Ryan Whitney scored two second-period goals to lead Pittsburgh past the Washington Capitals 4-3 on Tuesday, and put the Penguins in the NHL playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Whitney scored the second and fourth Penguins goals, but it was Sidney Crosby's second-period goal past a stickless Olaf Kolzig that was the most memorable.
Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer with 113 points, took the puck behind the net and tipped it past the sprawling Kolzig to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead at 6:21 of the second period. Moments before, the Penguins' Gary Roberts had slammed into Washington's goalie, causing Kolzig's stick to sputter out of his hand.
Rookie Evgeni Malkin had two assists and Michel Ouellet tallied for Pittsburgh (44-23-10), which remained tied with the New Jersey Devils for first place in the Atlantic Division with 96 points.
Devils 3, Islanders 2
At Uniondale, New York, Zach Parise scored his career-high 30th goal, Martin Brodeur broke his New Jersey record with a 44th victory, and the Devils clinched their 10th straight playoff berth with a victory over New York.
Parise and Scott Gomez staked the Devils to a 2-0 lead and David Clarkson added a third-period, power-play goal against backup goalie Mike Dunham, who subbed for injured Rick DiPietro. DiPietro sat out because of headaches first felt following Sunday's overtime loss to the New York Rangers.
While the Devils are back in the postseason, the Islanders' chances took a double hit. They entered the night in a three-way tie for eighth place in the Eastern Conference -- the playoff cutoff -- but have only six games remaining and no idea if DiPietro will be back in time to help them.
Canadiens 6, Rangers 4
At Montreal, Alex Kovalev got his second straight two-goal game as Montreal scored five unanswered goals in the second period to beat New York.
Kovalev scored a pair of power-play goals to key the outburst which drove Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist from the net -- to the delight of the sold-out Bell Centre crowd of 21,273 -- midway through the second period after he allowed four goals within 7:30.
Predators 4, Oilers 3
J.P. Dumont scored a goal and had two assists as Nashville held off Edmonton at home to move out of a tie with Buffalo and Detroit at the top of the NHL.
With the victory, the Predators matched a franchise record with their 49th win for 105 points and went ahead of idle Buffalo and Detroit (103 points each). The Predators host Detroit on Thursday, trying to stay ahead of the Red Wings in the Central Division.
Jason Arnott, Shea Weber, Alexander Radulov scored, and Peter Forsberg added an assist for his fifth in three games for Nashville, which started a five-game homestand. Ales Hemsky, Petr Sykora and Toby Petersen scored for Edmonton in a tough start to the Oilers' six-game season-ending road trip. The team that played in the Stanley Cup finals last summer lost for the 14th time in 15 games.
Flames 1, Wild 0, SO
At St. Paul, Minnesota, Alex Tanguay and Jarome Iginla scored in the shootout and Miika Kiprusoff turned in a stellar performance in Calgary's victory over Minnesota that ended the Wild's nine-game winning streak.
Kiprusoff continued his dominance of the Wild, making 38 saves in regulation and overtime and then stuffing Pavol Demitra and Brian Rolston in the shootout to deliver a victory for the Flames, who won their fourth in a row.
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