Gameday 97 (Thu, 25 Apr) - Results

NY Islanders v Philadelphia 1-2 - The Philadelphia Flyers gave their fans something to smile about in their final home game of a disappointing season. Rookie defenseman Oliver Lauridsen scored with 6:31 remaining in regulation Thursday and the Flyers beat the New York Islanders 2-1 at Wells Fargo Center. Lauridsen, one of several newcomers on the injury-plagued Philadelphia blue line, stepped into a slap shot at the left point and beat goaltender Kevin Poulin after a couple of dominant shifts by the Flyers kept the Islanders pinned in their zone. The Flyers finished 15-7-2 at Wells Fargo Center; they end their season by visiting the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 21 shots, allowing a second-period goal by John Tavares, and the Flyers handed the Islanders their first regulation loss this month. New York had been 8-0-3 in April and hadn't lost in regulation since March 30. Poulin, making his first start since April 2, stopped 28 shots. Evgeni Nabokov is likely to play Friday night at the Buffalo Sabres when the Islanders end their regular season. The Islanders, who clinched their first Stanley Cup Playoff berth in six years Tuesday and entered Thursday in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, came out a step slow and the Flyers controlled the first period, outshooting New York 13-4 and scoring the only goal. With Eric Boulton in the penalty box for a cross check, Matt Carkner failed to clear and the Flyers wound up with a 2-on-1 down low. Brayden Schenn made a perfect feed across the slot to Danny Briere, who snapped a shot past Poulin for his sixth of the season. It was his first goal since getting a pair against the Islanders on Feb. 18. The Islanders forced Bryzgalov to make a big stop on Matt Moulson in the final seconds of the first period, then tied the game 1:37 into the second. Tavares carried into the zone, dished to Carkner and went to the front of the net, where he deflected Carkner's shot-pass inside the left post for his 28th of the season. The loss dropped the Islanders from sixth to eighth place in the East. They would finish eighth and face the conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round if they lose in regulation at Buffalo on Friday. To avoid that, they'll have to play a lot better than they did against the Flyers and in Tuesday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 21 shots, allowing a second-period goal by John Tavares, and the Flyers handed the Islanders their first regulation loss this month. New York had been 8-0-3 in April and hadn't lost in regulation since March 30. Poulin, making his first start since April 2, stopped 28 shots. Evgeni Nabokov is likely to play Friday night at the Buffalo Sabres when the Islanders end their regular season. The Islanders, who clinched their first Stanley Cup Playoff berth in six years Tuesday and entered Thursday in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, came out a step slow and the Flyers controlled the first period, outshooting New York 13-4 and scoring the only goal. With Eric Boulton in the penalty box for a cross check, Matt Carkner failed to clear and the Flyers wound up with a 2-on-1 down low. Brayden Schenn made a perfect feed across the slot to Danny Briere, who snapped a shot past Poulin for his sixth of the season. It was his first goal since getting a pair against the Islanders on Feb. 18. The Islanders forced Bryzgalov to make a big stop on Matt Moulson in the final seconds of the first period, then tied the game 1:37 into the second. Tavares carried into the zone, dished to Carkner and went to the front of the net, where he deflected Carkner's shot-pass inside the left post for his 28th of the season. The loss dropped the Islanders from sixth to eighth place in the East. They would finish eighth and face the conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round if they lose in regulation at Buffalo on Friday.To avoid that, they'll have to play a lot better than they did against the Flyers and in Tuesday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Ottawa v Washington 2-1 - The Ottawa Senators refused to let a rash of injuries keep them out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Senators capped their unlikely run to a playoff berth Thursday night when Sergei Gonchar's power-play goal 47 seconds into overtime gave Ottawa a 2-1 victory against the Washington Capitals and the final postseason berth in the Eastern Conference. Gonchar blasted a slap shot from inside the right circle past Michal Neuvirth to give the Senators the victory and eliminate the Winnipeg Jets, the only team that could have caught them. The