Ottawa @ Philadelphia 3-1 - Pageau gave the Senators a 2-1 lead with 3:42 remaining in the second period. He drew a roughing penalty on Brayden Schenn during a scrum in front of the Flyers goal moments earlier. While the Senators didn't score, they had possession of the puck when the advantage ended. Marc Methot rushed the puck end-to-end along the left-wing boards, but to the net and got a shot on goal. Mason stopped Methot's shot but couldn't control the rebound, and Pageau reached in and poked it into the net of this 10th goal. Stone scored his second goal of the game at 11:49 of the third period. Jakub Voracek fumbled the puck above the circles while trying to exit his zone, and Stone picked it up and scored his 26th goal. He had scored 6:06 into the first period with a shot from the slot off a set-up from Clarke MacArthur after Turris had stolen the puck from Mason. The Flyers finished the season on a two-game losing streak and scored one goal in each game. Read's goal, off the rebound of a Brayden Schenn wraparound attempt, was all Philadelphia could manage.
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.
NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh 3-1 - The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Stanley Cup Playoff fate will be decided on the final day of the regular season. John Tavares scored the go-ahead goal in the third-period of the New York Islanders' 3-1 win against Pittsburgh at Consol Energy Center on Friday. The Penguins (42-27-12), who have yet to win a game in April (0-4-1), were unable to clinch a playoff berth for the second consecutive game. They can clinch a spot with a win against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, a Boston Bruins loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, or an overtime/shootout loss to the Sabres coupled with a Bruins shootout win against the Lightning. New York (47-28-6) clinched at least third place in the Metropolitan Division and will play the Washington Capitals in the first round. The Islanders can finish second in the division with a regulation or overtime win against the Columbus Blue Jackets and a Capitals loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday, or a win if the Capitals do not get a point. Pittsburgh outshot the Islanders 17-5 in the first period, but a goal from forward Casey Cizikas, scored seconds after Patric Hornqvist appeared to give the Penguins an early lead, allowed the Islanders to leave the period up 1-0. With defenseman Thomas Hickey in the penalty box for slashing Hornqvist, Crosby sent a shot into the Islanders crease, where Hornqvist batted the puck off of Jaroslav Halak’s pad before Chris Kunitz escorted it behind the net. Hornqvist took the puck from Kunitz and caught Halak sliding left, leading to a backhand attempt inside the right post. Halak, who made 37 saves, recovered, but the puck pounced over his left pad and into the net at 7:52 of the first period. The goal was disallowed when it was ruled inconclusive because it could not be determined if the puck fully crossed the goal line, which was obstructed by Halak’s glove. Cizikas scored eight seconds later. Defenseman Nick Leddy sent a stretch pass to Cizikas streaking through the neutral zone, allowing him to charge alone toward Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury before placing a wrist shot into the upper-right corner of the net for a shorthanded goal. With the Penguins on the verge of entering the third period down one goal, defenseman Rob Scuderi scored his first of the season to tie the game 1-1 with 5.7 seconds remaining in the second. Crosby sent a shot off of Halak’s pad that bounced toward the left faceoff circle. Scuderi raced toward the puck and flicked a wrist shot toward Halak, who attempted to catch the puck with his blocker hand after losing his stick. Halak dropped the shot and the puck went past the goal line for Scuderi’s 100th NHL point. The Islanders took a 2-1 lead on Tavares’ 37th goal of the season at 2:46 of the third period. Defenseman Brian Strait sent a slap shot off of Fleury's left pad that bounced to Tavares alone at the goalmouth.
Tavares is tied with Crosby, who had an assist on Scuderi's goal, for first in the NHL scoring race with 84 points. Michael Grabner gave the Islanders a 3-1 lead with a shorthanded goal with 3:40 remaining. Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic left the game because of an undisclosed injury with 3:46 left in the first period. Capuano said Hamonic will be re-evaluated Saturday. After spoiling Pittsburgh’s home finale on Friday, New York will play its last regular-season home game at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday. The Penguins' final regular season game won't be as sentimental, but Hornqvist is looking forward to the challenge of making the playoffs.
Buffalo @ Columbus 2-4 - Todd Richards won his 126th game as Blue Jackets coach (126-105-21) to pass Ken Hitchcock for the most in their history. The Sabres will finish 30th in the League standings and pick no lower than second in the 2015 NHL Draft, likely to select Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, potential franchise-turning players. Atkinson broke a 2-2 tie with 9:25 left in the third period. He scored off a long rebound after a shot from Dalton Prout. Seven of Atkinson's 21 goals have been game-winners. Boone Jenner scored an empty-net goal for his ninth with 50 seconds remaining to back 23 saves by Sergei Bobrovsky. Nick Foligno and Matt Calvert scored for Columbus, and David Savard and Jack Johnson each had two assists. The Blue Jackets took the lead 14 seconds into the game. Foligno scored his Blue Jackets-leading 31st goal from between the circles with a slap shot after a pass from Brandon Dubinsky. Dubinsky has three goals and seven assists in a seven-game point streak. Marcus Foligno, Nick's younger brother, helped the Sabres tie it 1-1 at 2:25. He outmuscled Prout behind the net and fed Gionta in front. Gionta put a drop pass onto the stick of Grigorenko for his third goal. Calvert, with his 13th, made it 2-1 at 9:35 of the first. He has three goals in four games. The Sabres rallied for a second time to tie the score when Gionta converted Buffalo's second power play with 59 seconds left in the second. He snapped a shot off the rush for his 13th goal and has a goal and an assist in two straight games.
