The Carolina Hurricanes clinched the Metropolitan Division title and remained on track to secure home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs with Tuesday’s overtime victory against visiting Boston.

On Thursday, Carolina (50-22-6, 106 points) will aim to keep its focus as it meets the slumping Chicago Blackhawks in the opener of a four-game road trip to close the regular season.

Atlantic Division foes Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Montreal each entered Wednesday with 102 points and are the Hurricanes’ closest competitors for the top spot in the East.

If defenseman Jaccob Slavin’s reaction to the division crown is any indication, Carolina need not worry about looking ahead.

“We put in a lot of work this season, and to do that is still a big accomplishment,” Slavin said. “But that’s just one step along the way.”

Slavin scored the game-winning goal — his first goal of the season — at 1:13 of overtime to beat Boston 6-5.

Four Hurricanes earned multiple points, as Taylor Hall and Andrei Svechnikov each had a goal and assist and Jackson Blake and Sean Walker both had two assists.

Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour, whose club has won four of five, feels the team is hitting its stride for the stretch run.

“I thought we played really well,” he said. “We had some breakdowns, and we had a couple where they made us pay. But I liked the way our group responded on everything. Overall, it was real positive.”

Chicago (28-36-14, 70 points) has lost six of seven and is in search of its first home victory since March 9.

Thursday marks the start of the Blackhawks’ four-game homestand to conclude the regular season, with each coming against teams that either have clinched playoff berths or remain in contention for wild-card spots.

The Blackhawks are coming off a loss Monday to one such club. The host San Jose Sharks, part of a congested Western Conference wild-card chase, edged the Blackhawks 3-2.

Ryan Donato and Frank Nazar tallied goals for Chicago, while Connor Bedard earned his fourth assist in the past three games.

That raised Bedard’s career points total to 200. He’s the first Blackhawk to achieve the feat before age 20, joining 12 other players in league history, including current players Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos.

Bedard had the secondary assist on Donato’s goal in the first period.

“I thought we were moving the puck well. (Bedard) up top works really well. He sees the ice really well,” said Nazar, who added an assist.

Added coach Jeff Blashill: “(Bedard’s) the guy you want with the puck in his hands.”

Blackhawks forward Andrew Mangiapane (upper-body injury) returned against the Sharks after missing the past nine games.

Visiting Chicago edged Carolina 4-3 in a shootout on Jan. 22. Blackhawks goaltender Spencer Knight stopped 28 shots in regulation and overtime. Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and assist.

Hurricanes defenseman Jalen Chatfield (lower body) left the Boston game in the third period, but Brind’Amour didn’t have an immediate update.

–Field Level Media

The Colorado Avalanche secured the top seed in the Western Conference, so the only goal left for them in the regular season is capturing the President’s Trophy and home ice throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs.

They can accomplish that with two more points in their final five games. The first chance comes Thursday night when Colorado hosts the Calgary Flames.

Colorado (51-16-10, 112 points) beat the St. Louis Blues 3-1 on Tuesday night to clinch the Central Division and the Western Conference. The Avalanche have been alone atop the NHL standings since Dec. 1, and their only competition for the overall top seed is Carolina, which has 106 points with four games left.

Colorado went 1-0-1 against Carolina this season.

“We set our goals at the start of the year, and we wanted to be on top,” captain Gabe Landeskog said after the win in St. Louis. “That’s a big step. We know it doesn’t mean anything come playoff time, other than we get an extra game at home every series.”

The win over the Blues was costly. Nazem Kadri suffered a finger injury when he blocked a shot on his final shift of the second period. Head coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday morning on Altitude Radio that Kadri will miss some time but didn’t specify how long.

Kadri, who still leads Calgary in scoring after being traded from the Flames on March 6, has 50 points this season (16 goals, 34 assists). He has four goals and five assists in 16 games with the Avalanche.

Colorado has already been without defenseman Cale Makar, who suffered an upper-body injury against Calgary on March 30, but he is expected back before the end of the regular season.

Kadri had surgery on his thumb during the second round of the 2022 playoffs but returned to play the last three games of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Calgary (32-36-9, 73 points) was eliminated from the playoffs when Nashville won Monday night. The Flames didn’t show any letdown when they traveled to Dallas on Tuesday night and nearly beat the Stars before falling 4-3 in overtime.

Calgary led 3-1 early in the third period before the Stars rallied to win it in overtime.

“I liked our game,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “There was a lot of our game where I thought we played hard. We did a good job away from the pucks, thought we had some lengthy shifts in the offensive zone. … At the end of the night, again, you’re taking penalties against a very good power play. That’s tough.”

Like the Avalanche, Calgary had a player suffer an injury Tuesday night. Defenseman Kevin Bahl played just two shifts before leaving with a lower-body injury. There was no update on his condition.

Thursday night is the second of three matchups in a span of nine games. The teams didn’t play this season until March 30, and they finish up their regular-season series Tuesday in Calgary.

–Field Level Media