goal came with Washington's Mike Ribeiro serving a roughing penalty he took with 58 seconds left in regulation. The Senators advanced to the postseason despite missing No. 1 center Jason Spezza for almost all of the regular season, missing Norris Trophy defenseman Erik Karlsson for nearly 10 weeks with a torn Achilles tendon, and playing without No. 1 goaltender Craig Anderson and high-scoring forward Milan Michalek for long stretches due to injuries. Neuvirth made 39 saves as the Senators outshot the Capitals 41-20. Washington, which had locked up the Southeast Division and the No. 3 seed, got their goal from Alex Ovechkin in the third period. The teams could meet again in the playoffs, the Senators enter the final three days of the season as the No. 6 seed and would draw Washington in the opening round. They defeated the Capitals on consecutive Thursdays and swept the three-game season series. Karlsson played for the first time since suffering a 70-percent tear of his Achilles tendon on Feb. 13. MacLean didn't hold back using his top defenseman: Karlsson played 27:11, attempted 12 shots and got eight of them on goal. A play that wasn't credited as a Karlsson shot wound up as the game's first goal. He teed up a slap shot from the right point, and Jacob Silfverberg deflected it past Neuvirth at 12:35 of the second period for his 10th goal of the season. The Capitals tied it 8:31 into the third period on a spectacular effort by Ovechkin. He raced down the right side, cut to the front of the net and slid a backhander past Anderson for his NHL-best 32nd goal of the season. It was one of four shots by the Capitals in the final 20 minutes. Ottawa outshot Washington 23-4 in the third period but couldn't get a puck past Neuvirth until the overtime.

NY Rangers v Carolina 4-3 - When New York Rangers captain Ryan Callahan fired a shot high inside the far post in overtime, he did more than just send his team to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He hit the release valve for a group that has been clawing for this day for nearly a month. In the second of three games in which the Rangers could lock up a playoff berth, New York squandered a 2-0 lead, scored late in the third to tie it, then leaned on its captain for the clincher in a 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. On April 1, the Rangers were 16-15-3, clinging to eighth place in the Eastern Conference, and the six teams positioned ninth through 14th were within four points. New York responded with a 9-3-1 run. There were plenty of ups and downs Thursday night. The Rangers scored twice in the first period, getting one from Derek Stepan 3:29 into the game, and another from Derick Brassard, who circled the net and fired into an open right side at 15:52. The Hurricanes tied it in the second on a power-play goal from Jiri Tlusty and a snap shot from Tuomo Ruutu three minutes later. When Tlusty scored his second goal in the first minute of the third period, the Rangers had to wonder if they might need the season finale to punch their playoff ticket. After outshooting Carolina 16-4 in the second period, New York continued to push for chances in the third. The Rangers finally scored the tying goal on a fluky play. Richards' shot off the end boards bounced off the right leg of goaltender Dan Ellis and into the net for a power-play goal with 2:57 left. The game was an appropriate bounce back for the Rangers after a 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, the first game that would have clinched a playoff spot for New York. Callahan's game-winner will be one Rangers fans remember for a long time. Stepan started the play with a pass out of the defensive zone. Callahan gathered the puck in the neutral zone, skated past two Hurricanes defenders and sent a wrister past Ellis, who was hugging the post. From there, the celebration began, with Callahan leaping into the arms of defenseman Anton Stralman. The Hurricanes hoped to build on a modest two-game winning streak, after losing 17 of the previous 19 games. But injuries to Alex Semin (concussion) and Joe Corvo (upper body) made it an uphill climb. Despite the lengthy dry spell, Carolina coach Kirk Muller said his team is playing quality hockey most nights. Jared Staal made his NHL debut for Carolina, joining brothers Eric and Jordan for the opening faceoff. When the Rangers’ regular season ends after Saturday’s home game against New Jersey, they will already be in postseason mode. Playing so many meaningful games over the final month of the season should help fine-tune the team. That’s the way Lundqvist sees it too. There’s nothing wrong with a little adversity to prepare for the hockey in May.