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.
Toronto @ Columbus 0-5 - Scoring three times in the first period and getting 35 saves from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky for his second shutout of the season and his 11th in the NHL, the Blue Jackets came close to putting more goals on the Nationwide Arena scoreboard. Twice in the first period they had a chance cleared off the goal line, and later they had three shots hit the post. The Blue Jackets had their record nine-game winning streak end Monday with a shootout loss to the New York Rangers, but at 10-0-1 are within a game of the Columbus point-streak record of 12. The Blue Jackets got goals from all four lines. Artem Anisimov, Boone Jenner, Scott Hartnell, Ryan Murray and Jeremy Morin scored, and Brandon Dubinsky had two assists. Columbus took a 3-0 first-period lead on goals 5:09 apart by Anisimov, Jenner and Hartnell. On the first two goals, the Maple Leafs could not handle the Blue Jackets' muscle down low, and the third was a transition that caught Toronto out of position. Anisimov scored his seventh at 13:51 off a drop pass in front by Dubinsky. Anisimov was falling when he shot from the high slot. Jenner scored his seventh at 15:56 off a wrist shot after the Blue Jackets cycled the puck from one corner to the end before Ryan Johansen set up his linemate. Johansen's 44th assist gave him 70 points.
Hartnell's 27th, with one minute left, was on the rush, beginning with Marko Dano taking the puck deep in his end and having open space on the right wing. As Dano crossed the blue line, he fed the puck cross ice to Hartnell in the left circle. Murray, a second-year defenseman, scored his first in his 11th game of an injury-plagued season to make it 4-0 at 3:30 of the second period. He missed the previous nine games because of an ankle injury. His power-play goal was off a pass from Dubinsky and sent Toronto goaltender James Reimer to the bench for Jonathan Bernier after making 16 saves. Bernier allowed Morin's straight-on shot from the blue line slip by him at 16:34 of the second. Morin has two goals. Bernier made 12 saves. All that was left the shutout, and that was preserved when Booth hit the left post six minutes into the third period.
Boston @ Washington 0-3 - Washington took advantage of Boston's slow start and scored two goals in a 2:17 span in the first period. Carlson scored at 4:49 to give Washington a 1-0 lead. Nicklas Backstrom sent a cross-ice pass to a streaking Carlson, who sent a wrist shot past Rask for his 12th goal. Niskanen gave Washington a 2-0 lead at 7:06. Backstrom fed a pass up the boards to Niskanen, and his point shot deflected off the stick of Bruins defenseman Zach Trotman. At 17:47 of the second period, Johansson put Washington ahead 3-0. Evgeny Kuznetsov led the rush into the Bruins zone and played the puck behind the net, sending a backdoor pass to Johansson at the goal mouth. Boston's best scoring chance came a 2-on-1 break in the second period. Holtby stopped Milan Lucic, who almost scored on the rebound. Stanislav Galiev made his NHL debut after being recalled on an emergency basis from the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League. He replaced injured Tom Wilson.
Dallas @ Anaheim 4-0 - Jamie Benn had a bit of lament in his voice, knowing that whatever individual achievement he attains this season won't outweigh the lack of team success. Benn's late-season run is impressive, though, and he made it more interesting Wednesday with three assists to grab a share of the NHL scoring lead, helping the Dallas Stars prevent the Anaheim Ducks from clinching the top seed in the Western Conference for the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-0 win at Honda Center. Benn has 83 points, tying him with John Tavares of the New York Islanders and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the League lead. He has one more game to make his push for the Art Ross Trophy; Tavares and Crosby each play twice. The Ducks needed to win in regulation or overtime to clinch the West but again looked out of sync with captain Ryan Getzlaf scratched for the second straight game to rest. Benn was a big contributor to that frustration. He won the puck in the corner and assisted on Patrick Eaves' second goal at 11:34 of the third period for his 83rd point to grab a share of the scoring lead. Benn has nine goals and 10 assists in his past 11 games for the Stars (40-31-10), who have been eliminated from playoff contention. They end their season at home against the Nashville Predators on Saturday wondering what might have been. Jhonas Enroth made 19 saves for his fifth NHL shutout and helped Dallas finish the season by going 8-1-0 in its final nine road games. Anaheim's season has been marred by poor second periods, and Dallas continued the trend by scoring three times after a scoreless first period to take control of the game. Vernon Fiddler tapped in a loose puck in the goalmouth at 2:04 after Shawn Horcoff's wraparound attempt, a possession that started with a blue-line turnover by Clayton Stoner. Jordie Benn scored on a point shot at 8:11 with Eaves screening Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen.
Eaves made it 3-0 at 11:25 with a 5-on-3 power-play goal, converting Jamie Benn's pass into the slot. After that, Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau called his timeout to address his team. Dallas outshot Anaheim 19-6 in the period. The Ducks have been outscored 97-73 in the second period this season. Jamie Benn got a secondary assist on Jordie Benn's goal; the Stars said it's the first time in the brothers' NHL careers that Jamie assisted on a goal by Jordie. Dallas right wing Valeri Nichushkin and defenseman Patrik Nemeth returned after they were healthy scratches in the previous game. Anaheim got forwards Tim Jackman, Matt Beleskey and Stoner back from injury.
