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Washington eliminates Atltanta

The Washington Capitals' Alex Ovechkin, 8, of Russia, Jeff Halpern, 11, and Dainius Zubrus, 9, of Lithuania, celebrate a power-play goal by Brian Willsie, not pictured, against Atlanta Thrashers goalie Mike Dunham during the third period of their NHL game on Monday in Washington. Looking on are the Thrashers' Niclas Havelid, 28, of Sweden and Brad Larsen, 29. PHOTO: AP

Rookie sensation Alex Ovechkin scored the tying goal and assisted on the go-ahead goal, leading Washington past Atlanta 6-4 on Monday and eliminating the Thrashers from NHL playoff contention.

Atlanta entered the day ninth in the Eastern Conference but with a chance to reach the postseason for the first time in franchise history if it could win its last two games and get some help. Instead, the Thrashers' four-game winning streak ended, and they will finish behind No. 7 Montreal and No. 8 Tampa Bay in the East.

Ovechkin, honored by the Capitals during ceremonies before and after Washington's home finale, scored from the left slot on a pass from Ben Clymer to tie it 2:36 into the final period, then found Brian Willsie open during a two-man advantage for the score that made it 5-4 at the 8:58 mark.

]Matt Pettinger tacked on an insurance goal at 12:26, his second of the game, giving him 20 for the season.

Ovechkin reached 52 goals and 105 points; both totals rank third in NHL history for a rookie.

Five of Washington's goals were allowed by Mike Dunham.

Red Wings 3, Stars 2

At Detroit, Tomas Holmstrom's power-play goal with 44.3 seconds remaining capped Detroit's three-goal third period, rallying the Red Wings over Dallas.

Johan Franzen and Andreas Lilja also scored and Henrik Zetterberg added two assists for Detroit, which trailed 2-0 before stretching its winning streak to eight games.

The Red Wings also made it 20 consecutive games (17-3-0) with at least a point, since their last regulation loss on March 7.

Manny Legace stopped 28 shots.

Jason Arnott had a goal and an assist and Jere Lehtinen also scored for Dallas.

Penguins 6, Islanders 1

At Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby became the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season, setting up three goals in a victory that may prevent Pittsburgh from finishing as the league's worst team for the second season in a row.

Crosby's three-point night gave him 62 assists, to go with his 38 goals, and tied Mario Lemieux (1984-85) for the team scoring record of 100 points. Crosby also joined Hall of Fame forward Dale Hawerchuk of the Winnipeg Jets (103 points, 1981-82) as the only 18-year-olds to score 100 points in an NHL season.

Crosby didn't take long to get his first point, executing a 2-on-1 break with Andy Hilbert to set up Hilbert's 12th goal at 1:04 of the first.

Crosby got his 99th point at 15:19 of the second, passing to Colby Armstrong along the right wing boards before cutting to the net, taking the return pass and feeding it ahead to Tomas Surovy for Surovy's 12th goal. Crosby then grabbed the puck off John LeClair's faceoff win and passed it up ice to Ryan Malone, who beat goalie Garth Snow for his 21st goal and second of the game, at 15:44.

Oilers 4, Avalanche 2

At Edmonton, Alberta, Jarret Stoll scored a short-handed, tiebreaking goal in the third period to lead Edmonton.

Jaroslav Spacek added an empty-netter in the final second, and Rem Murray and Raffi Torres also scored as Edmonton won its second striaght to close the regular season. The Oilers open the playoffs at Detroit this weekend.

Edmonton's win also prevented seventh-seeded Colorado from moving into sixth.

Joe Sakic and Patrice Brisebois scored for the Avalanche, who dropped three straight games and four of their last five. Colorado will face Dallas in the first round of the postseason.

Kings 4, Sharks 0

At San Jose, California, Luc Robitaille went scoreless in the final game of his 19 NHL seasons, but Los Angeles sent the top goal-scorer in franchise history into retirement with a season-ending victory over San Jose.

Jason LaBarbera stopped 31 shots for his first NHL shutout, while Pavol Demitra, Mike Cammalleri and Mattias Norstrom each had a goal and an assist for the Kings, who snapped the Sharks' eight-game winning streak. The game meant nothing to San Jose, already headed to the playoffs as the West's fifth seed.

But it was a celebratory night for Robitaille, the highest-scoring left wing in hockey history and a beloved Los Angeles star for 14 years in a career also spent with Pittsburgh, Detroit and the New York Rangers.

Evgeni Nabokov made 25 saves for the Sharks, who already clinched a first-round date with Nashville.

Mighty Ducks 4, Flames 3

At Anaheim, California, Teemu Selanne capped a remarkable comeback season with his 40th goal on a power play midway through the third period, leading Anaheim over Calgary.

Anaheim will be embarking on its fourth playoff run in the franchise's 12-year history -- capping off Henry and Susan Samueli's first season as the team's owners, Brian Burke's first as Ducks general manager and Randy Carlyle's first as an NHL head coach.

Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the 2003 playoff MVP, stopped 29 shots. Rookies Chris Kunitz and Corey Perry scored power-play goals less than five minutes apart in the first period. Andy McDonald got his 34th goal and rookie Ryan Getzlaf had three assists.

Jarome Iginla, Byron Ritchie and Daymond Langkow scored for the Flames.
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