Tampa Bay v Boston 0-2 - Only time will tell if the Boston Bruins' performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning is an indication that they're ready for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. All that's certain for now is that the Bruins finally played their style of game in a 2-0 victory at TD Garden on Thursday night. Tuukka Rask recorded his fifth shutout of the season with 30 saves, Dennis Seidenberg and Daniel Paille scored goals and the Bruins won two fights, as Boston bounced back from its worst loss of the season Tuesday night in Philadelphia. The Lightning, who boast the top two scorers in the NHL, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos, were shut out for just the second time this season. Tampa Bay has won just once in its last seven outings. Rask stopped 12 shots in the third, and Tom Pyatt hit a post as Tampa Bay failed to get on the scoreboard. St. Louis has 58 points and Stamkos 56 with one game remaining in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. The Bruins were 1-4-1 in their last six before defeating the Lightning and maintaining control of their own destiny in the race for first place in the Northeast Division. The Bruins and Montreal Canadiens are tied with 61 points. The Bruins have two games left, while the Canadiens have just one. Boston took the lead early in the second period. Brad Marchand gained the zone and skated across the ice before passing the puck back to Seidenberg at the right point. The defenseman stopped the puck and then slapped it through a Patrice Bergeron screen and past Anders Lindback at 4:22. Rask preserved the one-goal lead with an astonishing glove save on Stamkos at the end of a 2-on-1 with Martin St. Louis at 12:20. The goaltender had to make a quick reaction to move from his right to the left to make the grab. The Bruins quickly added to their lead after the electrifying save. After Shawn Thornton forced a turnover at the Tampa Bay blue line, Gregory Campbell wound up with the puck to the left of the slot. Daniel Paille then one-timed Campbell's cross-ice feed into the net for a 2-0 lead at 13:39. Struggling Milan Lucic kept the momentum rolling for the Bruins before the period ended, as he engaged in his first fight in more than a month and got the better of Keith Aulie. Lucic finished with four hits in the game.

Pittsburgh v New Jersey 2-3 - The New Jersey Devils gave their fans one last win on home ice Thursday when they rallied for three unanswered goals on the way to a 3-2 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Prudential Center. Ilya Kovalchuk capped the comeback with the game-winner 13:50 into the third period, his first goal in over a month. With the victory, the Devils won three of four games against the Penguins this season. Kovalchuk took a cross-ice pass from Steve Sullivan in the Pittsburgh end before unleashing a wrist shot from the dot in the right circle that deflected off Brandon Sutter's stick in the slot and past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. The goal was Kovalchuk's 11th of the season, his first since March 13. The Penguins, who have clinched the Atlantic Division and top seed in the Eastern Conference, have followed a seven-game winning streak with two successive losses. They'll close the regular season Saturday at home against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Devils, who were forced to kill a Penguins power play with less than five minutes left in the third, rallied from 2-0 down on goals by Travis Zajac, David Clarkson and Kovalchuk. Goalie Johan Hedberg made 16 saves in his first victory since March 13. The Devils, last year's Eastern Conference champions, will close out their schedule Saturday at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers, who clinched a Stanley Cup Playoff berth with a victory over the Hurricanes on Thursday. The Devils pulled even, 2-2, on Clarkson's power-play goal 3:01 into the third period. It was his team-leading 15th goal of the season. Patrik Elias made the play possible with a picturesque feed to Clarkson from just below the end line. Clarkson's rising snap shot from the left circle beat Fleury on the short side with Pascal Dupuis in the box for tripping. Elias, the game's second star, was serenaded by the fans at the end of the game with chants of "Patty! Patty!" Elias will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Hedberg was forced to make several big stops to keep the game even. His glove save on a rising slap shot by Evgeni Malkin from the left circle 11:30 into the third prompted "Mooose!" chants. New Jersey pulled within 2-1 when Zajac took a pass from Elias and swept home his seventh of the season on a turnaround snap shot past Fleury. Pittsburgh's Jussi Jokinen gave his team a 2-0 lead with a power-play goal 14:01 into the second period. After taking a feed from Fleury in the Pittsburgh end, Kris Letang slowly skated up ice, and just as his crossed his blue line feathered a dart to Jokinen in the left circle. Jokinen controlled the puck and blasted a shot that beat Hedberg high on the long side. The Penguins were playing without captain Sidney Crosby for the 11th straight game. The team said Crosby, who sustained a broken jaw March 30, will practice Friday. The Penguins opened a 1-0 lead 8:52 into the game when Matt Cooke took a backhand in the slot that went underneath Hedberg and over the goal line. Hedberg, who was making his first start since March 19, kept the Devils within striking distance 17 seconds later when he denied Sutter's quality attempt outside the paint. Fleury was very busy at the other end in the first period, turning aside all 12 shots he faced. His best save came with four minutes left when he denied wide-open Clarkson from the left hash in the butterfly stance. He finished with 29 saves.