NY Rangers @ New Jersey 4-2 - It is the third time the Rangers have won the Presidents' Trophy for having the most points in the NHL (1991-92 and 1993-94). The Rangers reached 52 wins for the second time; the other was 1993-94 (52 wins, 112 points), when they won the Stanley Cup. Vigneault is the second NHL coach to win the Presidents' Trophy three times, having done it twice with the Vancouver Canucks. Scotty Bowman won it four times. The Rangers took a 3-1 lead in the third period when Sheppard fought off a check by Adam Larsson and scored off a deflection at the right post at 10:41. Bernier scored when he banked a shot at the right post off Derick Brassard and Talbot to pull the Devils within 3-2 at 11:32. Hagelin scored into an empty net, off a pass from Hayes, with 1:48 remaining. The Rangers took a 2-1 lead in the first period, when they outshot the Devils 19-4. McDonagh scored a power-play goal on a shot from the point through a screen provided by Rick Nash and Hayes to make it 2-0 at 14:32. The goal came seven seconds after Jacob Josefson was penalized for hooking. Elias made it 2-1 when he scored a power-play goal from the slot at 17:44 of the first period. Josefson barely missed tying the game less than a minute later but Talbot made the save. Hayes gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead when he took advantage of a turnover in the Devils end. Carl Hagelin stole the puck from Gelinas, and Hayes scored his 16th of the season from the right side of the net at 13:45. It was the first goal for Hayes in five games.
NY Islanders @ Philadelphia 4-5 - Brayden Schenn's goal with 2.1 seconds remaining capped a wild final two minutes. The Islanders needed one point to secure a spot in the playoffs, and it looked like they were going to get it when they tied the game with 28.0 seconds remaining on Anders Lee's second goal of the game. Moments later, Sean Couturier pushed a puck ahead to Schenn at center ice. He skated into the New York zone, and as he got into the left circle put a 60-foot shot on goal that eluded Jaroslav Halak. The Flyers appeared to be in control of the game when Colaiacovo scored 2:45 into the third period to make it 4-1. But Lee's goal at 8:21 of the third got the Islanders going. Then came a wild final 1:44 when New York scored twice with Halak out of the net. After Philadelphia was called for icing, Tavares beat Bellemare on a faceoff on the right side of the zone. On one knee, Tavares got the puck to Boychuk at the point, and his off-balance shot through traffic got past Mason at 18:16. After the Flyers iced the puck again with 30.9 seconds left, Tavares beat Giroux on a faceoff in the right circle and got the puck to an open Lee in front of the goal. He made a quick move and put the puck past Mason. Tavares' power-play goal got the Islanders within 2-1 at 9:34 of the second period. Bellemare made it 3-1 when he scored off a centering pass by Vincent Lecavalier at 10:46 of the second. Colaiacovo's goal, off a no-look backhand pass by Zac Rinaldo as he skated toward the wall, gave Philadelphia a 4-1 lead.
Pittsburgh @ Ottawa 3-4 OT - The Senators are insisting on taking this race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference down to the wire.
Rookie Mark Stone scored two goals, including the winner at 2:43 of overtime, to keep the Senators' drive for the playoffs alive with a 4-3 come-from-behind win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Canadian Tire Centre. Stone scored on a wrist shot to the top right corner after the Senators (41-26-13) forced overtime on Mike Hoffman's goal at 18:12 of the third period with goalie Andrew Hammond on the bench for an extra attacker. The Penguins (42-26-12) led 3-0 before Jean-Gabriel Pageau's shorthanded goal, which bounced in off the skate of Derrick Pouliot, at 14:41 of the second period. Stone scored his first of the night 34 seconds into the third period to make it 3-2. Stone, bidding for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year, has five goals in the past four games and scored the winner in the shootout against the Detroit Red Wings the game before his goal streak began. The Senators (95 points) and Boston Bruins each are two points behind the Red Wings for third place in the Atlantic Division. Ottawa is one point behind Pittsburgh, which holds the first wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, who would have clinched a playoff spot with a win in regulation. Crosby scored his 28th goal 10 seconds into the game. Beau Bennett and Patric Hornqvist also scored in the first period for a 3-0 Pittsburgh lead. The Penguins lost for the fourth game in a row and are 3-8-2 in their past 13 games.
Ottawa outshot Pittsburgh 21-3 in the third period and overtime. Hammond made 25 saves and is 18-1-2 as a starter in the NHL. He has helped the Senators to a 21-4-4 record since Feb. 10 when they were 14 points out of a playoff position. The Penguins lost Pouliot after two periods because of an undisclosed injury, and Pittsburgh coach Mike Johnston said fatigue was a factor in the third period for the remaining Penguins defenders. Johnston said the Penguins have to shake the game off and focus on the positives of their situation.
