Bergeron helps lift Bruins to win over Sabres

BOSTON — Patrice Bergeron recorded his eighth career hat trick and his 400th NHL goal, and David Pastrnak ended Boston’s 0-for-39 power-play slump with his 40th goal of the season to lead the Bruins past the Buffalo Sabres 5-0 on Thursday night.

It was already 4-0 when Bergeron gathered in a pass from Charlie McAvoy in the center and wristed it into the net with 2:13 remaining for his third of the game. Hats came flying over the glass, and the Bruins hugged their captain, jumping up and down on their skates.

Linus Ullmark made 37 saves against his former team for his first shutout of the season as he tries to win the job as No. 1 goaltender for the playoffs.

In the Bruins’ regularseason home finale, they scored their first power play goal since April 2.

They failed to convert on their first three Thursday, making it 39 in a row, then scored on two straight, with Taylor Hall making it 4-0 after the delay-of-game penalty assessed on the Sabres for unsuccessfully challenging Pastrnak’s goal.

Dustin Tokarski stopped 27 shots for the Sabres, who will miss the playoffs for the 11th straight season.

After a scoreless first period, the Bruins broke through six minutes into the second following a flurry in front of the net that ended with the puck landing in front of Bergeron in the slot. With Tokarski on his backside and out of position, the Bruins captain easily poked the puck into the net.

Bergeron made it 2-0 six minutes later after Jake DeBrusk dug out the puck behind the net and slid it into the slot. The Sabres challenged, saying that Boston had gone offside long before the goal; the play was upheld.

On the ensuing power play, though, the Bruins again failed to score, dropping them to 0 for 39 since April 2.

Pastrnak ended the slump two minutes into the third period when he cleaned up the rebound of Hall’s shot. Hall made it 4-0 two minutes later when Tokarski left another rebound in front.

ISLANDERS 5, CAPITALS 1

NEW YORK — Brock Nelson and Anders Lee scored first-period goals, Mathew Barzal had three assists and Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves as New York routed playoff-bound Washington.

J.G. Pageau, Kyle Palmieri and Josh Bailey added third-period goals for the Islanders, who swept a home-and-home series with the playoff-bound Capitals this week and improved to 20-15-5 at home.

The Islanders are 16-10-2 in their last 28 games but will conclude a disappointing campaign without a postseason berth at home Friday against Tampa Bay, the defending Stanley-Cup champions who defeated them last June in the semifinals. Nelson opened the scoring with his team-leading 37th goal at 10:48 of the first period on the power play. Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson assisted.

Lee made it 2-0 at 15:34, tipping the puck past Washington goaltender Vitek Vanecek for his 28th goal. Barzal and Dobson each assisted again.

The goal was the 212th of Lee’s career, moving ahead of Derek King into tenth place in Islanders history. Lee also played his 595th game with the franchise, passing John Tonelli, who has 206 career goals. Lee, Tonelli and King have all worn No. 27 for the Islanders.

Dobson leads the defense with 37 assists and 50 points overall.

Pageau scored his 17th on a breakaway at 3:44 of the third just after the Islanders killed off a four-minute power-play for Washington when Adam Pelech was assessed two minor penalties for cross-checking on the same play.