Toronto v Florida 4-0 - The Toronto Maple Leafs lost any chance of earning home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but it wasn't because they didn't do their part. Phil Kessel scored twice in three minutes in the second period and James Reimer made 34 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as the Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 4-0 at BB&T Center on Thursday night. The outcome set up the possibility of the regular-season finale Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens being for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, but Montreal clinched at least a top-four finish by beating the Winnipeg Jets 4-2. That game went final about 30 minutes after the Leafs completed a season sweep of the Panthers. The victory assured that the Toronto will finish fifth or sixth in the Eastern Conference. The Maple Leafs currently are fifth with a three-point lead over the Ottawa Senators, who have two games remaining, Saturday at home against the Philadelphia Flyers and a make-up road game against the Boston Bruins on Sunday. Saturday night's season finale against the Montreal Canadiens at Air Canada Centre figures to be a festive night, it will be the team's first home game since clinching its first playoff berth since 2004. Toronto clinched with a 4-1 victory at Ottawa last Saturday and dropped a 5-2 decision against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. Leo Komarov and Clarke MacArthur also scored for the Leafs, who came in having won only one of their past four games after a 9-1-4 run. MacArthur's goal snapped a 15-game drought. Kadri, playing on a line with Kessel and Joffrey Lupul for the first time all season, had two assists. The team's second-leading scorer, he had only three points in his previous 10 games. Kadri lined up with Kessel because Tyler Bozak was scratched for what Carlyle described as a maintenance day. Jacob Markstrom made 13 saves for the Panthers, who clinched the worst record in the NHL with the loss. Florida is assured of having the first or second pick in the 2013 NHL Draft. The NHL Draft Lottery is scheduled for Monday. With the loss in their home finale, the Panthers ended up with an 8-11-5 record at BB&T Center in 2013. It was the seventh time this season the Panthers were shut out. Toronto blanked them in both games at BB&T Center, winning 3-0 on Feb. 18 with Ben Scrivens in net. The Panthers ended up with two goals in three games against Toronto this season after recording five goals in each of its four games while sweeping the Maple Leafs last season. Kessel's two goals gave him nine in his past nine games and a team-leading 19 on the season; he passed James van Riemsdyk and Kadri, who each have 18. With Toronto leading 2-0 after one period, Kessel added to the lead at 1:41 of the second when he redirected Kadri's pass into an open net on a 2-on-1 rush. Kessel scored again at 4:41 after he pounced on a loose puck near the crease. Komarov opened the scoring at 5:39 after Jay McClement carried the puck behind the Florida net. McClement, playing in his 600th NHL game, tried a wraparound, but the puck slid off his stick and went across the net right to the stick of Komarov. His wrist shot squeaked through the legs of Markstrom. MacArthur added to the lead at 14:32 when he scored off a rebound after carrying the puck down the middle of the Florida zone and fed a nifty backhand pass to Matt Frattin. Florida had a great chance to score late in the first period when defenseman Brian Campbell came in alone on Reimer and deked to his forehand. Campbell had an open net, but his shot from a sharp angle went across the crease. Florida outshot Toronto 16-1 in a scoreless third period.

