The New York Islanders made their last scheduled game against the New York Rangers in Uniondale, NY, a memorable one when they secured a post-season spot with a 3-0 win on Saturday.
The Islanders’ Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, and goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov extended his shutout streak to a team record of 213 minutes and 56 seconds.
The playoff spot is the third in a row for the islanders, their longest run since qualifying for the postseason each season from 2001-02 to 2003-04. The loss virtually eliminated the Rangers from the playoff competition. They got 22 saves from goalkeeper Alexandar Georgiev.
Mathew Barzal scored for the Islanders too, while Varlamov scored 28 saves by hiding the Rangers for the second time in three nights and scoring his NHL-high seventh shutout. He broke Chico Resch’s franchise record for the longest shutout series (178: 26 in the 1975/76 season). Varlamov has not been rated against the Rangers since April 20.
Penguins 3, capitals 0
Bryan Rust scored two runaway goals and goalkeeper Tristan Jarry scored 24 saves as Pittsburgh finished first in the East Division with a win over Washington.
Rust scored unassisted goals in the first two periods at the start, and Jeff Carter added one goal in the second period. Jarry played the capitals, especially in the last 25 minutes, improving to 8-1-1 in his last 10 games.
The Penguins beat Washington 6-2 this season and won both games in that two-game set in DC. Washington captain Alex Ovechkin missed his fourth straight game with a lower body injury while top defender John Carlson missed a second straight competition due to the same problem.
Wild 4, Blues 3 (OT)
Kevin Fiala scored the winning goal in extra time when Minnesota got past St. Louis in Saint Paul, Minn.
Mats Zuccarello, Nico Sturm and Jonas Brodin also scored goals for Wild, who made up a 3-1 deficit in the third half. Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 28 of 31 shots to claim victory.
Jordan Kyrou, Sammy Blais and David Perron scored a goal for the Blues, whose winning streak was interrupted in four games. Jordan Binnington made 34 saves in one defeat.
Oiler 4, flames 1
Connor McDavid scored one goal and two assists, and Leon Draisaitl added four assists to lead hosts Edmonton to victory over Calgary and deal a blow to his rivals’ playoff hopes.
Ethan Bear, Josh Archibald and Darnell Nurse also scored goals for the Oilers. Mike Smith made 29 saves for the team just before he could secure a spot in the playoffs. With two games, the Oilers are nine points behind the North Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs.
Johnny Gaudreau scored for the Flames and goalkeeper Jacob Markstrom stopped 25 shots. Calgary is eight points behind the Montreal Canadiens, placing them fourth in the North Division. Both teams have six games left.
Golden Knights 3, Coyotes 2 (OT)
Jonathan Marchessault scored the winning goal in extra time and Marc-Andre Fleury took third place on the all-time NHL list with his 489th career win when Vegas won in Glendale, Arizona.
Fleury finished with 19 saves and connected Roberto Luongo with his 23rd win of the season behind Martin Brodeur (691) and Patrick Roy (551) in third. William Karlsson and Mark Stone each scored goals and Marchessault added an assist for Vegas that kept a four point lead over runner-up Colorado in the Western Division.
Christian Dvorak and Christian Fischer scored goals and Darcy Kuemper ended up with 31 saves for Arizona, which was three points behind fourth place in St. Louis in the race for the final playoff spot in the west.
Bruins 6, Sabers 2
Craig Smith recorded his second career hat trick and David Krejci assisted on all three goals when the aspiring Boston visited Buffalo. The Bruins had a shot advantage of 43:19 and won for the ninth time in eleven games.
Nick Ritchie had a goal with an assist while Sean Kuraly and Patrice Bergeron also scored for the Bruins, who are nearing a playoff spot in the East Division after their sixth straight home win.
Riley Sheahan and rookie Arttu Ruotsalainen scored a goal for Buffalo. Netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves on his fourth start in the NHL before being buffeted by an apparent lower body injury from the ice at the end of the second period. The Sabers fell four times in a row and six times seven times.
Red wings 1, lightning 0 (SO)
Sam Gagner scored in the eighth round of a shootout to give Detroit a home win over Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay prevailed against Detroit in regulation and overtime with 33:15, but could not get past Red Wings goalkeeper Thomas Greiss, who recorded his second shutout in a row.
The Lightning believed they took the lead at 9:23 in the third half after Ryan McDonagh scored a goal. However, after a challenge from the Red Wings, she was recalled due to goalkeeping disorders. Ondrej Palat is said to have pushed Greiss and thrown from position when the puck sailed into the net.
