NY Rangers @ Washington 4-2 - The game provided a preview of a potential Eastern Conference Second Round series between the Capitals and Rangers. They've met in the playoffs in four of the past six years. At 12:36 of the first period, Hayes deflected Ryan McDonagh's point shot and sent a backhander past Holtby to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. The goal was Hayes' 17th of the season. Brassard's slap shot from the point gave New York a 2-0 lead at 15:50 of the first period. A failed clear by Washington led to the power play goal, Brassard's 19th of the season and the 100th NHL goal. Ovechkin scored his 25th power play goal of the season to make it 3-1 at 6:31 of the second period, setting a Capitals franchise-record for the most power play goals scored in a single season. Ovechkin has eight points in his past seven games. With Holtby pulled for an extra skater, Fast scored an empty-net goal at 18:06 of the third period, his sixth, to make it 4-1. Galiev scored at 19:31 of the third period.
Calgary @ Winnipeg 1-5 - With each team scratching several regulars, Michael Frolik scored 47 seconds into the third period of a four-goal period for Winnipeg, who defeated the Flames 5-1. The win gave the Jets a franchise-best 99 points. Their 43 wins tied a franchise high. Winnipeg finished the season undefeated in regulation its final five games (4-0-1). Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and Toby Enstrom returned to the Winnipeg lineup. Byfuglien had served a four-game suspension for cross-checking J.T. Miller (Rangers) on March 31. Enstrom had missed the past three games because of an upper-body injury. Michael Ferland's goal 33 seconds into the game put Calgary ahead 1-0, but Drew Stafford scored for Winnipeg 15 seconds later to make it a 1-1 game. Stafford's 18th goal tied the game with a left-circle snap shot that Ortio could not control. He had nine goals in 26 games with Winnipeg after arriving in a trade from the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 11. After Frolik made it 2-1, Winnipeg goals from Lee Stempniak and Adam Lowry 58 seconds apart in the third period broke open the game to 4-1. Matt Halischuk's goal with 1:01 left in the game finished the scoring. Stempniak's 15th goal on a wrist shot from the right circle gave the Jets a 3-1 lead at 6:48. Lowry's 11th goal came at 7:46 before Halischuk's third goal finished the scoring. Bennett set up Ferland's second goal when he dug out a loose puck behind the Winnipeg net and sent it into the slot, where Ferland put it past Hutchinson. The assist was Bennett’s first point in the League. Hartley shuttled Bennett between center and left wing to gauge the rookie's readiness in case he is needed against Vancouver.
San Jose @ Los Angeles 1-4 - The Kings gathered around goalie Jonathan Quick after the buzzer sounded and several players, including Quick, smiled. There was nothing left to do after the Kings season came to an end following a 4-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center. That disappointment was the theme in both locker rooms. The Kings (40-27-15) and Sharks (40-33-9) were already eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention. Los Angeles is the first defending Stanley Cup champion to miss the playoffs since the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006-07; San Jose ended its 10-year postseason run. Marian Gaborik and Brayden McNabb scored in the third period to end the Kings’ season on a high note and further dampen San Jose's spirit. Both sides said it was weird with both teams out of contention. The Sharks enter an uncertain future with their roster and coach Todd McLellan, who has a year remaining on his contract. Pavelski and Logan Couture gave their support for McLellan, who said he will review the season and reconvene with his family. Gaborik scored his 27th goal when he took a pass from Jake Muzzin, stickhandled through the slot and beat Sharks goalie Alex Stalock at 9:27. McNabb’s slap shot from the right circle deflected off the stick of Tommy Wingels after a San Jose penalty expired at 6:03. Tyler Toffoli scored his 23rd goal to tie the game 1-1 at 10:47 of the second period. He tapped in a loose puck that Jarret Stoll chipped toward the crease after Andy Andreoff’s point shot. Andreoff got his first NHL assist and an empty-net goal with 43.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Brent Burns scored his first goal since the 2015 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game on Feb. 21 when he one-timed Pavelski’s cross-ice pass on the power play 1:38 into the game. The regular season finale between San Jose and Los Angeles came a year after they played in the first round of the playoffs when the Kings became the fourth team in NHL history to win a best-of-7 series after losing the first three games. Fans showed appreciation for the Kings two Stanley Cup wins in three years by holding signs that read "Thank you" and the arena played the "Welcome to the Black Parade" pre-game introduction, the theme that was used for the 2012 playoff run. Fans also gave the Kings a standing ovation at the buzzer. Anze Kopitar led the Kings in scoring for the eighth straight season, with 64 points. The Kings finished with 25 home wins, one shy of the franchise single-season record. Kings forward Jordan Weal was expected to make his NHL debut after he was recalled from Manchester of the American Hockey League, but was scratched.
