Results - Sat, Apr 12, 2014

Buffalo @ Boston 1-4 - The Bruins have bigger goals they hope to achieve in the next couple months, but Saturday afternoon at TD Garden they checked off their last accomplishment of the regular season. Bruins center David Krejci scored twice and goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped 24 of 25 shots in a 4-1 win against the Sabres that clinched the Presidents' Trophy for the second time in franchise history. Boston, who played their final home game of the regular season, will have home-ice advantage as long as it lasts in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy in 1989-90 and have finished first 13 times. The Bruins, the Atlantic Division champions and top seed in the Eastern Conference, know the road ahead is going to be more difficult than what's in the past. They will face the Detroit Red Wings, the second wild-card finisher in the East, in the first round. The teams have not met in the playoffs since 1957. Gregory Campbell and Patrice Bergeron, who reached 30 goals for the second time in his career, scored for the Bruins. Bergeron, who scored 31 goals in 2005-06, didn't play in the third period for an undisclosed reason. The Sabres (21-51-9) lost their sixth in a row. Goaltender Matt Hackett sustained a leg injury in the third period and was taken from the ice on a stretcher. Hackett, who stopped 20 of 23 shots, collided with Bruins defenseman Torey Krug at 8:25 of the third. Hackett was replaced by Connor Knapp, who made six saves in his NHL debut. He is the sixth goalie to play for the Sabres this season. The Sabres also lost forwards Chris Stewart (ankle), Matt D'Agostini (lower body) and Brian Flynn (lower body), and defenseman Christian Ehrhoff (concussion) to injury. The Bruins lost their prior two games in shootouts and managed to prevent their first three-game losing streak of the season. Campbell opened the scoring at 16:54 with an aggressive drive to the net. Jordan Caron drew two defenders to him on the left wall and fed a pass to the front, where Campbell tipped the puck past Hackett for a 1-0 lead. The Bruins took a 2-0 lead on a goal by Krejci at 18:23. He backhanded a shot past Hackett after a Chara shot rebounded off the end glass and landed out front. Boston went ahead 3-0 at 11:43 of the second period. Bergeron and Brad Marchand cycled the puck around the right circle. Bergeron completed the play with a one-timer from above the right dot that beat Hackett high to the glove side. Cody Hodgson scored for the Sabres at 13:58. Mike Weber won a battle along the right wall and fed Hodgson in front for a backhand that beat Rask high. Krejci's second goal, his 19th of the season, came on a power play at 10:35 of the third period.
NY Rangers @ Montreal 0-1 OT - Canadiens captain Brian Gionta was awarded the Jacques Beauchamp Trophy at center ice prior to the game Saturday against the Rangers. The trophy is meant to recognize the team's unsung hero for the season, and Gionta was a deserving recipient. But by the end of the night, there was nothing unsung about Gionta's heroism. Gionta scored the game's only goal on a penalty shot with 2:04 to play in overtime to give the Canadiens a 1-0 victory against the New York Rangers on Saturday, keeping alive Montreal's hopes for starting the Stanley Cup Playoffs on home ice. The Canadiens have known for days that they will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the playoffs, but the determination of home-ice advantage in the series will not be known until the Lightning play at the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Montreal leapfrogged the Lightning into second place in the Atlantic Division; the Canadiens lead Tampa Bay by one point going into Sunday. The Lightning have to beat the Capitals in order to claim home-ice advantage in the first round because the Canadiens hold the first tiebreaker with more regulation and overtime wins. The Canadiens win gave them 100 points, the first time since 2007-08 they hit the century mark and just the second since 1992-93, the last time Montreal won the Stanley Cup. Price has definitely been comfortable wherever he's played, punctuating a season where he won an Olympic gold medal for Canada with his sixth shutout in a 41-save performance, driving his save percentage to a career-best .927. Price closed the season strong in his final nine starts, facing an average of 34.1 