Predators wrap up Presidents’ Trophy, Sedins combine for OT goal in home farewell
>> WASHINGTON: Craig Smith scored twice and Ryan Johansen had the goahead goal late in the third period to help the Nashville Predators beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 on Thursday night to clinch first place in the Central Division, the top seed in the Western Conference and the best record in the NHL.
Even though it will be Pekka Rinne in net for the Predators when they open the play-offs next week, backup Juuse Saros stopped 28 of the 31 shots and captain Roman Josi scored on the power play to give them their first division title in 19 seasons of existence.
Nashville have a franchise-record 52 victories and will open the playoffs against the second wild card in the West as they try to return to the Stanley Cup Final. The Predators clinched the Presidents’ Trophy for the league’s top record when Boston lost to Florida 3-2 later Thursday. Nashville watched from the arena as the Panthers scored late in the third period to top the Bruins.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice and Alex Ovechkin added his NHL-leading 47th goal of the season for the Metropolitan-champion Capitals, who have nothing left to play for and could still face any of a handful of teams in the first round. Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves and strengthened his case to be Washington’s Game One playoff starter over 2016 Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin scripted a Hollywood ending to their 17-year reign with the Vancouver Canucks, combining to score the overtime winner in their final home game.
The Swedish twins made sure their send-off ended with a bang as Daniel scored the winner on a setup from Henrik to lift the Canucks to a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes.
The dynamic duo combined for two goals including the winner at 2:33 minutes of overtime on the powerplay as Daniel fired a shot home from the point after receiving a nifty pass from his brother.
It was the perfect send off for the 37-year-old twins from Ornskoldsvik, who announced their retirement on Monday and received several standing ovations from the Canucks fans throughout Thursday’s contest.
“Perfect ending and I am not surprised,” said Canuck teammate and fellow Swedish national team member Alexander Edler.
The Sedins will play the final NHL game against the Edmonton Oilers in Alberta tomorrow morning (Thai time).
The New Jersey Devils are back in the play-offs for the first time since 2012.
Patrick Maroon set up secondperiod goals by Pavel Zacha and Miles Wood and the Devils ended a five-year postseason drought with the 2-1 victory over Toronto.
Dustin Brown scored his fourth goal of the game 23 seconds into overtime as hosts Los Angeles beat Minnesota 5-4 to move into third place in the Pacific Division.