Minnesota @ St Louis 2-4 - The St. Louis Blues will head into the Stanley Cup Playoffs with confidence after a 4-2 victory against the Minnesota Wild at Scottrade Center, their fifth win in six games. It's quite the contrast to last season, when St. Louis limped into the playoffs, besieged with injuries, and lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the Western Conference First Round.
The Blues and Wild will meet in the First Round. St. Louis won the Central Division and is the No. 2 seed in the West after the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Coyotes 2-1. The Wild are the first wild card team from the Western Conference.
Tarasenko and Steen returned to play in the regular-season finale after each missed time down the stretch because of a lower-body injury. Tarasenko missed four games, and Steen five. Tarasenko, who missed four games, had a goal and an assist, and Steen, who missed five, had two assists for the Blues (51-24-7).
Jori Lehtera scored two goals for the Blues, and Brian Elliott made 23 saves in his first game since April 3. Minnesota (46-28-8), which got goals from Marco Scandella and Zach Parise, failed to break the 2005-06 Detroit Red Wings' NHL record for consecutive road wins (12). Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk made 11 saves on 14 shots before he was replaced by Darcy Kuemper at the start of the third period; Kuemper made eight saves on nine shots. Each team played without regulars in its lineup. The Blues were without captain David Backes, forwards T.J. Oshie and Steve Ott and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk. The Wild rested captain Mikko Koivu, forward Justin Fontaine and defensemen Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon. After no goals through the first half of the game, the Blues and Wild combined for four in a 6:04 stretch, with the Blues scoring three of them. Dmitrij Jaskin scored on a 3-on-2 to put the Blues ahead 1-0. Patrik Berglund found Olli Jokinen, who fed Jaskin in the right circle. Jaskin's wrist shot beat Dubnyk to the far side at 13:27. Tarasenko made it 2-0, getting a pass from Steen in the slot and beating Dubnyk high glove side at 18:00. Scandella scored 51 seconds later to cut the Blues lead to 2-1 on a shot from the blue line that appeared to deflect over Elliott's glove, but Lehtera restored St. Louis' two-goal lead when he finished Steen's pass into the low slot at 19:31. Lehtera's second goal of the game, his first multigoal game since scoring a hat trick Nov. 11 against the Buffalo Sabres, came 5:03 into the third period on the power play. Lehtera tried centering a puck and it caromed off the stick of Wild defenseman Nate Prosser past Kuemper's near post for his 14 th goal. Parise scored on the power play with 37.6 remaining to make it 4-2. It was his 33rd goal. The Wild, 18-19-5 at one point in the season, finished the regular season on a 28-9-3 run to finish with 100 points. The Blues finished with 109 points, two fewer than last season. Tarasenko led the Blues with 37 goals and 73 points.
Pittsburgh @ Buffalo 2-0 - It may not be how the Pittsburgh Penguins drew it up at the start of the season, but they’re headed back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Penguins clinched a berth into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference with a 2-0 win against the Buffalo Sabres at First Niagara Center.