Carolina @ Detroit 2-3 - Nyquist tied the game 2-2 at 1:56 of the third period with a wrist shot from the inside edge of the right circle that slid between Khudobin's pads. It was Nyquist's 27th goal. Datsyuk gave the Red Wings the lead with 8:35 left. He scored from the slot after taking a pass off his skate from Zetterberg, who was behind the net. It was Datsyuk's 25th goal. Zetterberg opened the scoring with a power-play goal 1:29 into the second period. Left wide open in front of the net, he made a move and put a backhand shot under the crossbar for his 17th goal. It came 32 seconds after Carolina defenseman Michal Jordan took a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass in his own zone. But Gerbe, a native of Oxford, Mich. (about 40 miles north of Detroit), tied it with 5:52 left in the second. He put in a loose puck from just inside the left circle. It was Gerbe's 10th goal. Terry gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead with 2:50 left in the second period. He drove in the second rebound of the sequence for Terry's 11th goal. Khudobin stretched his left leg to stop Nyquist's backhand shot on the goal line during a goalmouth scramble with under 10 minutes left in the second period. Khudobin denied Zetterberg's one-time shot from the slot with a pad save with 1:15 remaining in the second period.
Winnipeg @ St Louis 1-0 - Ondrej Pavelec made 30 saves for back-to-back shutouts, and the Winnipeg Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues 1-0 at Scottrade Center. Chris Thorburn scored 2:31 into the second period, and Pavelec made 30 saves. The Jets (42-26-12) hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. They lead the Los Angeles Kings by three points after the defending Stanley Cup champions lost 4-2 at the Edmonton Oilers. Pavelec made 32 saves in a 2-0 win at the Minnesota Wild on Monday; his shutout streak is at 122:05. Pavelec is 9-2-0 having started 11 of the past 12 games. The Blues (49-24-7) lead the Nashville Predators by one point for first place in the Central Division and the Chicago Blackhawks by three. The Predators lost 3-2 at the Colorado Avalanche, and the Blackhawks lost 2-1 to the Wild. Jake Allen made 30 saves for St. Louis, which outshot the Jets 10-3 in the third period. Thorburn scored on a backhand after the Jets won an offensive-zone faceoff. A shot from the point got to the front of the net, and Thorburn scored his seventh of the season, first since Feb. 14. The Blues thought they tied the game when Steve Ott fed Paul Stastny, who scored on a backhand with 5:01 left in the second, but officials waved off the goal, calling Stastny for slashing the stick of Jets defenseman Tyler Myers. Pavelec made a brilliant right-pad save on a redirection by Jaden Schwartz in the third period after a pass from Stastny with 8:31 remaining.
Minnesota @ Chicago 2-1 - The Wild were rewarded with goals by forwards Mikael Granlund at 9:30 and Jason Zucker at 13:14, with Zucker scoring his 19th goal in his first game since sustaining a broken right clavicle Feb. 9 against the Vancouver Canucks. Zucker's goal ended up the game-winner after Bryan Bickell scored with 1:48 remaining with Corey Crawford on the bench in favor of an extra attacker. Chicago had the best chance to score midway through the second, when Bickell forced a turnover that created a 2-on-1 for Andrew Shaw and Patrick Sharp.
After Marco Scandella got his stick on a cross-ice pass from Shaw to Sharp, the Blackhawks continued to apply pressure and got away two shots from close range. Dubnyk turned away a backhand by Shaw with a pad save, which sent a rebound to Sharp for another shot that bounced off the left post and slid into the crease. Jared Spurgeon scooped the puck and ended the threat. Minnesota controlled the third and nearly scored on the shift before Granland's goal midway through. Crawford made dazzling saves on back-to-back shots by Jason Pominville and Parise, but Granlund scored six seconds after the ensuing faceoff.
Nashville @ Colorado 2-3 - Avalanche rookie Joey Hishon, playing in his 11th NHL regular-season game, broke a 2-2 tie with his first goal at 7:06 of the third period after being promoted to the third line because Dennis Everberg sustained a shoulder injury. Predators defenseman Roman Josi lost the puck to Marc-Andre Cliche, who passed to Hishon. He weaved his way into the Nashville end and sent the puck by Rinne's stick. Hishon, 23, was the Avalanche's first-round pick (No. 17) in the 2010 NHL Draft. He missed the entire 2011-12 season because of a head injury and was limited to nine games in 2012-13 with the Lake Erie Monsters in the American Hockey League. Nashville tied the game 2-2 on a power-play goal by Ryan Ellis at 1:20 of the third period. He took a shot from above the circles through traffic and past goalie Semyon Varlamov for his second goal in two games and ninth of the season. The Predators thought they scored 18 seconds later when Josi's shot got past Varlamov, but the goal was wiped out when it was ruled that Paul Gaustad interfered with the Avalanche goalie, who appeared to fall after losing an edge. Colorado couldn't get much of anything going offensively until late in the second period when Jarome Iginla and Ryan O'Reilly scored nine seconds apart for a 2-1 lead to tie an Avalanche record for two fastest goals. Matt Duchene passed to Tyson Barrie, who found Iginla open at the left faceoff dot for a one-timer that beat Rinne to the far side at 15:32 for his 27th goal of the season. O'Reilly followed at 15:41. Landeskog passed to O'Reilly in the high slot for a shot that eluded Rinne to the stick-side for his 17th goal. O'Reilly has seven goals and eight assists in the past 12 games. The Predators, who took the first nine shots of the game, grabbed a 1-0 lead at 5:02 of the opening period on a goal by Calle Jarnkrok. Matt Cullen had the puck at the side of the net when he passed to Jarnkrok just inside the right circle near the hash marks. He shot the puck by Varlamov's left arm.
