Ottawa @ NY Rangers 3-0 - Any chance the arrogant ones from NYC would do the Penguins a favour in this one were dashed when the Rangers iced a depleted team. Ottawa took a 2-0 lead on goals by MacArthur and Turris in the final 2:29 of the second period. MacArthur scored his 16th of the season at 17:31 on a one-timer from the slot off a feed from Mark Stone. Turris scored his 24th on a deflection of Eric Gryba's wrist shot from the right point at 18:35. MacArthur's goal came 21 seconds after Hammond got back in time to make a save on Kevin Hayes from the left circle. Hayes appeared to have an open net to shoot at after J.T. Miller found him with a hard cross-ice pass, but he struggled to settle the puck, and once he did he waited too long, allowing Hammond to get back into position. New York had the better of play early in the game, outshooting Ottawa 7-1 through the first eight minutes. The Senators, though, felt if they withstood the early pressure they would eventually find their legs and catch a break. That's what has been happening throughout their run. It happened again when Hayes couldn't get off a shot in time and the Senators came down and scored quickly.
Carolina @ Philadelphia 3-1 - Philadelphia played the third period without Vincent Lecavalier, who sustained an upper-body injury. Lecavalier did not play after getting into his second fight of the game with Carolina's Keegan Lowe at 9:22 of the second period. Lecavalier, who had 14 penalty minutes in 56 games entering Thursday, was assessed 22 against Carolina. Midway through the period, Jordan Staal beat Sean Couturier on a faceoff in the Carolina end, and Bellemore started the play going the other way. Staal carried the puck into the Philadelphia end and dropped it for Eric Staal at the blue line. Bellemore drove to the net and got position on Nicklas Grossmann in front of the net and tipped Eric Staal's low shot from the left point past Emery. With 3:18 remaining in the period, Bellemore was the lone player back on a 2-on-1 Philadelphia rush. Ward stopped Couturier's shot from the right side but his momentum took him far out of the net. The rebound bounced to Matt Read, but Bellemore spun and got his left leg on Read's attempt on an empty Carolina net. Carolina extended its lead to 2-0 on Murphy's power-play goal at 12:51 of the third period. Philadelphia finally found some offense in the final four minutes of the game, as they had seven shots on goal after having 21 in the first 56 minutes. Couturier's goal with 3:41 remaining, which extended his point streak to five games, got the Flyers within 2-1. They continued to pressure, with Michael Raffl getting an open look from the slot with 1:41 left and then Claude Giroux hit the post with 52 seconds remaining. Jordan Staal closed the scoring with an empty-net goal with 38.4 seconds remaining.
Detroit @ Montreal 3-4 OT - The Red Wings were defeated 4-3 by a goal by Lars Eller 1:21 into overtime. But minutes later, Detroit clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tomas Plekanec tied the game at 3-3 with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 11:39 of the third period. The Canadiens got that two-man advantage at 11:07 when Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith was called for interference after he handled a puck in play with his glove while he was sitting on the Red Wings bench. Helm gave Detroit a 3-2 lead at 3:34 of the third period when he scored a shorthanded goal on a breakaway. He intercepted Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov's cross-ice pass in front of the Detroit blue line and drove in on Price, who he deked before putting a shot into the top of the net for his 15th goal. Datsyuk set up Tomas Tatar's 29th goal at 10:19 of the first period, and scored his 26th goal at 8:07 of the second to tie it at 2-2. Henrik Zetterberg assisted on each of those goals. Markov scored his 10th goal at 17:36 of the first period to tie the game at 1-1. Petry put the Canadiens ahead 2-1 with his seventh goal at 6:24 of the second, which extended his point streak to six games.
New Jersey @ Tampa Bay 3-4 OT - Tyler Johnson scored at 1:22 of overtime to give the Lightning a 4-3 win. Johnson scored the overtime winner on a 4-on-3 power play when his shot was deflected by Devils defenseman Seth Helgeson and got past goalie Keith Kinkaid. It was Johnson's second goal of the game, 29th of the season. Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat, who together with Johnson form Tampa Bay's "Triplets" line, had three assists each. Bernier gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 5:06 of the first period when he took the puck off a face off and sent a wrist shot past Lightning goalie Ben Bishop on the stick side. The Lightning rallied to take a 2-1 lead by the end of the first period. Johnson scored at 6:26 when Kucherov skated to the left circle and faked a shot that took Kinkaid out of position. Kucherov then slid a pass to Johnson, who was standing in front of the open net for the easy tap-in goal. Nikita Nesterov gave the Lightning the lead with a power-play goal at 9:13. Nesterov took a pass from Johnson at the top of the point and sent a slap shot past Kinkaid with Ryan Callahan providing a screen. Elias tied the game 2-2 at 10:17 of the second when he scored off a rebound in the slot after Bishop made a save on Stephen Gionta's initial shot. Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored his 43rd goal on another power play at 17:42 of the second with a one-timer from the left circle that beat Kinkaid on the glove side to put Tampa Bay ahead 3-2. The Devils tied the game 16 seconds after Stamkos' goal on Bernier's second of the night. Adam Henrique and Scott Gomez earned the assists.