Brandon Sutter scored two goals and Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for the Penguins (43-27-12), who ended a five-game losing streak. Pittsburgh will face the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference First Round. Fleury’s shutout was his League-leading 10th and his 38th in the NHL. He made 10 saves in the first period to help the Penguins hold off the Buffalo attack. It is the ninth consecutive season the Penguins have made the playoffs and the first time under coach Mike Johnston. The Penguins matchup against the Rangers was set after the Ottawa Senators defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0. The Penguins win eliminated the Boston Bruins from playoff contention. Sutter gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead with 5:37 left in the second period. Sutter received a pass from Blake Comeau and carried the puck on the backhand from behind the Sabres net around the defense and took a backhand shot past Sabres goalie Anders Lindback.
Sutter’s second goal of the game came 8:26 into the third period when he received a pass from Daniel Winnik on a 2-on-1 against Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian in front of the Sabres net. Penguins forward Patric Hornqvist set the play up when he intercepted the puck near the blue line and passed to Winnik, who passed to Sutter for his 21st goal. Sutter has scored 20 or more goals in the NHL for the second time in his career and the first since his rookie season in 2009-2010 with the Hurricanes when he scored 21. The Sabres held Crosby without a point for the first time since April 3, 2007, a span of 19 games. Crosby ended the season with 84 points and finished three points behind Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars for the Art Ross Trophy. The Sabres (23-51-8) ended the season with their second consecutive loss and the worst record in the NHL for the second straight season.
Montreal @ Toronto 4-3 SO - Montreal needed one point from the game to win the division. Alex Galchenyuk scored the deciding goal in the shootout. David Desharnais also scored for Montreal in the tiebreaker, and goalie Carey Price made saves on each Toronto shooter. Phil Kessel put the Maple Leafs ahead 1-0 at 3:58 of the first period when he took a pass from center Tyler Bozak and completed a wraparound by stuffing the puck behind Canadiens goaltender Carey Price. Kessel ended an 11-game goal drought with his 25th of the season. The Canadiens tied it 16 seconds later after Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier slipped behind the Toronto net. Bernier accidentally passed the puck in front to center Nazem Kadri, who wasn't expecting the pass and was unable to control the puck. It deflected to Desharnais, who scored his 14th goal. It was the 11th time this season the Maple Leafs have given up a goal less than one minute after they scored. Casey Bailey restored Toronto's lead at 14:04 of the opening period when he tipped a Dion Phaneuf snap shot from the point high into the net past Price for his first NHL goal. The assist was Phaneuf's 400th NHL point. The Canadiens started the second period by killing off the final 39 seconds of a hooking penalty assessed to Galchenyuk late in the first period. They tied it when Tomas Plekanec converted a 4-on-1 by snapping a shot past Bernier for his 26th goal at 00:59. Toronto again took the lead at 5:11 when James van Riemsdyk sent a backhand pass through his legs from behind the net to a streaking Bozak, who fired his 23rd goal into the far side of the net. Bernier was caught wandering late in the second period, and it cost the Maple Leafs again. He went behind the net to retrieve a loose puck and attempted a pass to Jake Gardiner, but the puck deflected to Montreal's Jacob De La Rose, who shot it into the empty net to make it 3-3 at 19:51. The Canadiens appeared to take the lead when Brendan Gallagher scored from a scramble in front of the Maple Leafs net at 8:45 with Jake Gardiner off for hooking, but the goal was disallowed because of goalie interference. Price made saves against Kadri and Kessel on back-to-back breakaways midway through the third. Bernier stopped Montreal's Lars Eller on a breakaway in overtime. The Maple Leafs, who have missed the playoffs nine of the past 10 seasons, approached their final seven games of the regular season as a best-of-7 series. They lost four of the seven.