shots per game but posting a .941 save percentage and a 6-3-0 record in that span. Gionta's goal was an exciting finish to what had been a rather dull game. He grabbed a turnover at the Montreal blue line by former teammate Raphael Diaz and was on his way to break in alone when Diaz hauled him down from behind. On the penalty shot, Gionta came in, faked to his forehand and deked to his backhand to beat Rangers goaltender Cam Talbot. It was his 40th point of the season; he's the eighth member of the Canadiens to hit that mark. It was the first goal allowed by Talbot in 122:56 played at Bell Centre this season; he earned his first career shutout here on Nov. 16 in a 1-0 victory. Talbot stopped the first 46 shots he faced in his career in Montreal before allowing Gionta's winner. The Canadiens took the season series against the Rangers two games to one, with each of the three games finishing in a shutout and a total of four goals scored between the teams. Vigneault decided to rest some key veterans, giving Martin St. Louis and Dan Girardi the night off. Defenseman Ryan McDonagh missed his fifth straight game, but he was a healthy scratch after missing four games with a shoulder injury. The Rangers had little to play for Saturday; they were already locked in to second place in the Metropolitan Division. They found out prior to puck drop that they would be facing the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs thanks to the Flyers' 4-3 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon. Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty fell short in his bid to become the first Montreal player since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94 to score 40 goals in a season. Pacioretty was at 31 goals with nine games remaining and looked like a long shot to get anywhere close to 40, but he reeled off eight goals in his next six games to reach 39 before being shut out in his final three regular-season games. Linemates David Desharnais and Thomas Vanek were trying all night to feed Pacioretty, and probably wound up passing in shooting situations a bit too often.
Toronto @ Ottawa 0-1 - The Senators had to reset their goals after failing to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Finishing their disappointing season with a winning record at home was a big priority. Craig Anderson made 28 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, Jason Spezza scored a power-play goal and the Senators matched their season-high four-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory against the Maple Leafs at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night. Anderson recorded his 26th career shutout in Ottawa's final home game of the season. The Senators, who also won four in a row from Dec. 28 to Jan. 4, won for the seventh time in nine games to finish 18-17-6 at home. Toronto goalie James Reimer lost for the first time in eight career starts in Ottawa. Reimer, who stopped 36 of 37 shots, entered with a 7-0 record and two shutouts in Canada's capital city, including a 1.13 goals-against-average and a .970 save percentage. The Maple Leafs ended their season with a four-game losing streak to finish 38-36-8. Toronto lost 12 of its final 14 games to plummet out of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Spezza scored his 23rd goal on a power play at 7:35 of the second period. Spezza drove a one-timer past Reimer's glove from the left faceoff circle on Erik Karlsson's pass from the point. Reimer stopped Jean-Gabriel Pageau on a breakaway before the midway point of the third. He also denied Ales Hemsky on a breakaway with less than a minute left in the first. Each team had a goal disallowed 27 seconds apart in the first period. Referee Brian Pochmara immediately waved off a goal by Toronto's Tyler Bozak at 8:28. The blade of Bozak's stick was well above his head when it made contact with the puck and the Maple Leafs center batted a high rebound of Phil Kessel's shot into the net. The Senators then had a goal denied at 8:55. Pochmara also cancelled out that goal, ruling that Marc Methot made incidental contact with Reimer while the Ottawa defenseman directed the puck into the net with his right elbow when he drove the crease after Reimer stopped Hemsky's shot. Maple Leafs defenseman Petter Granberg, who made his NHL debut, blocked a pass by Senators right wing Erik Condra to break up a 4-on-1 rush in the second.