Boston @ Florida 2-4 - Bruins lost to the Panthers 4-2 at BB&T Center and now need help to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Bruins trail the Senators by two points and the Penguins by one for a wild card from the Eastern Conference. Boston and Ottawa each have one game remaining; Pittsburgh has two. Aleksander Barkov tied it 1-1 with 1:20 left in the second period, and Jonathan Huberdeau gave Florida a 2-1 lead with a backhand 4:02 into the third on assists from Jaromir Jagr and Brian Campbell. Jagr's second assist gave him 1,800 NHL points; he passed Ron Francis for fourth all-time. Brad Boyes scored at 8:03 for a 3-1 Panthers lead. Brad Marchand scored with 6:45 left to pull the Bruins within 3-2, but Jimmy Hayes answered for the Panthers with 4:46 to go.
The Bruins scored first on Patrice Bergeron's power-play goal with 4:58 left in the second period, eight seconds after Willie Mitchell was sent to the penalty box for interference. Camped in front, Bergeron stuck in a rebound stick-side past Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo. The Panthers tied the game on their power play 3:38 later. Barkov beat Rask five-hole with a shot from the right circle. Barkov's 16th goal of the season was his ninth point in nine games. Jagr's assist broke his tie with Francis. Julien switched his lines to start the game, having Bergeron center Marchand and Reilly Smith, Ryan Spooner center Lucic and David Pastrnak, and Carl Soderberg center Kelly and Eriksson. Luongo was honored on the ice before the game, his wife, daughter and son joined him, for winning his 400th NHL game last week. A video montage of Luongo was shown on the arena's scoreboard and he was given an engraved, commemorative silver stick. The 36-year-old is the active leader among NHL goalies in games played (863), wins (400), shutouts (68) and saves (23,457). Luongo made 34 saves. Panthers defenseman Erik Gudbranson did not return after he sustained an upper-body injury when he was hit by Bruins forward Brett Connolly in the first period.
Chicago @ St Louis 1-2 - Six weeks ago, it seemed inconceivable the St. Louis Blues could catch the Nashville Predators and win the Central Division. The Blues trailed the Predators by nine points on Feb. 24, but clinched the Central with a 2-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at Scottrade Center. The win, combined with the Predators' 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, gave the division to the Blues. St. Louis (50-24-7) is tied with the Anaheim Ducks for the top seed in the Western Conference with one game remaining for each. The Ducks have the tiebreaker with one more regulation or overtime win (42-41). That race will be decided Saturday when the Blues host the Wild and the Ducks play at the Coyotes. Last season, the Colorado Avalanche came from behind to grab the division title from the Blues, who ended with a six-game losing streak. St. Louis goalie Jake Allen made 21 saves, allowing two goals or fewer for his seventh straight game. Dmitrij Jaskin and Paul Stastny scored. It was the Blues' second home win in the past six and their second win against the Blackhawks in the past five days (2-1 on Sunday). Chicago (48-27-6) will start the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the road. They cannot catch St. Louis or Nashville and will finish no higher than third in the Central. Andrew Shaw scored late in the third period, and Corey Crawford made 23 saves for Chicago. The Blackhawks have lost three in a row and scored three goals in that stretch. Jaskin's first goal in 17 games came during a four-minute power play. Chicago defenseman David Rundblad was in the box for high-sticking St. Louis center Jori Lehtera. Pietrangelo's wrist shot from the point was tipped in front by David Backes, and Jaskin was at the side of the net to tap the puck into the open net with 2:50 go in the second period. It was Pietrangelo's 10th assist in the past 10 games against the Blackhawks. Allen preserved the lead when he was able to stop Bryan Bickell in alone after the right wing stripped Barret Jackman from behind in the St. Louis zone with 13:41 remaining in the third period. Stastny made it 2-0 after Kevin Shattenkirk rimmed a puck around the defensive zone boards and it got past Niklas Hjalmarsson. The play turned into a 3-on-1 with Jaden Schwartz feeding Stastny in the high slot for a slap shot past Crawford at 14:05. Shaw's rebound goal of Teuvo Teravainen's shot made it 2-1 with 2:39 remaining.
