get there yet, but he did come close, winning a career-high 13 in 2013-14 when the Rangers lost in the Stanley Cup Final.

Monday's achievement was tempered with uncertainty after N.Y. captain Ryan McDonagh was hurt in his team's win, leaving the game with an apparent right hand injury after blocking a shot. He'll be re-evaluated Tuesday.

"... There is a good chance we might call somebody up," head coach Alain Vigneault said.

McDonagh plays 22:21 a night on the blue line, and his loss would be a significant one for Lundqvist and the Rangers.

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While Ottawa's Erik Karlsson and Los Angeles' Drew Doughty are the main subjects of this year's Norris Trophy debate, San Jose Sharks head coach Pete DeBoer believes Brent Burns belongs in any and every discussion regarding to the NHL's top defenseman.

"I can't understand why he's not in those conversations more for (the Norris Trophy)," DeBoer told Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News. "He's a version of (Nashville's Shea) Weber and Doughty.

"He plays well in both ends for us, plays against other team's best lines. They're big guys a lot of nights, and he brings a physical element too, which some of those guys don't. For me, he should be in that conversation all day long, and I don't understand why I don't hear his name more."

It's a sentiment shared by goalie James Reimer, who's been able to get a firsthand look at Burns' body of work since moving to California from Toronto.

"He's an animal," Reimer said after a recent win over Nashville. "He's arguably one of the best defensemen in the league right now and probably not getting the recognition he deserves."

The numbers certainly back that up, with his ranking among defensemen in brackets.

It should also be noted that Burns' 344 shots put him 104 clear of second-place Karlsson.

Over the past three seasons, the award has been given to offensive-minded players like Karlsson and Montreal's P.K. Subban. Burns is only five points behind Karlsson and certainly has the trust of his coach in his own zone. His all-around game is likely to earn him at least a top-three finish in Norris voting this season.

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Amazingly, the Los Angeles Kings had two Stanley Cups more than they had 30-goal scorers over their last six largely successful seasons - until now.

Tyler Toffoli became the first Kings skater since Anze Kopitar in 2009-10 to crash through the 30-goal threshold, jumping on and burying a loose puck skipping through the Vancouver Canucks' crease early in the first period Monday night.

Toffoli continues to build on his career-best totals, upping his overall production to 56 points.

He'll need another four over the final three-plus games to match Kopitar's 34 six years back.

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When Vladimir Tarasenko gets a head of steam, look out.

The St. Louis Blues sniper added another highlight to his reel Monday night, skating from one end to the other, then roofing a wrist shot past Arizona Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith.

The goal was Tarasenko's 37th of the campaign, matching his career high from a season ago and vaulting him into sole possession of fourth in the NHL goal-scoring race.

His assist on Kyle Brodziak's goal less than three minutes later padded his impressive late-season hot streak.

The 24-year-old forward has 71 points in 78 games.

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NEW YORK - John Tavares got his 30th goal and two assists, and the New York Islanders scored three times in a 5:15 span to get a crucial 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night.

Ryan Pulock, Matt Martin, Brock Nelson and Johnny Boychuk also scored for the Islanders, and Thomas Greiss had 32 saves. New York holds the Eastern Conference's first wild-card spot and won for the third time in four games to reduce its magic number to two over Boston to secure a third straight postseason berth.

Alex Killorn and Victor Hedman scored for the Lightning, and Ben Bishop gave up five goals on 23 shots before he was replaced by Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 13 shots. Tampa Bay remained two points behind first-place Florida in the Atlantic Division, and the Lightning's magic number for their third consecutive playoff berth remained at one.

The Lightning were without star Steven Stamkos, who had surgery to remove a blood clot from near his right collarbone Monday and is expected to miss 1 to 3 months.

The Islanders remained two points behind the crosstown-rival Rangers for third place in the Metropolitan Division, and the teams meet at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. The Islanders improved to 10-2-1 at home since the All-Star break and play two of their last four at Barclays Center.

Martin put the Islanders ahead 2-1 with 9 minutes remaining in the second when he took a pass from Cal Clutterbuck, cut toward the net and lifted the puck in off Bishop for his ninth of the season.

Nelson made it a two-goal game about 4 1/2 minutes later when he got ahead of Lightning defenders, took a perfect pass from Nikolay Kulemin and lifted a backhand into the top right corner.

With the Lightning's J.T. Brown off for a high-stick to Clutterbuck's face, Tavares made it 4-1 with a slap shot from the top of the left circle with 3:45 left in the second. Kyle Okposo had his team-high 39th assist on the play.

Hedman pulled the Lightning back within two with his 10th of the season with 7 seconds left in the middle period.

Bishop stopped two shots by Anders Lee on a breakaway, but Boychuk wristed it in at 4:28 of the third. Tavares had his second assist of the game and team-high 64th point on the score.

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