Phoenix @ Calgary 2-3 - Sean Monahan scored the game-winner midway through the third period and Jonas Hiller made 22 saves in a 3-2 victory. The Flames were unable to hold a pair of one-goal leads before Monahan carried the puck into the Coyotes' zone, pulled up to allow Andrew Campbell to slide by, then stepped into the slot and fired a shot that beat goaltender Mike Smith between the legs at 9:26 to break a 2-2 tie. Monahan's game-winner came after Jones and Cunningham scored earlier in the period. Jones broke a 1-1 tie at 1:13, keeping the play alive in the zone before grabbing the rebound of Michael Ferland's shot and beating Smith over the glove. Cunningham tied the game at 7:44. Hiller ventured out of his crease to play the puck, but instead turned it over to Kyle Chipchura, who fed Cunningham for a virtual empty-netter. The Flames wasted little time, outshooting the Coyotes 18-7 in the first period and jumping out to a 1-0 lead on Gaudreau's goal. With Martin Erat in the penalty box for interference, Dennis Wideman's one-timer was blocked by Michael Stone, but the puck came to Gaudreau, who dropped to one knee to one-time his opportunity past Smith at 8:49. It was Gaudreau's 23rd goal, the most in a season by a Flames rookie since Paul Ranheim scored 26 and Sergei Makarov had 24 in 1989-90. It also moved him one point ahead of Filip Forsberg of the Nashville Predators for the scoring lead among rookies. Crombeen got the Coyotes even late in the second period. With Calgary defenseman Kris Russell down just outside the crease after blocking a shot, Crombeen swatted the rebound of Cunningham's initial shot over Hiller to tie the game at 17:09.
Lance Bouma left the game late in the second period after blocking a shot and did not return. Coyotes captain Shane Doan also left the game late in the middle period and did not return, but nobody noticed or even cared.
Los Angeles @ Edmonton 2-4 - Fraser scored 2:34 into the second period to put Edmonton ahead 1-0. He was left unattended at the side of the net and put a rebound past Jones off a long point shot from Martin Marincin. Muzzin tied the game 1-1 at 5:44 on the power play, 11 seconds into a delay of game penalty to Keith Aulie. Anze Kopitar took a sharp-angle shot that missed the net but bounced off the end boards to Muzzin, who put it into an open net before Bachman could scramble back to the other side. Pouliot put Edmonton up 2-1 at 10:09 on a fine individual effort. He stripped Kings forward Trevor Lewis of the puck in the Edmonton zone, raced down the ice and snapped a shot past Jones for his 18th goal. Pitlick put Edmonton up 3-1 at 5:31 of the third period, getting to a puck that bounced off the side of the net and snapping a shot over Jones. Pitlick was playing in his first game since Dec. 31, when he sustained a lacerated spleen. Bachman gave the Kings a lifeline at 9:38 by allowing Doughty's shot from just over the red line to go through him. But the Kings couldn't get another puck past Bachman before Fraser hit the empty net.
Carolina @ Buffalo 3-4 - Tyler Ennis scored his 20th goal to make it 4-0 with 3:12 left in the second period. Ennis, alone by the left post, received a pass from Johan Larsson across the slot and put a wrist shot past Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward. Lindback and the Sabres hung on after the Ennis goal. The Hurricanes scored three goals in the final 21:54 but could not get the equalizer. Carolina cut the Buffalo lead in half with highlight-reel goals from Patrick Dwyer with 1:54 left in the second period and Alexander Semin at 2:31 of the third period. Dwyer deked around Cody Hodgson and lifted a backhand over Lindback's blocker for his fifth goal. Semin's sixth goal came on a 2-on-1 with Jordan Staal against Tyson Strachan. Semin deked and slid the puck past Lindback as the Buffalo goalie tried to poke-check it away. Eric Staal cut the Buffalo lead to 4-3 with 5:22 left in the third after a scramble in front of the Sabres net. He picked up a loose puck and put a wrist shot past Lindback for his 23rd goal after the Hurricanes pulled Ward for the extra attacker. Grigorenko opened the scoring at 5:41 of the first period. He received a pass from Gionta and chopped at the puck as he was knocked off balance. The puck fluttered past Ward for his second goal of the season. Gionta made it 2-0 when he stole the puck from Brett Bellemore in the neutral zone and skated in against Ward before he beat him with a wrist shot to the short side for his 12th goal. Larsson gave the Sabres a 3-0 lead 1:18 into the second period with his sixth goal. He put a rebound of an Ennis shot past Ward after the Hurricanes were unable to clear the puck out of the zone. Andre Benoit left the game early in second period with an undisclosed injury and did not return. The Sabres announced before the game that Mike Weber will undergo surgery later this week for a lower-body injury and will miss the rest of the season. He had one goal and six assists in 64 games.