New Jersey @ Florida 2-3 - Jaromir Jagr, who spurred the Panthers' playoff push that ended with three games left in the season, poked in a rebound of his own shot at 12:53 of the third period. Jagr's 204th career power-play goal tied Wayne Gretzky for 14th most in NHL history. Earlier in the period, Jagr claimed sole possession of sixth place for career assists (1,080). Huberdeau's strong finish to this season, four goals and seven assists in the past 10 games, came while playing with Jagr on a top line that also included Aleksander Barkov. Jagr had six goals and 12 assists in 20 games with the Panthers, including 14 points (five goals) in the final 13 games. Jagr's performance Saturday helped the Panthers reach 90 points for a season (38-29-15, 91 points) for the fifth time in franchise history, but he downplayed that his winning goal came against the Devils. After a scoreless first period, the Devils scored 1:50 into the second period. Travis Zajac fed a pass to Jordin Tootoo, who shot a one-timer past goalie Al Montoya from the left circle. Eric Gelinas got the second assist on Tootoo's 10th goal. Dave Bolland tied the score at 11:08 of the second period and Johnathan Huberdeau scored his career-high 15th goal on a rebound of Jagr's shot at 7:59 of the third. Damon Severson tied the game 2-2 with 8:59 left on a short over Montoya's shoulder with the teams playing four-on-four.
Columbus @ NY Islanders 5-4 SO - Cam Atkinson scored in the fourth round of the shootout, giving the Blue Jackets a 5-4 victory. After Alexander Wennberg scored in the third round of the tiebreaker, Atkinson won it in the fourth round when his forehand shot beat Jaroslav Halak, relegating the Islanders to third place in the Metropolitan Division. The loss was a disappointing end for the Islanders' first 100-point season since 1983-84. But captain John Tavares said they have to accentuate the positive, the fact they're going to play postseason hockey for the second time since 2007. Scott Hartnell sent the game into overtime by scoring with 1:35 remaining. It looked like the Islanders had the game wrapped up when Eric Boulton and Tavares scored 55 seconds apart early in the third. Boulton scored his second goal of the season at 2:52 by banging a rebound past McElhinney to break a 1-1 tie. Tavares set up in the lower left circle and one-timed a pass from Kyle Okposo behind McElhinney at 3:47 to give New York a two-goal lead. Brandon Dubinsky made it a one-goal game at 9:37 when his pass from behind the net went off Josh Bailey, hit Halak and slid over the goal line. Columbus tied the game at 11:11 during a delayed penalty when Wennberg put home a one-timer after intense pressure by the Blue Jackets. Nikolay Kulemin put the Islanders back in front with 4:24 remaining when he knocked in Tavares' rebound. But the Blue Jackets pulled McElhinney for an extra attacker, and Hartnell tied it when he sent a shot from the high slot past Halak. The packed house at the Coliseum was revved up from the opening draw, which followed a video history of the building and a ceremonial puck drop by the family of longtime Islanders coach Al Arbour, who led them to four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980-83. McElhinney stopped all 20 shots in faced in the first period, not counting three breakaways by the Islanders that hit the post or went wide, before the Blue Jackets went ahead on a power-play goal by Atkinson with 9.9 seconds left. He put a rebound past Halak for his 22nd of the season 12 seconds after Islanders center Casey Cizikas took a hooking penalty. The Islanders got even at 11:02 of the second period after some solid work in the offensive zone. Kulemin got the puck along the left wall and sent it behind the net, and Bailey's quick centering pass found Okposo in the slot for a one-timer that McElhinney had no chance on. It was Okposo's 18th of the season. Okposo's goal and the other three scored by the Islanders were serenaded by the "Yes! Yes! Yes!" chant that has become a theme at home this season.
Detroit @ Carolina 2-0 - Landon Ferraro was down to his last chance of the season. Playing in his seventh NHL game, he didn't want to spend the summer thinking about burying his first goal. So when he scored on the first shift of the game, all the pressure melted away. The Red Wings scored 48 seconds into the game. After Detroit center Luke Glendening won a faceoff in the offensive zone, Ferraro gathered the puck near the boards, circled the net and stuffed a backhand past Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward for a 1-0 lead. The Red Wings played a solid game in front of Mrazek the rest of the way, moving the puck out of the defensive end and limiting quality chances for Carolina when it got a look at the net. Mrazek was sharp in the second period. He came out to meet Nathan Gerbe on a breakaway before poking the puck away. Midway through the period, he fended off close-in bids by John-Michael Liles and Elias Lindholm on the same shift.
