Wings miss playoffs despite last-second goal, shootout win
MONTREAL » Patrick Kane scored the shootout winner in a 5-4 Detroit win over the Montreal Canadiens in their regular-season finale Tuesday night, but the Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention.
The Red Wings entered the night tied with Washington for the East’s second wild-card spot with 89 points. The Capitals, however, held the tiebreaker over Detroit with more regulations wins and clinched the final playoff spot with a 2-1 win over the Flyers on Tuesday.
Detroit has missed the playoffs eight straight seasons.
Daniel Sprong had a goal and an assist, while Moritz Seider, Joe Veleno and David Perron also scored for Detroit (41-32-9). The Red Wings prevailed in a dramatic 5-4 overtime victory over the Canadiens on home ice a day earlier.
James Reimer stopped 29 shots for Detroit.
Brendan Gallagher and Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and an assist, while Alex Newhook and Cole Caufield also scored for Montreal (30-36-16). Cayden Primeau made 36 saves.
Canadiens fans got a first glimpse of some up-and-coming blueliners in the organization. Logan Mailloux made his NHL debut after spending the entire season with the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket. The 21-year-old produced one assist for his first NHL point.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old Lane Hutson showed his moves, received loud applause and produced a crucial assist playing at the Bell Centre for the first time. He debuted Monday in Detroit, where he earned one assist. SENATORS 3, BRUINS 1 » Jiri Smejkal scored his first career goal midway through the second period and Jakob Chychrun scored
less than a minute later as Ottawa beat Boston in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Artem Zub added an empty-net goal with 1:48 remaining and Anton Forsberg had 34 saves for the Senators, who avoided a threegame season series sweep by Boston that had a chance of spoiling the Bruins’ hopes of clinching the
Atlantic Division title.
BLUE JACKETS 6, HURRICANES 3 » Zach Werenski had two goals and two assists, Jet Greaves made 38 saves and Columbus beat a diminished version of playoff-bound Carolina.
The Hurricanes, who finished second in the Metropolitan Division, rested eight regulars in the
meaningless regular-season finale.
Carolina finished with 111 points at 52-23-7, the second-best record in the Eastern Conference behind the division champion New York Rangers.
The Hurricanes reached the postseason for the sixth straight year.