Minnesota @ Nashville 4-2 - Jason Pominville scored his 18th goal with 2:03 remaining to give the Wild their first lead of the night and help Minnesota to its 12th consecutive victory on the road, tying the NHL record (2005-06 Detroit Red Wings). Wild forward Mikko Koivu earned his 500th career point with an assist on Zucker's second goal of the night, his 21st of the season, into an empty net with a minute remaining. Minnesota fell behind 2-0 less than 11 minutes into goaltender Darcy Kuemper's first start since Jan. 6. Yeo gave goalie Devan Dubnyk the night off after Dubnyk started 38 in a row for the Wild since being acquired in a trade with the Coyotes in mid-January. Filip Forsberg gave the Predators a 1-0 lead 2:58 into the game on a slap shot from the faceoff circle that beat Kuemper for his 25th goal. Seth Jones scored to put Nashville ahead 2-0 at 10:29 on a wrist shot from the point. Jones took a pass from forward Mike Santorelli, and his shot found its way through traffic and beat Kuemper for his eighth goal. Zucker made it 2-1 at 17:12 of the second period on a power-play goal. Zucker took a pass from Justin Fontaine and shot it past Predators goalie Pekka Rinne from the slot. Marco Scandella tied the game 31 seconds later. After he spun around Forsberg, his wrist shot went past Rinne and under the crossbar his 10th goal. Pominville gave Kuemper and the Wild the win when his slap shot from the faceoff circle went through traffic and got past Rinne. Along with Dubnyk, Yeo rested forwards Nino Niederreiter, Zach Parise and Thomas Vanek, who have been dealing with nagging injuries. Matt Cooke returned to the lineup after missing 30 games following surgery for a sports hernia. He assisted on Scandella's goal.
Winnipeg @ Colorado 0-1 SO - The Winnipeg Jets are heading to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the franchise relocated from Atlanta for the 2011-12 season. Despite a 1-0 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center, the Jets clinched the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference because the defending Cup champion Los Angeles Kings lost 3-1 to the Calgary Flames. The Jets (42-26-13) celebrated in the locker room after learning of the Kings loss, which eliminated Los Angeles from playoff contention. The Jets' 97 points match the franchise record set in 2006-07 when it played as the Atlanta Thrashers and last made the playoffs. Ryan O'Reilly and Matt Duchene scored against Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec in the shootout. Pavelec made 21 saves through overtime for his third consecutive shutout, fifth of the season and 16th of his NHL career. Colorado backup goalie Reto Berra, making his 12th start of the season, made 41 saves for his first NHL shutout. He made saves against Blake Wheeler and Ladd in the tiebreaker. Wheeler credited Pavelec for keeping the Jets in the game, even though he didn't need to make many tough saves. Berra struggled earlier in the season and was relegated to the bench behind minor league call-up Calvin Pickard when Semyon Varlamov was unable to play because of a groin injury. The Avalanche (38-31-12) were eliminated from playoff contention after finishing first in the Central Division last season. Berra made 17 saves in the third period, two against Wheeler with 14 seconds to play. His best save in overtime came against Ladd with 50 seconds to go. One of the Avalanche's best scoring chances came at 11:28 of the third period while they were killing their fourth penalty of the game, a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. Winnipeg's Michael Frolik lost the puck to O'Reilly, who passed to Alex Tanguay to begin a 2-on-1 rush. Tanguay skated down right wing and passed to O'Reilly for a shot that Pavelec stopped. Jets left wing Mathieu Perreault sustained a leg injury and didn't return after being checked to the ice by Zach Redmond at 5:42 of the second period. Brad Stuart sustained a leg injury early in the first period and didn't return.
Los Angeles @ Calgary 1-3 - The Calgary Flames will compete for the Stanley Cup. The defending Stanley Cup champions won't. The Flames qualified for the playoffs and in the process, ensured there would be no repeat champion, eliminating the Los Angeles Kings from postseason contention with a 3-1. The victory ensures Calgary, which finished 26th overall a year ago, a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2009. The Flames are third in the Pacific Division and will face the second-place Vancouver Canucks, who lead them by two points. Each team has one game remaining. The Kings, who won the Cup in 2012 and 2014, failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2009. They are the first defending champion to miss the playoffs in the following season since the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006-07. Calgary came out firing in the first period, directing three pucks on Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick in the opening 48 seconds. The Flames kept pushing until Johnny Gaudreau's goal 7:45 into the game put them ahead to stay. After Jiri Hudler stepped into a slap shot that skipped off the end glass and back into the slot, several swipes at the bouncing puck were unsuccessful until Gaudreau connected on a line drive that landed on Quick's arm. As the goaltender fell backwards, the puck crossed the goal line to give Calgary a 1-0 lead. The goal was confirmed after video review. The Flames scored 2:13 later for a 2-0 lead. Mason Raymond picked his way over the Los Angeles blue line and dropped a pass to Hudler, who took one stride before stepping into a shot that went past Quick's blocker and caught the post before wrapping into the back of the net.