Columbus @ NY Rangers 3-4 OT - Stepan scored in the final minute of regulation to tie the game and in the final minute of overtime to lift the Rangers to a 4-3 win. He scored the winner from below the left circle with 49.6 seconds remaining in overtime. He tied the game with 27.5 seconds remaining in regulation. Brandon Dubinsky scored the go-ahead goal at 8:14. Blue Jackets goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (38 saves) made his best save of the night with 57 seconds left in regulation, when he robbed Dan Girardi with a sprawling pad save on an open shot from inches in front of the top of the crease. Vigneault used his timeout following that save by Bobrovsky. Stepan scored with a one-timer from the lower left circle less than 30 seconds later off a forehanded pass from Chris Kreider, who was in front of the net with his back to Bobrovsky. Stepan scored the overtime winner from a similar spot on the opposite end of the ice, but created the chance by forcing a turnover by Dalton Prout with a strong stick check along the left-wing half wall. Bobrovsky saved Keith Yandle's shot from the point, but Kreider tied up Justin Falk in front of the crease, allowing Stepan room to collect the puck and time to skate with it, make a forehand to backhand move before beating Bobrovsky on the glove side. Henrik Lundqvist (29 saves) was spot on in the second period even though he gave up the tying goal to Marko Dano off a rebound at 14:42. Girardi gave the Rangers the 2-1 lead with his fourth goal of the season at 36 seconds of the second period. It came off a strong cycle play by J.T. Miller and Kreider and a crisp circle-to-circle pass from Stepan. Matt Calvert tied the game at 1-1 late in the first by converting for his 12th goal of the season off a defensive zone turnover by McDonagh. Martin St. Louis got a fortunate bounce off a rush with Kevin Hayes to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 5:38 of the first.
Winnipeg @ Minnesota 2-0 - Winnipeg’s refusal to take part in extracurricular activities played a starring role. Less than four minutes into the game, Mark Stuart got into a shoving match with Chris Stewart in the corner. Stewart connected on a jab and was assessed a penalty for roughing. Winnipeg scored on the power play at 4:12 when Blake Wheeler’s centering pass deflected off Marco Scandella’s skate and past Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk. That goal ended up being the game-winner. Drew Stafford provided some extra help for Pavelec in the second when a rebound of a shot by Tyler Myers came right to Stafford in the slot, where he quickly put it past Dubnyk at 13:10. Pavelec stopped nine shots in the first period, 12 in the second and 11 more in the third as the Wild made a push. Minnesota pulled Dubnyk with 2:04 remaining but had few quality looks.
Los Angeles @ Vancouver 1-2 SO - Lack made 36 saves through overtime and stopped all three Kings in the shootout to move the Canucks closer to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After Dwight King beat him 1:13 into the game, Lack kept it close with a couple great saves, and Daniel Sedin tied the game midway through the third period on brother Henrik Sedin's 700th NHL assist. Chris Higgins scored the only goal of the shootout on a patient backhand deke that beat Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick, and the Canucks moved four points ahead of the Kings and Calgary Flames for second place in the Pacific Division. After Lack made pad saves on Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar, Higgins patiently outwaited Quick before lifting a sharp-angled backhand high over his outstretched glove. Lack got his glove on Marian Gaborik's shot to seal the comeback win. After Dustin Brown drove the net and forced Lack to make a good right-pad save after a pass out of the corner in the opening minute, King scored on a similar chance 1:13 into the game. Jeff Carter drove wide around Dan Hamhuis off the rush and centered from below the goal line to King, who fought off a check from Christopher Tanev and managed to get his stick on the puck in the crease and tap it in past Lack's far pad. It was the seventh time in eight games Vancouver has allowed the first goal. For a while it looked like one goal might be enough for Quick, who was making his 18th straight start. Daniel Sedin finally tied it shortly after a power play expired midway through the third period. Henrik Sedin cut in off the left side on his forehand and was behind the net when he threw a blind backhand pass back the way he came to Daniel for a one-timer from the left faceoff dot that beat Quick high to the glove side.
Dallas @ San Jose 5-1 - Jamie Benn scored two goals and led the Dallas Stars to a 5-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center, but he was in no mood to celebrate. The Stars and Sharks were eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Winnipeg Jets completed a 2-0 win against the Minnesota Wild a few minutes after the opening faceoff. Patrick Eaves, Colton Sceviour and Ryan Garbutt scored for Dallas (39-31-10), and Jhonas Enroth made 23 saves. Joe Thornton scored for San Jose (39-32-9). One season after the Sharks squandered a 3-0 series lead and lost in seven games to the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference First Round, their streak of 10 consecutive playoff berths ended. The Sharks lost their final home game of the season and finished 19-17-5 at SAP Center, where they have typically had one of the NHL's best home-ice advantages. Sceviour gave Dallas a 1-0 lead 28 seconds into the game when he put a rebound past Alex Stalock from close range. Defenseman Jason Demers, playing in San Jose for the first time since the Sharks traded him to Dallas for Brenden Dillon on Nov. 21, had the primary assist. The Stars made it 2-0 on Patrick Eaves' power play goal at 17:32 with Barclay Goodrow in the penalty box for elbowing Tyler Seguin. Twenty-two seconds into the power play, Benn took two whacks at a rebound from right of crease. The puck caromed across the crease and bounced off Eaves' skate and past Stalock. Dallas extended its lead at 7:53 of the second period when Benn scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal from point-blank range to make it 3-0. Sharks forward Joe Pavelski went to the penalty box at 6:12 for hooking, and Brent Burns joined him at 7:27 for slashing. Twenty-six seconds later, Benn scored his 31st goal of the season, lifting the puck over Stalock's glove. The Stars have gone 12-5 over their past 17 games. Thornton answered with a goal at 13:27, putting the puck between Enroth's pads on a rush with two seconds left on a power play. The goal was Thornton's 16th, five more than he had last season.
Benn scored his 32nd goal of the season at 15:08 of the third period, taking a pass in the slot from Seguin and sending the puck into a wide-open net. That goal gave Benn 80 points, breaking his high of 79 set last season.
Garbutt scored on a breakaway with two minutes remaining.
Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia 1-4 - The Flyers, already mathematically eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention, could only play spoilers. They did, and it left their cross-state rivals reeling and potentially locked in a much closer race than they thought they'd be in. Goalie Steve Mason tied his season high with 46 saves, and the Flyers offense was powered by goals from forwards Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn and Ryan White and defenseman Michael Del Zotto in a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Wells Fargo Center. Voracek, Schenn, and Del Zotto scored power-play goals; White scored at even strength in the third period. The Flyers (32-29-18) have won eight in a row against the Penguins dating to last season. They swept the season series against the Penguins for the first time since 1983-84. Philadelphia also defeated Pittsburgh 4-1 the previous Wednesday at Consol Energy Center. The Penguins (42-26-11), losers of three straight and playing without defensemen Kris Letang and Christian Ehrhoff, might have spoken too soon. They're in a race that they couldn't have fathomed being in on March 14, when they lost to the Boston Bruins 2-0. That started what has turned into a 3-8-1 stretch for the Penguins, who have entered dangerous territory when it comes to making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference. The Penguins (95 points) are tied with the Bruins and Detroit Red Wings in the race for a wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference, and the Ottawa Senators pulled within two points with their shootout loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Penguins had 47 shots against the Flyers, including 22 in the first period. Sutter had their only goal on the power play at 16:21 of the first. Nick Spaling and Evgeni Malkin, who played after missing the past two games with an undisclosed injury, had shots that rang off the post when the Penguins were trailing 2-1. Penguins coach Mike Johnston also took the measured approach, saying there were things he liked about how the Penguins played Sunday, just as there were things he liked about their game Saturday, when they lost 5-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The problem, as Johnston noted, is it's hard to be content with taking positives out of losses at this time of the season when you haven't clinched a playoff berth yet. Voracek scored the game-tying power-play goal at 19:18 of the first period. Schenn gave the Flyers a 2-1 lead at 12:20 of the second. White scored off a feed from Sean Couturier at 15:05 of the third period to make it 3-1. Del Zotto capped the scoring at 19:50 of the third. Couturier drew the penalties that led to the Flyers' first two goals. He was cross-checked in the back by Daniel Winnik at 18:31 of the first period and hooked by Blake Comeau at 12:02 of the second. Philadelphia's power play was 3-for-4. Johnston felt a turning point was Winnik's penalty on Couturier. To that point the Flyers were being outshot 22-3, but Mark Streit found Voracek in the right circle and he hammered a one-timer past Penguins goalie Thomas Greiss (16 saves) with 42 seconds to play in the first period. Except the Flyers were in the game the game again, and they started to tighten up. Schenn gave Philadelphia the lead when his redirection of Voracek's pass chipped up and over the defense before dropping into the crease and sliding into the net.
Further evidence that the Flyers really are scum, one question who will you be playing in the playoffs? that's right no one, after having another classic season:
Steve Mason: "They have something to play for, and we were happy to take it away from them. Our fate is sealed, but that doesn't mean we can't ruin other people's."
Ryan White: "From being here one year, you realize that we don't like the Penguins. It's good to beat them twice in the same week. That's the only thing we can play for right now, is try to put a damper on other teams' things. They had a few guys last week saying that they're going to playoffs, chirping after the game. So it was a good win for us."
Washington @ Detroit 2-1 - Kuznetsov opened the scoring 3:38 into the game with a power-play goal. His shot from the right circle hit Detroit forward Drew Miller, changed direction, and went past Mrazek. It was Kuznetsov's 11th goal and came with Dan Cleary in the penalty box for high sticking. Marek Zidlicky got a clipping penalty against Wilson with 9:32 left in the second period. Detroit killed it off and seemed to get a spark, out-shooting the Capitals 16-6 in the second period. Green stretched Washington's lead to 2-0, 4:42 into the second. His slap shot from the top of the right circle went in off the top of Mrazek's glove. It was Green's 10th goal. Helm's power-play goal put Detroit on the board and made it 2-1 with 7:01 left in the second period. He tipped Pavel Datsyuk's pass into an open net for his 14th goal. Holtby stopped Datsyuk's backhand shot, cutting across the top of the crease from left to right with under five minutes left in the third period. Tom Wilson was helped off the ice with 6:18 remaining in the game after he got hit in the head, while blocking Danny DeKeyser's shot.
