Washington Capitals clinch playoff berth
TAMPA, Florida: T.J Oshie had three goals and an assist while Justin Williams and John Carlson had early third-period goals as the Washington Capitals clinched a playoff spot by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Saturday night.
Oshie scored twice, including an early power-play goal, as the Capitals took a 2-0 lead midway through the first. He completed the hat trick with an empty-netter during the final minute. Oshie has 10 goals and 19 points in 14 games against Tampa Bay.
Rangers 3, Wild 2: Oscar Lindberg had a goal and an assist while Antti Raanta made 25 saves as the New York Rangers held on to beat the Minnesota Wild.
Brady Skjei and Jimmy Vesey also scored for the Rangers, who have a league-high 26 victories away from home this season.
Blue Jackets 3, Islanders 2: Cam Atkinson scored 1 minute, 19 seconds into overtime to lift the Columbus Blue Jackets over the New York Islanders.
Oliver Bjorkstrand and Josh Anderson scored in the second period for Columbus, which improved to 46-18-6.
Blackhawks 2, Maple Leafs 1: Ryan Hartman scored with 17 seconds left in overtime to lead the Chicago Blackhawks past the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Red Wings 5, Avalanche 1: Tomas Tatar scored twice, including the go-ahead goal early in the third period that sent the Detroit Red Wings over the Colorado Avalanche.
Tatar gave Detroit a 2-1 lead at 5:20 of the final period. Less than two minutes later, he took a pass from Gus Nyquist and scored his 20th goal of the season.
Canadiens 4, Senators 3: Paul Byron and Alexander Radulov scored in the shootout to lead the Montreal Canadiens past the Ottawa Senators in the first half of the teams’ home-and-home series. The teams meet again Sunday at Montreal.
Andrew Shaw, Philip Danault and Brendan Gallagher scored in regulation for Montreal and Carey Price finished with 28 saves. Montreal extended its lead in the Atlantic Division to two points over second-place Ottawa.
Hurricanes 4, Predators 2: Jeff Skinner scored in each of the first two periods as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Nashville Predators.