Marian Hossa scored twice to help the Atlanta Thrashers defeat the Washington Capitals 5-3 and pull within two points of Tampa Bay for the final playoff spot in the NHL Eastern Conference on Thursday.
Both teams have three games remaining. Atlanta must beat out the Tampa Bay Lightning, who would likely win any tiebreaker scenario for the eighth spot because they have two more wins and beat Atlanta in the season series.
Alexander Ovechkin scored his 50th goal for Washington, becoming the second rookie in NHL history to reach 50 goals and 100 points. Teemu Selanne had 76 goals and 132 points for the Winnipeg Jets in 1992-1993.
PHOTO: AP
The Thrashers, who entered the league in 1999, are one of only two franchises that have never made the playoffs (Columbus is the other). They have given themselves a chance with five wins and an overtime loss in their last seven games.
Hossa snapped a 3-all tie with 9.3 seconds left in the second period. Then, after the Capitals pulled goalie Olaf Kolzig in the final minute and were on the verge of having a two-man advantage, Hossa knocked Ovechkin off the puck at the point and swooped in for the easiest of goals, his 39th of the season.
Hossa also had two assists.
Maple Leafs 4, Islanders 3, OT
At Uniondale, New York, Matt Stajan scored his second goal of the game with 1:08 left in overtime to give Toronto an important victory.
Stajan came around the net, fought off two checks and sent a backhand from the high slot between the pads of a screened Garth Snow.
Toronto also got goals from Darcy Tucker and Mats Sundin. Jean-Sebastien Aubin stopped 23 shots for the Leafs, who are three points behind Tampa Bay for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have three games remaining.
Robert Nilsson, Trent Hunter and Shawn Bates scored for the Islanders, while Snow made 27 saves. He is now winless in his last 12 appearances in net, 10 of them starts.
Canadiens 4, Bruins 3
At Boston, Alex Kovalev recorded two goals and an assist to help Montreal move a step closer to making the playoffs.
Jan Bulis added a goal and two assists for the Canadiens, who are trying to make the playoffs for the second straight season. Montreal hasn't had back-to-back playoff appearances since three straight berths, ending with the 1997-98 season.
Currently in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, Montreal leads ninth-place Atlanta by six points with two games remaining. The Canadiens need just one point or an Atlanta loss or tie to clinch a playoff spot.
Penguins 5, Rangers 3
At Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists to close within three points of becoming the youngest player to have a 100-point season in the NHL, and Pittsburgh further stalled the New York Rangers' bid to win their first division title since 1994.
The Rangers stayed three points ahead of the Flyers, who lost 4-1 to New Jersey, in an Atlantic Division race that could be decided when the teams play Saturday in Philadelphia.
Jaromir Jagr added to his Rangers team record by getting his 54th goal and league-high 122nd point midway through the first to put the Rangers up 1-0.
Devils 4, Flyers 1
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Zach Parise scored two goals and Brian Gionta had three assists to give New Jersey its ninth straight win and pull even with Philadelphia in the Eastern playoff standings.
The teams are tied for fifth in the conference with 97 points and will face each other again on Sunday, also at Continental Airlines Arena.
Oilers 2, Mighty Ducks 1
At Edmontona, Alberta, Ales Hemsky scored with 33.3 seconds left in the third period to give Edmonton a key win over Anaheim.
Edmonton clinched a playoff spot with Vancouver's 5-3 loss to San Jose. The Oilers moved within a point of seventh place Colorado, which lost to Calgary 2-0.
Ethan Moreau of the Oilers and Andy McDonald of the Mighty Ducks exchanged first-period goals.
Dwayne Roloson made 23 saves for the Oilers.
Flames 2, Avalanche 0
At Calgary, Alberta, Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves for his second straight shutout to help the Flames clinch the Northwest Division title.
The Flames last won a division title in 1994-1995 when they finished atop the Pacific Division before losing in the first round of the playoffs to San Jose.
Rookie Dion Phaneuf scored his 20th goal of the season on a slapshot from the point at 10:35 of the second period. The goal was set up when Byron Ritchie knocked defenseman Rob Blake off the puck with a heavy check and Chris Simon sent a nifty backhand pass to Phaneuf at the far point.
Tony Amonte scored an empty net goal with 46 seconds left in the game to seal the victory, but not before Kiprusoff came up with a number of great stops in the third period.
Coyotes 3, Kings 0
At Glendale, Arizona, Phoenix goaltender Curtis Joseph made 32 saves against Los Angeles for his 46th career shutout.
The Kings, who have lost four straight and seven of nine, were eliminated from the Western Conference playoff race late in the second period when Edmonton beat Anaheim 3-2.
Joseph's shutout was his third of the season and first since he made 21 saves in a 4-0 win over Los Angeles on Nov. 3. He ranks fourth among active goaltenders in shutouts.
Derek Morris, Keith Ballard and Fredrik Sjostrom scored for the Coyotes, who snapped a five-game winless streak.
Sharks 5, Canucks 3
At San Jose, California, rookie Matt Carle scored the go-ahead goal on a pass from Joe Thornton with 8:36 left, and San Jose eliminated Vancouver from playoff contention with their franchise-record seventh straight victory.
Thornton tied Jaromir Jagr for the NHL scoring lead with three assists, giving him 122 points in his spectacular season.
The Sharks are in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
Jonathan Cheechoo scored an early goal and an empty-netter with 16.2 seconds left for San Jose.
Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and two assists for the Canucks, who will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2000.
On a day the Phoenix Coyotes announced an ownership change, head coach Wayne Gretzky Thursday remained noncommittal about returning for a second NHL season behind the bench.
The Coyotes' season ends on Sunday, and Gretzky plans to make a decision next month on his plans for next season.
"Sooner is better for everybody. It's better for me, it's better for the organization," Gretzky said.
His comments came after two Coyote owners announced they were splitting their partnership in the parent company of the NHL team and the Westgate City Center development complex around Glendale Arena. Coyotes Holdings majority investor Jerry Moyes will run the team and Steve Ellman, a developer with a 25 percent ownership interest, will take control of the Westgate project.
Moyes, Ellman and Gretzky joined to buy the team in 2001 for about US$125 million. Gretzky will continue to have a minority ownership in both ventures.
Moyes said it was his "full intention" to have Gretzky back as coach.
Gretzky, whose Hall of Fame playing career ended in 1999, had never coached in the NHL before taking over the Coyotes this season -- and it hasn't been an easy one.
"You couldn't ask to live and be in a better city or be in a better situation," Gretzky said. "But how long I was going to coach, I wasn't sure. But I will say this: I truly have enjoyed it much more than I probably anticipated when I started in September."
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