Columbus @ Florida 3-2 - The Blue Jackets will head into the Stanley Cup Playoffs on a winning note. Ryan Johansen's power-play goal at 5:58 of the third period gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 victory against the Panthers at BB&T Center on Saturday. The victory clinched the first Eastern Conference wild card for the Blue Jackets, who will face the Metropolitan Division champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. Columbus ended the regular season with a team-record 93 points and owns the wild-card tiebreaker against the Detroit Red Wings, who have 91 points and close their season against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday afternoon. As the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, Detroit will face the Atlantic Division champion and Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins. Earlier Saturday, the Blue Jackets' opportunity to finish third in the Metropolitan disappeared when the Philadelphia Flyers defeated Pittsburgh 4-3 in overtime. Pittsburgh swept the season series against Columbus this season, winning five games in regulation. Johansen, the Blue Jackets' leading scorer, got his 33rd goal of the season with a one-timer from the side of the net. He mishit the feed from James Wisniewski, but the floater got by Luongo. Cam Atkinson and Mark Letestu scored for Columbus, which clinched the second playoff berth in its history Wednesday (the Blue Jackets made the playoffs in 2008-09). Letestu scored for the fourth time in five games after a 22-game drought. Johansen had an assist to finish the regular season with a six-game streak and 63 points. Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves in his 32nd win. Vincent Trocheck and Jimmy Hayes scored for the Panthers (29-45-8), who are out of the playoffs for the 12th time in 13 seasons. Roberto Luongo made 35 saves. Columbus defeated Florida for the eighth straight time, a streak that began with a 3-1 victory March 21, 2009. The Blue Jackets won 4-1 and 6-3 at Columbus this season. Atkinson gave Columbus a 1-0 lead 47 seconds into this game when he redirected a pass from Brandon Dubinsky on a delayed penalty. The Blue Jackets took 15 shots at Luongo in the first nine minutes and had a 16-3 advantage a little more than halfway through the first period. The game turned after Florida captain Ed Jovanovski was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for elbowing Corey Tropp late in the first period. Columbus managed two shots on goal during the five-minute power play, and Trocheck scored shorthanded on a breakaway to tie it with 1:01 left. It was Florida's fourth shorthanded goal in the past seven games, equaling the Panthers' total for its first 75 games. The teams traded goals in the second period, with Hayes scoring at 6:35 before Letestu tied the score with a power-play goal at 10:14. Florida outshot Columbus 17-6 in the second period and had a 9-0 advantage after Letestu's goal.

Vancouver @ Edmonton 2-5 - Ryan Smyth was unable to get his power-play goal, but the Oilers forward did get a memorable sendoff in the final game of his NHL career. Smyth played a season-high 23:46 in a 5-2 win against the Canucks on Saturday night, bringing Edmonton's eighth consecutive non-playoff season to an end on a winning note. First-year Oilers Roman Horak, Will Acton and Steve Pinizzotto combined for five points in the win. Jeff Petry, Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also scored for the Oilers; forward Taylor Hall had three assists to finish the season with 80 points. Shawn Matthias and Zack Kassian had the only goals for Vancouver, which fired 42 shots at Edmonton goaltender Ben Scrivens. Jacob Markstrom stopped 17 shots for the Canucks. But the star of the night was Smyth, who wore the captain's "C" in his 1,270th and final regular-season game. He is retiring after spending 19 seasons in the NHL, 15 of them with the Oilers. Smyth went into the game looking for a power-play goal to take sole possession of the franchise record; instead, he went into retirement sharing the mark of 126 with Glenn Anderson. Smyth didn't get the goal or even hit the score sheet, but it wasn't for lack of trying. He took seven shots, though he missed the target five times and had another one blocked. The Oilers tried to set up Smyth during each of their five power plays. Smyth saw 7:10 of ice time while the Oilers were up a man; in one instance, they took their timeout during a double minor to Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler so Smyth could stay on the ice. When he was 11, Smyth served as a stick boy for Team Canada during a Canada Cup training camp in his hometown of Banff, Alberta. Anderson inadvertently backed over Smyth in the parking lot and had to drive him to the hospital. Smyth received a standing ovation late in the game, bringing play to a brief halt, and received another one after the final horn as he skated around Rexall Place before standing by the glass with his family and waving. The Canucks also came back to the ice after the game to congratulate Smyth. The Canucks had skated off the ice at the final horn, but returned to congratulate Smyth individually. Horak opened the scoring at 2:14 of the first period, seconds into his first shift. Horak was called up by the Oilers on Friday from their AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City to fill out an injury-depleted roster. 