Boston @ Tampa Bay 2-3 SO - Victor Hedman scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Lightning a 3-2 win. Nikita Nesterov gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead at 5:12 in the third period on his second goal in the past two games. Nesterov took a slap shot outside of the right circle that beat Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask on the glove side with Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos providing the screen. The Bruins tied the game 2-2 at 18:54 of the third period when Brad Marchand scored his 24th goal. Boston pulled Rask with 90 seconds to bring an extra attacker on the ice. Jonathan Marchessault, who was recalled from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League on Saturday as an injury replacement for Jonathan Drouin, scored his first NHL goal to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 5:08 into the second period. He skated from the center to the right circle and sent a wrist shot past Rask high on the stick side. The Bruins tied the game at 1-1, 52 seconds later, when Loui Eriksson scored his 22nd goal off a rebound in front of the net. Lightning goalie Ben Bishop made the save on Chris Kelly’s shot, but Eriksson fielded the loose puck clean on his stick and scored on the put back.
Nashville @ Dallas 1-4 - Jamie Benn had a hat trick and one assist and Jhonas Enroth made 24 saves to help the Dallas Stars to a 4-1 win against the Nashville Predators at American Airlines Center. Benn's four-point game gives him 87 for the season and the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL leader in points. Benn edged New York Islanders center John Tavares by one point when he got a secondary assist on Cody Eakin's goal with nine seconds remaining. Two of Benn's goals came in the first period and the other was an empty-net goal with 2:05 left.
Nashville (47-24-10), which lost its sixth straight game, got its lone goal from Filip Forsberg in the first period. The Predators, who finished second in the Central Division, will face the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference First Round. It is Nashville's first Stanley Cup Playoff appearance since 2012.
Dallas (41-31-10) ended the season on a four-game winning streak but missed the playoffs for the sixth time in the past seven seasons. Benn gave Dallas an early lead with his 33rd goal of the season, a shot from the left circle 7:35 into the game. Benn received a backhand pass from Eakin and promptly scored with a flick over the glove of Predators backup goaltender Carter Hutton. Nashville tied it at 11:33 of the first when Forsberg scored his 26th goal of the season on a deflection. Forsberg was in front of the net and got his stick on a shot by Ryan Ellis from the slot. Benn's second goal of the period exactly two minutes later gave Dallas the lead. With the Stars on a power play, Benn won a faceoff in the left circle against Paul Gaustad, sending the puck to John Klingberg, who was near the blue line. Benn got his stick on Klingberg's shot, redirecting the puck top-shelf to Hutton's short side for his 34th goal of the season four seconds into the power play. Dallas gained the man-advantage after a tripping call on Viktor Stalberg at 13:29 of the first period. Enroth made a huge save on former Stars center Mike Ribeiro at 10:10 of the third period, denying him at the far post as he was trying to score off the rush while shorthanded. Nashville trailed 2-1 heading into the third period and Laviolette felt the game was still there for the taking, at least until Benn's third goal of the game with 2:05 remaining. The Stars were without leading goal scorer Tyler Seguin, who was benched after being late to practice on Friday. Hutton finished with 21 saves.