Nashville v Detroit 2-5 - Just when it looked like their season might draw to a disappointing close, the Detroit Red Wings are starting to look like themselves again. After beating the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena, another game they viewed as a "must win," the Red Wings edged even closer to securing a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 22nd straight season. Detroit got goals from Valtteri Filppula, Johan Franzen, Patrick Eaves, Pavel Datsyuk and Justin Abdelkader, while goalie Jimmy Howard picked up his third straight win. The only problem is the teams behind Detroit refuse to give up the chase. The Columbus Blue Jackets stayed right on Detroit's heels in ninth place of the Western Conference by beating the Dallas Stars 3-1 on Thursday night to set up an exciting finish to the regular season on Saturday. The Blue Jackets (53 points) will host Nashville, while the Red Wings (54 points), who moved into seventh past the idle Minnesota Wild (53 points), will travel to Dallas aiming to assure a postseason spot with a win. Dallas is now eliminated, while eighth-place Minnesota has two games left, at home against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday and against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday at Pepsi Center. That's exactly what they did in the first three games of this week, all played on home ice in four days. Detroit won all three, but even more impressive was how the games were decided. The Red Wings shut out the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday, decided a game in the third against the defending Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday and blew out the Predators on Thursday, after falling behind 2-1 in a sloppy first period. Mike Fisher and Craig Smith scored for Nashville, while Chris Mason started in goal and took the loss. Detroit, which improved to 8-2-2 in the second of back-to-back games this season, took three penalties in the first period that led to Nashville power plays. Fisher scored at even strength 1:46 into the game to make it 1-0, while Smith turned one of the man advantages into a goal at 12:30 to make it 2-1, putting home a rebound of his own shot. That didn't sit well with the Red Wings, who scored three times in the second and got the goals from Franzen and Eaves in the first 3:41 of the period for a 3-2 lead. Datsyuk also scored with 47 seconds left in the second to make it 4-2, while Filppula scored his 100th career goal off a pretty pass from Franzen to knot it 1-1 early in the first. Filppula also won 13 of the 16 faceoffs he took. Howard will get a chance for a fourth straight win on Saturday in another playoff-like situation. Detroit started this week in a precarious position, just outside the postseason picture, but now is down to a game that feels like it's all-or-nothing.

Montreal v Winnipeg 4-2 - The Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets could be excused if they glimpsed at the out-of-town scoreboard at MTS Centre after their post-whistle scrums during the first two periods. But by the end of the second intermission of what would become a 4-2 Montreal win, only the Canadiens still needed to steal glances at the scoreboard. Overtime wins by the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators eliminated the Jets from Stanley Cup Playoff contention, extending the franchise's postseason drought to six seasons. Winnipeg finished the season ninth in the Eastern Conference. Goaltender Ondrej Pavelec and captain Andrew Ladd were two Jets who admitted that they knew Winnipeg's fate before taking the ice for the third period, in which Montreal swarmed the home side for three goals. Montreal assured itself of home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs and stayed even with the Boston Bruins in the race for first place in the Northeast Division, both teams have 61 points, but the Bruins have a game in hand. Montreal finishes its season on the road against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday; Boston visits the Washington Capitals on Saturday and hosts Ottawa on Sunday. The Jets entered their regular-season finale clinging to the faintest of playoff hopes in a bid to reach the postseason for the first time since 2007, when the franchise was the Atlanta Thrashers. The Jets had to beat the Canadiens to have any chance at qualification and needed considerable scoreboard help to shove the Rangers or Senators out of a spot. But the Rangers pulled off a come-from-behind 4-3 road win in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Senators took a 2-1 overtime decision from the Washington Capitals. Winnipeg's 6-2-1 finish could not overcome the five-game losing streak that preceded it as well as a pair of back-to-back home losses to the Capitals in late March that allowed Washington to storm back into contention. Rene Bourque, Brendan Gallagher, David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty scored for Montreal. Carey Price, whose April numbers before the game were 3-7-0 with a 3.67 goals-against average and an .872 save percentage, stopped 23 of 25 shots. James Wright and Blake Wheeler scored for the Jets. Pavelec closed out Winnipeg's regular season by making 26 saves in his 13th consecutive start. A few minutes after the Senators and Rangers completed the Jets' elimination, Montreal ended Winnipeg's hopes for a season-ending win with three third-period goals. Gallagher's goal at 2:07 erased Winnipeg's 2-1 lead. Gallagher broke across the blue line and unleashed a heavy right-side shot that glanced off Pavelec's glove and across the goal line. Desharnais then finished off the Jets, smacking home a rebound on a 5-on-3 advantage with 12:03 remaining. Max Pacioretty whipped a high shot Pavelec misplayed with 9:10 left for a 4-2 lead. Wright started the scoring 9:10 into the game. Winnipeg managed six shots through the opening 30 minutes, but Price provided strong goaltending when needed. He denied Wheeler's first-period breakaway, stopped Wright's drive to the net a few minutes later, and smothered Wheeler's second breakaway shortly after Montreal tied the game 1-1 on Bourque's goal. Wright capitalized on a miscue between Price and rookie defenseman Jarred Tinordi that resulted in a turnover in the right corner. Chris Thorburn retrieved the loose puck before directing a pass into the left circle that Wright steered into the net over Price's glove. The Canadiens remained scoreless until the middle of the second period when Alex Galchenyuk and Lars Eller outworked the Jets in front of Pavelec. The rebound worked its way out to Bourque at the right of the net, where he jammed it through a pile of players at 9:54. Wheeler gave Winnipeg the lead again at 14:43 with his team-leading 19th goal and his fifth in his past eight games. Wheeler muscled through the Montreal defense in front of Price after the rebound of a Dustin Byfuglien shot and stabbed the puck through Price's legs. After facing Toronto in a potential first-round preview, the Canadiens can return home to open the playoffs at Bell Centre, where they compiled a 14-7-3 record this season.

