Capitals clinch playoff spot by beating Lightning
The Washington Capitals have their third consecutive 100-point season and are postseason-bound for the ninth time in 10 years.
T.J Oshie had three goals and an assist, Justin Williams and John Carlson had early thirdperiod goals, and the Capitals became the first team to clinch a playoff spot by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 on Saturday night.
Oshie scored twice, including an early power-play goal, as the Capitals took a 2-0 lead midway through the first. He completed his third career hat trick with an empty-netter during the final minute.
RED WINGS 5, AVALANCHE 1: Tomas Tatar scored twice, including the go-ahead goal early in the third period that sent the Detroit Red Wings over the Colorado Avalanche. Tatar gave Detroit a 2-1 lead at 5:20 of the final period. Less than two minutes later, he took a pass from Gus Nyquist and scored his 20th goal of the season.
HURRICANES 4, PREDATORS 2: Jeff Skinner scored in each of the first two periods and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Nashville Predators. Jordan Staal added a goal and an assist while Jaccob Slavin had two assists for Carolina, which swept the two-game season series and snapped Nashville’s three-game winning streak.
CANADIENS 4, SENATORS 3, SO: Paul Byron and Alexander Radulov scored in the shootout to give the Montreal Canadiens a victory over the Ottawa Senators in the first half of the teams’ home-andhome series. Andrew Shaw, Philip Danault and Brendan Gallagher scored in regulation for Montreal, and Carey Price finished with 28 saves.
BLACKHAWKS 2, MAPLE LEAFS 1: Ryan Hartman scored with 17 seconds left in overtime to lead the Chicago Blackhawks past the Toronto Maple Leafs. John Hayden notched his first NHL goal, and Corey Crawford stopped 25 of 26 shots for Chicago.
RANGERS 3, WILD 2: Oscar Lindberg had a goal and an assist, Antti Raanta made 25 saves and the New York Rangers held on to beat the Minnesota Wild. Brady Skjei and Jimmy Vesey also scored for the Rangers.
BLUES 3, COYOTES 0: Jake Allen stopped 31 shots for his fourth shutout of the season to lead the playoffcontending St. Louis Blues over the Arizona Coyotes. It was St. Louis’ fifth shutout since Feb. 2.