Chicago @ Colorado 2-3 - Rather than risk injury heading into the playoffs, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville rested captain Jonathan Toews and defenseman Duncan Keith. He already had planned to start backup goalie Scott Darling, who had 21 saves, to get No. 1 Corey Crawford some extra rest. Jarome Iginla scored two power-play goals, the second one with 32.9 seconds remaining in the third period to break a 2-2 tie. He ended with 29 goals in his first season in Colorado. The Avalanche went on their second power play of the game with 2:01 to play when Blackhawks center Marcus Kruger was penalized for tripping Ryan O'Reilly. Iginla scored from high in the left circle off a pass from Alex Tanguay. Colorado missed the playoffs, going from first in the Central Division to worst, but they completed the season with four wins in the final five games to finish with 90 points. The Blackhawks tied the game 2-2 with 4:40 to play in the third period. Brandon Saad drove to the net and redirected Marian Hossa's pass behind goalie Semyon Varlamov for his 23rd goal. Varlamov had 28 saves. The Avalanche grabbed a 2-1 lead at 14:21 of the second period on Iginla's first power-play goal. Zach Redmond passed to Iginla at the top of the left circle for a one-timer with Colorado's Joey Hishon screening Darling. Patrick Sharp tied the game 1-1 at 8:03 of the second on a 3-on-2 rush with Bryan Bickell and Andrew Shaw after Jan Hejda broke his stick behind the play. Sharp took a drop pass from Bickell and launched a shot into the top right corner of the net for his 16th goal. The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead at 10:01 of the first period on Cody McLeod's seventh goal. Tyson Barrie was in the right corner when he passed to McLeod in front for a redirection past Darling.
Anaheim @ Phoenix 2-1 - Sam Gagner scored for the Coyotes, who lost for the 58th time to break the franchise record set by the 1980-81 Winnipeg Jets (9-57-14). They ended the season with the worst record in the conference and second-worst point total in the NHL behind the Buffalo Sabres. Phoenix could select as high as first or low as third in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Oliver Ekman-Larsson hit the post early during a power play but turned over the puck at his blue line as the penalty expired. Corey Perry found Tomas Fleischmann coming out of the box with speed and he put a backhand pass across the slot to Getzlaf, where the latter beat Smith on a backhand shot at 5:41 to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. The Ducks doubled their lead late in the second period. Getzlaf won a battle for the puck along the boards and pushed it along to Andrew Cogliano. From behind the goal line, Cogliano sent a pass to a charging Silfverberg, who sent a shot over Smith's glove and under the crossbar at 19:23. Phoenix avoided being shut out for the 12th time this season and cut the lead in half at 13:59 of the third period. David Moss got control of the puck and pushed it to Martin Erat behind the Anaheim net. Erat found Gagner in front and he beat Andersen with a wrist shot for his 15th goal. But the Coyotes were unable to get the equalizer down the stretch.
Edmonton @ Vancouver 5-6 OT - Baertschi scored his second goal to tie the game midway through the third period, Alexander Edler converted a 2-on-1 pass from Daniel Sedin 2:29 into overtime and the Canucks rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third period to defeat the Oilers 6-5. Teddy Purcell put Edmonton ahead 5-3 by banging his own rebound on a 3-on-0 rush after a bad line change with 29.6 seconds left in the second period. But Jannik Hansen scored six minutes into the third period and Baertschi tied it in his third game for the Canucks. Nail Yakupov and Jordan Eberle scored 11 seconds apart in the first period, and Benoit Pouliot had a goal and two assists for Edmonton. Taylor Hall scored and goalie Ben Scrivens made 17 saves for the Oilers (24-44-14), who finished 28th in the NHL. Linden Vey couldn't handle a pass coming out of his zone and Derek Roy turned the giveaway into a 2-on-1, passing cross-crease to Yakupov for a one-timer past a sprawling Miller. Eberle doubled the lead on the next shift, beating Miller over the glove-side shoulder with a quick wrist shot from above the right faceoff dot after a pass from Pouliot behind the net. Daniel Sedin responded for the Canucks after a power play expired a little more than three minutes later and Bieksa tied it on a wraparound 2:15 into the second period. But Hall put the Oilers back in front 89 seconds later when he tapped in a backdoor pass from Pouliot. Pouliot scored his 19th goal four minutes later from the high slot, but Baertschi made it a one-goal game again 14 seconds later.
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