Calgary v St Louis 1-4 - Knowing that wins in their final two regular-season games would clinch the fourth seed in the Western Conference and home-ice advantage in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Blues took a businesslike approach and applied it to their game against the Flames for a season-high fifth straight home win. The Blues' fourth line took center stage with Reaves leading the charge. Adam Cracknell had two assists and Chris Porter added one. St. Louis got second-period goals from Reaves, Andy McDonald and Alexander Steen, and Chris Stewart had two assists. The Blues (28-17-2) hopped over the idle Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks into fourth place by one point. St. Louis can lock up home ice against the winner of the Sharks-Kings game late Saturday by winning its season finale earlier in the evening against the Chicago Blackhawks, who have wrapped up the Presidents' Trophy and have nothing left to play for. Goaltender Brian Elliott set a Blues franchise record with his 10th victory this month, now 10-2-0 after stopping 18 shots. The Flames (19-24-4), playing out the string in their fourth consecutive non-playoff season, got a goal from Sven Baertschi, and Joey MacDonald stopped 16 shots. After a scoreless, practically lifeless first period, the Blues found their offensive game in the second. Reaves scored his eighth career goal but second in four games at 3:21 when he took Cracknell's feed and sniped a wrister on the near side past MacDonald using Porter as a screen. The Flames got the equalizer when Jaden Schwartz lost an offensive-zone puck. Elliott came out to the high slot to play it but threw it poorly off the right boards, got caught out of the net, and Jiri Hudler fed Baertschi for a one-timer at 7:58 as Elliott tried diving back into the goalmouth. The Blues got the lead back when McDonald scored his second in as many games, taking a feed from Stewart and snapping a shot high into the top left corner at the 10-minute mark. Steen was able to score despite being hooked by Maxwell Reinhart; he stuck with the play and was able to lift a backhand over a sprawled MacDonald with 4:33 left in the second after the Blues won a faceoff on the power play. It's the first time since March 7, a 6-3 win against the Phoenix Coyotes, that the Blues scored three goals in a period. Reaves added his second of the game, ninth of his career and third in four games when he crashed the net and slammed home a Porter dump into the crease 2:10 into the third period. Elliott stood his ground on a couple close calls, first extending the right toe on a shorthanded breakaway by Roman Horak with 11:49 remaining, then thwarting a rebound of a Mike Cammalleri chance with eight minutes left. Elliott topped it with a fabulous glove save on former Blues prospect Mark Cundari, part of the trade that brought Jay Bouwmeester to St. Louis, with 3:13 to play.

