Hot Devils en route to playoffs
Patrick Maroon set up second-period goals by Pavel Zacha and Miles Wood and the New Jersey Devils ended a five-year postseason drought with a 2-1 victory over the To- ronto Maple Leafs last night in Newark, N.J.
Keith Kinkaid, the mainstay in goal since the end of January, made 31 saves as the Devils won their fourth straight and extended their points streak to eight games (7-0-1).
William Nylander scored on a power play in the first period for Toronto to ice his second straight 20-goal season. Frederik Anderson was outstanding, making 37 saves, including saves on breakaways by Taylor Hall and Michael Grabner in the big second period.
Flyers 4, Hurricanes 3 — Jakub Voracek scored with 5:45 left in the third period to lift playoff-chasing Philadelphia over visiting Carolina, pushing the hosts just one point away from clinching a playoff berth.
Claude Giroux, Ivan Provorov and Michael Raffl also scored for the Flyers. Jordan Staal, Klas Dahlbeck and Sebas- tian Aho scored for Carolina, which has lost three straight and four of five.
Predators 4, Capitals 3 — Craig Smith scored twice and Ryan Johansen had the go-ahead goal late in the third period to help Nashville beat host Washington to clinch first place in the Central Division, the top seed in the Western Conference and the best record in the NHL.
Backup Juuse Saros stopped 28 of the 31 shots and captain Roman Josi scored on the power play to give the Predators their first division title in 19 seasons of existence.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored twice and Alex Ovechkin added his NHL-leading 47th goal of the season for the Metropolitan-champion Capitals.
Penguins 5, Blue Jackets 4 — Phil Kessel scored 1:06 into overtime for Pittsburgh, but host Columbus earned a point to clinch a playoff spot for the second consecutive season.
Conor Sheary tied it at 12:16 in the third period, Patric Hornqvist and Kris Letang also scored and Matt Murray had 26 saves for Pittsburgh. Zach Werenski, Matt Calvert, Boone Jenner and Cam Atkinson scored for Columbus.
Jets 2, Flames 1 — Connor Hellebuyck made 31 saves to earn his 43rd victory, tying the record for victories in a season by an American goalie held by Acton’s Tom Barrasso, and host Winnipeg beat Calgary for its fourth straight victory.
Islanders 2, Rangers 1 — Thomas Hickey and Anthony Beauvillier scored 2:32 apart in the second period and the visiting Islanders beat the Rangers for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings with the Rangers.
Canadiens 4, Red Wings 3 — Nicolas Deslauriers’ second goal ahead late in the second period helped Montreal win in Detroit.
Elsewhere in the NHL — Chicago Blackhawks president Joe McDonough said he plans to bring back both coach Joel Quenneville and general manager Stan Bowman after a dis- mal season for a team that has won three Stanley Cup championships since 2010 but stumbled to a last-place finish in the Central Division . . . .
Ottawa Senators forward Marian Gaborik had surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back. The 36-year-old Slovak had 11 goals and 10 assists in 46 games this season.