Reinhart’s 55th goal lifts Panthers by Sabres

SUNRISE, Fla. — Sam Reinhart got his 55th goal of the season with 1:02 left in overtime, and the Florida Panthers clinched home ice for at least Round 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs by beating the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in the next-to-last regular-season game for both teams on Saturday.

Reinhart took a pass from Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov and delivered the winner. Anton Lundell and Kevin Stenlund also scored for Florida, and Matthew Tkachuk had an assist — his 60th of the season, the third straight year he’s had that many.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots for Florida.

Flyers 1, Devils 0: At Philadelphia, Travis Konecny scored a short-handed breakaway goal and Samuel Ersson stopped 20 shots to keep Philadelphia’s miniscule postseason hopes alive with one game left to play in a win over New Jersey.

The Flyers entered Saturday with two games left while Pittsburgh, Washington and Detroit all had three games remaining as they competed for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Flyers had to win both games to have a shot at a playoff berth. The rest hinged on Detroit, Pittsburgh and Washington all losing or tying their games to give the Flyers a slim mathematical edge at making the postseason for the first time since they reached the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2020.

Capitals 4, Lightning 2: At Washington, John Carlson scored the goahead goal on a power play with 11:31 left, Charlie Lindgren made 32 saves in another strong performance when his team needed him and Washington Capitals kept its playoff hopes alive by beating Tampa Bay.

Jets 7, Avalanche 0: At Denver, Josh Morrissey and Adam Lowry scored 10 seconds apart in a four-goal first period that chased Colorado goaltender Alexandar Georgiev from the net, and Winnipeg moved into the driver’s seat for the Central Division’s second seed.

Stars 3, Kraken 1: At Dallas, defenseman Miro Heiskanen had a goal and two assists, and Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist as Dallas beat Seattle to clinch the Central Division title for the first time in eight years. Coyotes: The Arizona Coyotes will likely be sold to Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith shortly after the team's final game and will include a provision guaranteeing current owner Alex Meruelo an expansion team if a new arena is built within five years, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday.