Kevin Hayes and Ryan McDonagh scored 47 seconds apart in the first period as the New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-2 on Tuesday night to win the Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular-season record for the third time in franchise history.
The Rangers’ fifth straight win improved their record to 52-21-7 for 111 points. The 52-wins ties the franchise record and the point total is one less than that franchise mark, both set in 1993-1994, the last time they won the Stanley Cup.
Cam Talbot made 19 saves and James Sheppard and Carl Hagelin added third-period goals as the Rangers swept the four-game season series with New Jersey.
SENATORS 4, PENGUINS 3, OT
In Ottowa, Mark Stone scored 2 minutes, 43 seconds into overtime to cap Ottawa’s comeback from three goals down, preserving the Senators’ playoff hopes.
Stone also scored in the third period, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mike Hoffman had the Senators’ other goals. Andrew Hammond had 25 saves for Ottawa, who played their final home game of the season.
Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist had a goal and an assist each for the Penguins, and Beau Bennett scored for the first time in 31 games. Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 40 saves.
The Senators moved into a tie with Boston for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa trail Pittsburgh, who hold the first wild-card spot, by one point.
JETS 1, BLUES 0
In St Louis, Missouri, Ondrej Pavelec stopped 30 shots for his second consecutive shutout as the Winnipeg Jets strengthened their bid for a Western Conference playoff spot.
Chris Thorburn gave the Jets the game’s first goal for the fourth straight game and eighth out of nine, and Pavelec made it stand up one night after making 31 saves in a 2-0 victory at Minnesota. Pavelec has four shutouts overall.
The Jets, who have won three straight, are battling Los Angeles and Calgary for the final two playoff spots in the West.
Jake Allen made 30 saves for the Blues, who had won three straight and entered with a one point lead in the Central over Nashville. St Louis were without injured Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen for the fourth straight game, but both are expected back for the playoffs.
FLYERS 5, ISLANDERS 4
In Philadelphia, Brayden Schenn capped a wild final two minutes with the winning goal with 2.1 seconds left to lift Philadelphia.
With a playoff berth at stake, the Islanders wiped out a 4-1 deficit in the third period and nearly sent the game into overtime. Johnny Boychuk scored with 1 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in the game to make it 4-3 and Anders Lee tied it with 28 seconds to go.
Lee scored earlier in the period to start the rally.
Claude Giroux scored two goals and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Carlo Colaiacovo also had goals.
RED WINGS 3, HURRICANES 2
In Detroit, Michigan, Gustav Nyquist and Pavel Datsyuk scored in the third period as Detroit moved closer to its 24th consecutive playoff berth.
Detroit could have clinched a postseason spot with the win over Carolina if Pittsburgh had beaten Ottawa in regulation, but the Penguins could not manage that.
The Red Wings’ streak of playoff berths is the longest active run in the four major US professional leagues.
Jimmy Howard made 30 saves for Detroit, who were outshot 28-16 over the final two periods.
WILD 2, BLACKHAWKS 1
In Chicago, Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves to help Minnesota clinch a playoff spot.
Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker scored in the third period for the Wild, who were coming off a 2-0 home loss to Winnipeg on Monday night. It was Zucker’s first game since he broke his collarbone in the first period of a 5-3 victory over Vancouver on Feb. 9.
It was quite a turnaround from Minnesota’s last visit to Chicago in January, when they lost 4-1 in the fifth game of a six-game slide. That losing streak dropped the Wild to 18-19-5, but they traded for Dubnyk on Jan. 14 and the veteran goaltender helped them turn their season around.
Bryan Bickell scored his 14th goal and Corey Crawford had 28 stops for the Blackhawks (48-26-6), who have lost two in a row.
AVALANCHE 3, PREDATORS 2
In Denver, Colorado, Joey Hishon broke a third-period tie with his first NHL goal and Semyon Varlamov stopped 40 shots as Colorado handed Nashville their fourth straight loss.
Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan Ellis had scored for the Predators, who remain a point behind St Louis for the Central Division title with two games remaining. The Blues lost to Winnipeg 1-0 earlier.
Jarome Iginla and Ryan O’Reilly had goals nine seconds apart in the second period for Colorado, who were eliminated from the playoff chase last week.
Hishon, playing in his 11th game since being recalled from Lake Erie of the AHL, split two Nashville defenders and beat Pekka Rinne with a wrist shot at 7 minutes, 6 seconds of the final period.
The Predators pulled Rinne with about 1 minute, 35 seconds remaining, but they could not get anything by Varlamov. Nashville dropped to 6-10-3 since Feb. 26.
FLAMES 3, COYOTES 2
In Calgary, Alberta, Sean Monahan scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period to lift the Flames.
Monahan carried the puck up ice and into the Coyotes’ zone and, after hitting the brakes in the slot, sent a shot past Mike Smith for his 31st goal of the season. It came less than two minutes after Arizona capitalized on a big mistake by Flames goalie Jonas Hiller to tie it.
David Jones and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for the Flames, which swept the teams’ five-game season series by a combined score of 20-8.
B.J. Crombeen and Craig Cunningham scored for the Coyotes.
Calgary can clinch their first trip to the postseason in six years when they host Los Angeles.
OILERS 4, KINGS 2
In Edmonton, Alberta, Matt Fraser scored a pair of goals and Edmonton dealt a big blow to the playoff hopes of defending Stanley Cup champions Los Angeles.
Benoit Pouliot and Tyler Pitlick also scored for the Oilers, who snapped a three-game skid.
Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty scored for the Kings, who have lost two straight at a time when they cannot afford to let any points escape.
Los Angeles trail Winnipeg by three points and the Calgary Flames by two points with only two games remaining for all three teams in the hunt for the final two playoff spots in the Western Conference.
The Kings’ loss clinched a playoff spot for the Vancouver Canucks.
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