It was Hudler's career-high 30th goal and turned out to be the game-winner. The Kings pushed back in the second period, outshooting Calgary 12-4 and keeping the puck in the Flames' zone for long stretches. But they were unable to beat goaltender Jonas Hiller until five minutes into the third period, when Jordan Nolan fired a shot past Hiller's blocker after corralling the rebound of Alec Martinez's point shot to pull Los Angeles within 2-1 with 15 minutes remaining.
The Kings pressed unsuccessfully for the tying goal until Hudler hit the empty net with 50 seconds remaining to put Calgary in the playoffs and end the Kings' playoff aspirations.
San Jose @ Edmonton 3-1 - Eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the San Jose Sharks played the spoiler role, ruining the outstanding NHL debut of Edmonton Oilers goaltender Laurent Brossoit. Brossoit made 49 saves, but San Jose rallied for a 3-1 victory at Rexall Place. Bryan Lerg, also making his NHL debut, scored the game-winning goal at 17:08 of the third period. Patrick Marleau and Matt Nieto also scored for San Jose in the third period. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made 26 saves. Brossoit, who was recalled from the Oklahoma City Barons of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, was busy early, making 19 saves in the first period. He was instrumental in killing off a boarding major assessed to Curtis Hamilton at 2:08 of the first period. Hamilton, who was playing his first NHL game, hit Lerg from behind seconds into his first shift. Lerg was not injured on the play. Brossoit, who played in junior with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League, made 14 saves in the second period, including a good pad stop on Taylor Fedun all alone in front of the net. Brossoit, 22, is 22-21-4 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .916 save percentage with Oklahoma City this season. He started 25 straight games for the Barons before he was called up.
Nail Yakupov put the Oilers up 1-0 at 12:30 of the second period, capitalizing on a turnover by Justin Braun in front of the San Jose net. Braun fanned on a clearing pass, the puck landed on Yakupov's stick, and the Edmonton forward snapped a shot over Niemi. Marleau tied the game 1-1 at 10:32 of the third period, capitalizing when Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz fell while trying to retrieve the puck in his own zone. Marleau got to the puck, then waited out Brossoit before firing it into the top of the net. The goal came on the Sharks' 42nd shot. Lerg scored the game-winner after taking a cross-crease pass from Couture. Lerg, 29, who started his career in the Oilers organization, was recalled from the Worcester Sharks of the AHL on Monday. Nieto scored an empty-net goal with 29 seconds left to seal the victory for San Jose. The Sharks conclude their regular season at the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, when the Oilers visit the Vancouver Canucks for their final game.
Phoenix @ Vancouver 0-5 - Yannick Weber scored two power-play goals 1:28 apart late in the second period and Eddie Lack made 28 saves to lead the Canucks to a 5-0 victory. Lack's best saves came early against fellow Swede, good friend and former teammate Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Lack threw out his blocker and then his glove on consecutive power-play shots to prevent him from setting a franchise record for goals by a defenseman. Daniel Sedin opened the scoring with 3:38 left in the first period, one-touching a cross-ice pass from twin brother Henrik Sedin. Kenins doubled the lead 6:51 into the second period with his first goal in 22 games and his first point in 12, and Weber broke the game open with his back-to-back power-play goals. With Kyle Chipchura already in the penalty box for holding, Andrew Campbell was penalized for closing his hand on the puck, giving the Canucks a 5-on-3 advantage for 12 seconds. Vancouver needed only 10 seconds to convert. Weber beat Smith to the high blocker side at 15:42 with a one-time slap shot from the middle of the ice just inside the blue line two seconds before the penalty to Chipchura was to expire. With Campbell still in the box, Weber beat Smith low on the blocker with another one-timer from a similar spot for his 11th goal of the season. Smith, who made 20 saves, was then pulled in favor of rookie Louis Domingue, who made seven saves. Hamhuis rounded out the scoring with 3:11 left, beating Domingue over the glove on a power-play rush for his first goal this season. Vancouver finished 3-for-4 on the power play and has scored 11 goals in the past 11 games with the man advantage since Weber was added to the point of the top power-play unit.
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