Columbus v Dallas 3-1 - The Columbus Blue Jackets' playoff hopes are still alive. The Dallas Stars' are not. The Blue Jackets got two goals from Cam Atkinson, two assists from Brandon Dubinsky, and 31 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky to remain alive in the chase for the final Stanley Cup Playoff spot in the Western Conference by defeating the Stars 3-1 on Thursday. Dallas was officially eliminated from contention late in the second period after the Detroit Red Wings finished defeating the Predators a 5-2 at Joe Louis Arena. The Stars have missed the playoffs in each of the past five seasons. The Stars learned their fate during the second intermission but Columbus did not know of Detroit's win until after the final horn. The Blue Jackets are tied with the Minnesota Wild for eighth place in the West with 53 points after completing s 5-1-0 road trip. Detroit, who will play at Dallas on Saturday, is in seventh with 54 points. The Wild play host to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday and visit the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Atkinson scored his first of the night 19 seconds into the game to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Jamie Benn tied it at 8:43 of the second period with his 12th of the season while the Stars were on the power play. The Blue Jackets went ahead when Letestu scored a power-play goal at 7:56 of the third period. Atkinson added an insurance goal with 1:40 remaining. Atkinson's first goal came off a rebound. Dubinsky's initial shot, a wrister from the right circle, was stopped by Kari Lehtonen, who also denied Blake Comeau's wrister from in front of the net. However, the rebound from Comeau's attempt sat in the crease to Lehtonen's right and Atkinson quickly poked it in. Bobrovsky kept the Blue Jackets in front midway through the second period when he used his pad to deny Eric Cole. Lehtonen kept the Stars within one goal when he stopped Marian Gaborik on a breakaway after Gaborik intercepted a pass from Robidas at the Stars blue line. Benn made it 1-1, scoring off a deflection with Dallas on the power play. Cole started the rush before dropping the puck to Loui Eriksson. Benn deflected the shot past Bobrovsky to get the Stars even. Dallas had gone on the power play at 7:36 when Johansen was called for a slash on Stars defenseman Jordie Benn. Columbus took the lead three seconds after Robidas was called for interference. Dubinsky won a draw, sending the puck back to Letestu, whose blast deflected first off Nystrom's stick, then off the crossbar and into the net. Atkinson tapped in the rebound of Jack Johnson's shot for an insurance goal. Now, the Blue Jackets have their regular-season finale, a game they have to win and hope Detroit loses in Dallas.

Anaheim v Vancouver 3-1 - The Anaheim Ducks and Vancouver Canucks had nothing to gain against each other after clinching division titles three days earlier. Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller still had something on the line. In a fight for playoff starts with teammate Viktor Fasth, Hiller made 19 of his 28 saves in the third period and Anaheim survived a wild finish shorthanded for a 3-1 victory over Vancouver on Thursday night. Fasth pitched a shutout his last start, backstopping Anaheim to a Pacific Division-clinching win Monday. Hiller nearly answered with a shutout of his own; he was beaten only by Jason Garrison's blast on a 5-on-3 with 3:18 left. Hiller then helped the Ducks kill off the second penalty with the Canucks skating 6-on-4 before Andrew Cogliano scored into an empty net. Hiller's hardest job the first two periods was staying awake against the Canucks, who wrapped up the Northwest Division title on Monday and but managed just nine shots despite icing their top three lines. Vancouver woke up in the third, though, doubling their total in the first eight minutes and outshooting the Ducks 20-5 overall. Hiller had no chance on Garrison's perfect shot through traffic, but came up big with Roberto Luongo pulled to create a 6-on-4 with Ducks defenseman Sheldon Souray still off for high sticking Alexandre Burrows while killing the first penalty. Hiller stopped Alexander Edler's hard shot from the point and Cogliano fired the rebound into the empty net at the other end with 27.4 seconds left. Matt Beleskey and Brad Staubitz also scored for the Ducks, who won despite resting forwards Ryan Getzlaf, Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Radek Dvorak, as well as defenseman Bryan Allen. The Ducks were also missing Bobby Ryan (flu) and Luca Sbisa (lower body), but still managed to outplay the Canucks early. Luongo, playing perhaps his final home game with Cory Schneider day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, made 28 saves as the Canucks came out flat despite a lineup similar to the one that beat the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. Anaheim outshot Vancouver 11-5 in the first period, forcing Luongo to make a handful of good saves to keep it scoreless. The Ducks kept coming in the second period, scoring twice while outshooting the Canucks 14-4. Beleskey opened the scoring on a power play 6:44 into the middle period, parking in front of Luongo and deflecting Cam Fowler's one-timer from the point past his glove. Staubitz doubled the lead two shots later, firing the puck past Luongo's glove from the edge of the right circle for his first goal of the season. Luongo, who is expected to play in the season finale Saturday night against the Edmonton Oilers, isn't ready to indulge any talk about being done with a Canucks team that was expected to trade him after he lost the No.1 job to Schneider a year ago. But he was critical of himself for letting in the Staubitz goal, refusing to use defenseman Andrew Alberts putting his stick on the release as an excuse.