The center jumped over the boards, went directly to the Canucks' net and deposited a centering pass from Acton past Markstrom. 

 Petry increased Edmonton's lead at 13:17, taking a pass in front from Nugent-Hopkins and lifting a shot over Markstrom. 

Acton put the Oilers up 3-0 at 2:14 of the second period, beating Matthias to the front of the net and firing a shot through Markstrom's pads. 

Matthias made up for losing his man in front when he scored at 5:25 by cutting to the net and finding a way to get the puck past the poke check of Scrivens. But Eberle restored the Oilers' three-goal lead at 16:06 with a power-play goal. With Smyth parked in front of the net, Eberle took a shot that bounced off Edler and into the net. Smyth came close to getting a stick on the shot. At 1:35 of the third, Nugent-Hopkins put the Oilers up 5-1, getting to a rebound in front and muscling it past Markstrom.
 Kassian scored with 10.9 seconds left for the Canucks, who close out their season at home against the Calgary Flames on Sunday. Smyth finished his career having played 1,270 regular-season games, scoring 386 goals and 456 assists. He also played 93 Stanley Cup Playoff games, scoring 28 goals and adding 31 assists. Smyth helped the Oilers get to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. They have not advanced to the postseason since then.
Anaheim @ Los Angeles 4-3 SO - It didn't really matter what transpired after 10:01 p.m. Pacific Time for the Sucks. The Western Conference top seed was all theirs. Devante Smith-Pelly simply put the finishing touch on a 4-3 shootout win against the Kings with a goal in the fourth round at Staples Center on Saturday night. Anaheim will play the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference First Round series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs next week. The Ducks needed one point and they secured it by going to overtime after they traded late third-period goals with their rivals in the season-series finale. Getzlaf didn't have immediate thoughts on playing Dallas. Defenseman Stephane Robidas, traded by the Stars to Anaheim prior to the NHL Trade Deadline, said he didn't want to be a storyline but acknowledged the emotions. The Kings were going for a franchise-record 47th win. They outshot the Ducks 23-10 in the final 40 minutes and got a 45-second two-man advantage in the third, but didn't convert. Anaheim went 4-0-1 against Los Angeles this season, but it will soon be forgotten. The Kings have long since secured third place in the Pacific Division and have been locked into a first-round matchup with the San Jose Sharks. Jonathan Quick and Los Angeles clinched a share of the William M. Jennings Trophy for the fewest goals allowed after Quick made 21 saves. The other candidate, the Boston Bruins, play the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. The Kings allowed a franchise-record low 168 goals, excluding shootout goals, which bested the 170 from the Cup-winning 2011-12 season. Smith-Pelly snapped it past Quick for the only goal of the shootout. It came after a frenzied overtime that seemingly had almost as many chances as the entire regulation. Anaheim had a 6-2 shot advantage, but neither could continue the late-regulation momentum. It was an ironic game-winning goal and night for Smith-Pelly, a late-season recall who filled in for the rested Teemu Selanne and also contributed a second-period goal, his second of the season. He wasn't entirely expecting Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau to tap him to go out for his first career shootout attempt. The Kings tied it 3-3 on Anze Kopitar's second goal with 3:12 left in regulation when he faked around Getzlaf at the top of the left circle and fired it past goalie Frederik Andersen. Anaheim grabbed a 3-2 lead when Matt Beleskey beat Quick with a snap shot from the right wing at 15:13 of the third. Kopitar scored his 28th and 29th goals of the season and easily led the Kings in scoring for the seventh straight season. He made it 2-2 on a wraparound goal 48 seconds into the third. The Kings recognized Selanne and presented him with a Ducks-themed standup paddleboard in a pre-game ceremony for his final regular-season appearance at Staples Center. Selanne will play in his final regular-season game, the 1,451st of his career, on Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche at Honda Center.