Predators 1, Stars 0 (OT)
Erik Haula scored the extra time winner and Juuse Saros canceled the shutout to give hosts Nashville a win over Dallas and hold fourth place in the Central Division’s overall standings.
Saros made 28 parades for the Predators, who had a little more breathing room. Nashville has a three-point lead over the stars who have a game in hand.
Anton Khudobin stopped 33 shots for Dallas, who have lost three games in a row. Nashville ended the head-to-head season with the Stars with five wins in eight games, with all five wins in overtime.
Canadiens 3, Senators 2 (OT)
Cole Caufield was the overtime hero with his first NHL goal that led hosts Montreal to a comeback win over Ottawa as the Canadiens increased their hold on a playoff spot.
Tyler Toffoli and Jeff Petry each scored one goal and one assist, while Cayden Primeau scored 21 saves for the Canadiens. Caufield, the announced rookie who joined the team after winning the NCAA’s Hobey Baker Award, scored a goal in his fourth career game when he drove into the net and rerouted a pass from Petry at 2:25 a.m. of overtime.
Tim Stutzle and Thomas Chabot answered for the senators who saw their winning streak break off in two games. Goalkeeper Filip Gustavsson stopped 36 shots.
Devil 4, Flyer 1
Mackenzie Blackwood made 31 saves and came within 1:18 of a shutout when a visit to New Jersey en route to defeating Philadelphia scored a goal at the start of each period.
The Devils hit a season high with their third straight win after a 10-game skid (0-9-1). After losing in a shootout in Philadelphia on April 25, the Devils never fell behind in the last three games of the four-game series, scoring a goal in the first six minutes of every Saturday.
Jesper Bratt scored five minutes after the start of the game, Janne Kuokkanen scored less than a minute in the second minute and Nico Hischier scored a shorthanded goal of 5:14 in the third minute. Yegor Sharangovich scored New Jersey’s final goal, about five minutes from time.
Avalanche 4, sharks 3
Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and assist, Andre Burakovsky and Patrik Nemeth also scored, and Colorado beat San Jose in Denver.
Conor Timmons had two assists and Devan Dubnyk made 22 saves for the Avalanche, who also defeated the Sharks 3-0 on Friday evening.
Tomas Hertl and Alexander Barabanov each had a goal and an assist, Logan Couture also scored and Josef Korenar stopped 40 shots for San Jose.
Maple Leafs 5, Canucks 1
Auston Matthews scored two goals, scoring 38 league goals when Toronto defeated Vancouver.
Adam Brooks, Alex Galchenyuk and Joe Thornton also scored goals for the Maple Leafs, who swept the two-game set with the Canucks and extended their winning streak to five games. Mitchell Marner added two assists for Toronto.
Tanner Pearson scored for the Canucks, who have lost four times in a row and only scored one goal in three of those defeats. Jack Campbell made 26 saves for Toronto and Thatcher Demko stopped 25 shots for Vancouver.
Panthers 5, Blackhawks 4
Florida scored three goals between the last minute of the second and the first minute of the third minute, beating Chicago for the third time in a row.
Anthony Duclair scored twice for the Panthers and added an assist. Nikita Gusev, Aleksander Barkov and Owen Tippett also had goals for Florida, who scored 31 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.
Connor Murphy, Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach and Dominik Kubalik were the Blackhawks’ goal scorers. Kevin Lankinen made 37 saves in the defeat.
Hurricanes 2, Blue Jackets 1 (OT)
Defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored 52.1 seconds in overtime on a breakaway and sent Carolina to a win over Columbus in Raleigh, NC
Goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic assisted the winning streak when the Hurricanes’ points stretch reached 10 games (7-0-3). Teuvo Teravainen had the other goal in Carolina and Nedeljkovic scored 31 saves.
Max Domi scored for the Blue Jackets who were playing their street finals. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 31 shots for Columbus.
Ducks 6, kings 2
Ryan Miller made 23 saves to win his last home start of his career, and 20-year-old Trevor Zegras had a goal and assist as Anaheim led the visit to Los Angeles.
Miller, the 40-year-old veteran who announced this week that he will be retiring at the end of the season, took his 391st career victory when he finished 18th all-time in his 795th game with Rogie Vachon stepped up to goalkeepers. Both teams then congratulated Miller on the ice cream.
Danton Heinen and Jacob Larsson added one goal and two assists apiece for the ducks, while Nicolas Deslauriers, Max Jones and Max Comtois also scored one goal. The Kings scored goals from Brendan Lemieux and Tobias Bjornfot, and goalkeeper Calvin Petersen made 27 saves.
– Field level media
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