Montreal @ Florida 4-1 - Goalie Carey Price tied the Canadiens record with his 42nd victory of the season, Michel Therrien got his 200th win with Montreal in his 400th game as head coach, and Devante Smith-Pelly scored his first goal since being acquired in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. Max Pacioretty, who leads the Canadiens with 37 goals and 67 points, left the game at 5:48 of the first period when he hit his head against the boards after being checked by Dmitry Kulikov and then getting his feet tangled with Panthers defenseman Alex Petrovic. Pacioretty appeared wobbly as he was accompanied off the ice by a trainer. Therrien had no update on Pacioretty's status after the game. Price finished with 24 saves to tie the Canadiens' single-season wins record first set by Jacques Plante in 1955-56, then matched by Plante in 1961-62 and by Ken Dryden in 1975-76. Plekanec opened the scoring at 6:36 of the first period on a 5-on-3 power play. With Kulikov in the box for interference on the play Pacioretty was injured and Erik Gudbranson serving a minor for high sticking, Plekanec scored his 200th NHL goal from a sharp angle when he beat Ellis through the five-hole. Ekblad tied the game at 6:20 of the second period with his 12th goal, the most in the NHL among rookie defensemen. After Florida won the faceoff immediately following Dale Wiese's penalty for delay of game, Ekblad got the puck at the point and was allowed to skate in before firing a slap shot from the top of the left circle that beat Price low to the glove side. Florida almost took the lead less than a minute later when Petrovic's slap shot from the point hit the post. Instead, Montreal turned the near-miss into a breakout opportunity and scored 46 seconds after Ekblad's goal. P.K. Subban chased down an errant lead pass in the Florida zone and sent the puck across the ice to Gallagher, who one-timed it past Ellis for his 24th goal. It was Gallagher's fourth goal against Florida this season. Parenteau broke a nine-game goal drought at 11:27 with a spectacular individual effort. He skated with the puck the length of the ice before crossing the blue line and firing a wrist shot while surrounded by three Florida players. Parenteau then beat everybody to the rebound and shot the puck past Ellis. Parenteau also was instrumental in Montreal's fourth goal at 17:42 of the second after he stole the puck from Willie Mitchell to the side of the Florida net. Parenteau fed Smith-Pelly for a one-timer.
Ottawa @ Toronto 2-3 SO - Joffrey Lupul gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 3:10 of the first period when he scored his 10th goal of the season. The veteran right wing took a pass in front of the net and escaped the loose coverage of Erik Condra before stuffing a shot past Hammond. It was Lupul's first goal since Dec. 31, a span of 28 games. The Senators tied it at 7:15 of the second period on a power play when Erik Karlsson hopped on a rebound and scored his 21st goal of the season. It came nine seconds after Andrew MacWilliam was sent off for tripping. The Maple Leafs restored their lead at 12:42 when James van Riemsdyk scored his 27th goal of the season and his third in as many games. Holland was driving hard to the net and suddenly jammed on the breaks. He spotted van Riemsdyk in front and made a pinpoint pass that led to the goal. Stone tied the score 2-2 at 1:09 of the third period with a power-play goal. With Toronto's Richard Panik off for holding, Stone took a pass from Kyle Turris in the high slot and one-timed a shot past Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier for his 22nd goal of the season. Holland, playing his first game since March 13 becausef of a lower-body injury, was Toronto's seventh shooter in the shootout and sent a shot high past Hammond. Toronto coach Peter Horachek suggested he might monitor Holland's ice time, especially early in the game, but he said afterward he was impressed with the center's effort.
St Louis @ Chicago 2-1 - It was a game reminiscent of the hard-hitting series between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference First Round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Only this time the Blues found a way to win a big game in Chicago. Led by 38 saves from Jake Allen, St. Louis defeated Chicago 2-1 at United Center to move into first place of the Central Division. The Blues (105 points) have won three in a row; they lead the Nashville Predators by one point and the Blackhawks by three, with three games left for each team. Chicago will host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday before heading to Scottrade Center for a rematch with St. Louis on Thursday. It was the first regular-season regulation victory in Chicago since Feb. 3, 2010, for the Blues (49-23-7), who also lost all three games of last season's playoff series here. The first of those goals, by captain David Backes, tied it 1-1 on a power play at 6:07 of the second period. Jaden Schwartz got the puck in the low slot and feathered a pass to Backes for a tip-in goal at the right side of the net.
The puck traveled through a narrow gap between the skates of Duncan Keith and goalie Corey Crawford. The second goal, scored 9:05 later, was again the result of Blues forwards buzzing the net. Jori Lehtera won a faceoff back Alex Pietrangelo at the right point, and he sent a shot toward the net that hit Ty Rattie in front of Crawford. The puck caromed to the low slot, where Jokinen batted it in to give St. Louis the lead. Rattie's right skate made contact with Crawford's left pad during the play, upsetting the Chicago goaltender, but goalie interference wasn't called. The Blackhawks (48-25-6) had a number of opportunities to score the equalizing goal, but they couldn't get another shot past Allen and saw their four-game winning streak come to an end as a result.
Kris Versteeg gave Chicago a 1-0 lead late in the first with his first goal since Feb. 24 against the Florida Panthers, the game right wing Patrick Kane sustained a fractured left clavicle. Marian Hossa intercepted a backhand pass from T.J. Oshie at the St. Louis blue line, carried the puck into the left faceoff circle and slid a pass to Versteeg in front of the net. Versteeg redirected the puck through Allen's pads at 14:12 for his 14th goal. Robert Bortuzzo was injured trying to check Toews during the play, and he wasn't able to break up the pass. Bortuzzo didn't return because of an upper-body injury and is day-to-day. Chicago also lost a defenseman in the first period. Kimmo Timonen was driven hard into the boards by St. Louis forward Ryan Reaves midway through the period and did not return. Quenneville said Timonen is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Chicago's 1-0 lead held up the rest of the first thanks mostly to Crawford, who received a standing ovation after making saves on a couple good scoring chances by Rattie and Jokinen with less than three minutes remaining in the period. The Blues came out ahead in a second period that featured some hard hits. They then used a strategy that wins games in the postseason, staving off the Blackhawks' push to tie it in the third. Veteran defenseman Barret Jackman, a healthy scratch Friday at the Dallas Stars, returned to the lineup for St. Louis and played his 800th NHL game. Only Bernie Federko has played more games for the Blues.
