Malkin leads Pens past Blue Jackets for 3rd in Metro
PITTSBURGH >> Evgeni Malkin scored his 20th goal of the season and had an assist, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 Friday night in the season finale to clinch third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Kris Letang, Brian Boyle, Evan Rodrigues and Marcus Pettersson also scored for the Penguins, who will open the Stanley Cup playoffs next week at the New York Rangers.
STARS 4, DUCKS 2 >> Jason Robertson scored on a power play against an emergency replacement goalie midway through the third period and Dallas beat Anaheim.
Robertson gave Dallas a 3-2 lead with his 41st goal of the season, with puck going off an Anaheim stick and Thomas Hodges, making his first appearance in an NHL game after goalies John Gibson (upper body) and Anthony Stolarz (lower body) were injured.
WILD 4, AVALANCHE 1 >> Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist and Minnesota clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Jordan Greenway had two goals and Tyson Jost also scored for the Wild. Finishing second in the Central Division, Minnesota is 10-1-2 in its past 13 games and 21-3-4 in its past 28. Minnesota will face St. Louis in the first round next week. The Wild were 0-3 against the Blues this season.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 7, BLUES 4 >> Jack Eichel had two goals and an assist, leading Vegas past St. Louis.
William Karlsson scored the go-ahead goal 3:40 into the third period on a wrist shot, handing the Blues just their second loss (14-2-2) in their last 17 games. Jonathan Marchessault's 30th goal, which was unassisted, came at 6:41.
CAPITALS 6, ISLANDERS 4 >> Steven Stamkos scored three goals for his first hat trick of the season, and Tampa Bay rallied to beat New York.
Corey Perry, Ryan McDonagh and Brandon Hagel also scored for Tampa Bay, which trailed by two before scoring five times in the third period. Ondrej Palat added three assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots as the Lightning secured third place in the Atlantic Division. Tampa Bay will face Toronto in the first round.
SABRES 3, BLACKHAWKS 2, OT >> Casey Mittelstadt scored 2:07 into overtime to lift Buffalo.
NHL record. Dustin Tokarski made 19 saves.
JETS 3, FLAMES 1 >> Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves to help Winnipeg beat playoff-bound Calgary.
Blake Wheeler, Mason Appleton and Brenden Dillon scored for Winnipeg. The Jets will conclude the season Sunday at home against the Seattle Kraken.
MAPLE LEAFS 5, BRUINS 2 >> William Nylander scored twice and Toronto beat Boston in a regular-season finale with both teams resting most of their stars.
The Maple Leafs ensured they will face the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round, while the Bruins are set to meet the Carolina Hurricanes.
SENATORS 4, FLYERS 2 >> Brady Tkachuk had a goal and an assist to lead Ottawa past Philadelphia.
Josh Norris and Travis Hamonic also scored and Austin Watson had an emptynetter for the Senators, who finished out of the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
RANGERS 3, CAPITALS 2 >> Dryden Hunt scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, Alexandar Georgiev made 34 saves and New York beat Washington in the regular-season finale.
Filip Chytil and Alexis Lafreniere also scored for the Rangers, who snapped a three-game losing streak. New York will open the playoffs against Pittsburgh next week.
RED WINGS 5, DEVILS 3 >> Pius Suter scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period and Detroit beat New Jersey.
Tyler Bertuzzi and Michael Rasmussen each had a goal and an assist, and Moritz Seider and Joe Veleno also scored for the Red Wings. Sam Gagner had two assists and Magnus Hellberg stopped 23 shots.
CANADIENS 10, PANTHERS 2 >> Cole Caufield had his first NHL hat trick and Montreal routed Presidents' Trophy champion Florida.
As Tyler Pitlick netted Montreal's 10th goal, “Guy! Guy! Guy!” chants rained from the Bell Centre rafters honoring late Habs great Guy Lafleur.
OILERS 3, CANUCKS 2, SO >> Devin Shore scored the lone shootout goal and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Friday night while resting star forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the regular-season finale.
Edmonton will face the Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the playoffs.