Rangers clinch playoffs
Kreider scores twice in N.Y.’s rout vs. Ottawa
Chris Kreider scored twice, Artemi Panarin added a goal and two assists and the New York Rangers routed the Ottawa Senators 5-1 on Saturday night to clinch their first postseason berth since 2017.
Ryan Strome also had a goal and Igor Shesterkin needed just 19 saves to thwart the Senators as the surging Rangers improved to 7-1-1 in their last nine and moved into a tie with Carolina atop the Metropolitan Division with 100 points. The Rangers have nine games left, while the Hurricanes have 10. The teams meet Tuesday night in New York.
Shesterkin improved to 3410-4, becoming the fourth goalie in franchise history with 34 victories in a season, joining Henrik Lundqvist, Ed Giacomin and Mike Richter.
The Rangers continued their stellar play at home, improving to 24-7-4 including an 11-3-2 mark in their last 16 contests at Madison Square Garden where an appreciative and raucous crowd gave their team a sustained ovation at the end of the game with the playoffs assured.
New York is eight points ahead of Pittsburgh and 12 points ahead of Washington in the division race.
Devils 3, Stars 1: Nico Hischier and Pavel Zacha scored 10 seconds apart in the third period, and New Jersey beat Dallas. Ty Smith also scored in the third for New Jersey, which had dropped five in a row. Fabian Zetterlund had two assists, and Nico Daws made 27 saves. Dallas defenseman Ryan Suter scored his 100th career goal 13:31 into the second. Jake Oettinger made 20 stops, but the Stars (40-27-4) missed out on a chance to strengthen their playoff positioning in the Western Conference. Blues 6, Islanders 1: Justin Faulk scored twice in a 96-second span in the second period and Jordan Binnington made 29 saves to lift St. Louis to their fifth straight victory. Nick Leddy, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ivan Barbashev and Robert Thomas also had goals for St. Louis. Grant Hutton scored his first NHL goal for the Islanders, who had won five of their previous six.
Maple Leafs 3, Canadiens 2: Auston Matthews scored his NHLleading 57th and 58th goals 27 seconds apart in the first period to help Toronto beat Montreal. Toronto wrapped up a playoff spot for the sixth straight straight season and hit 100 points in the standings. Matthews’ opener marked his 50th goal in his last 50 games, making him the first player to accomplish the feat since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96. Matthews extended his points streak to 16 games (21 goals, 10 assists). Linemate Mitch Marner has a 13-game run (eight goals, 20 assists). John Tavares also scored for Toronto, and Erik Kallgren made 24 saves. Cole Caufield and Joel Edmundson scored for Montreal. Jake Allen stopped the first 14 shots he faced before leaving with an apparent leg injury as he stretched for Matthews’ first goal. Sam Montembeault made 23 stops the rest of the way.
Capitals 6, Penguins 3: Tom Wilson broke a tie with 8:25 left and Washington beat Pittsburgh. Alex Ovechkin tied it for Washington on a power play at 4:49 of the third period with his 44th goal of the season, and Wilson matched his career high with his 22nd _ sending a wrist shot over Tristan Jarry’s glove from the left circle during a twoon-one. The Capitals have won two second straight to move four points behind Pittsburgh for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Washington has won five road games in a row. Marcus Johansson, Dmitry Orlov, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Martin Fehervary also scored for Washington, and Ilya Samsonov stopped 29 shots to become the 10th goalie in team history with 50 career victories.
Panthers 4, Predators 1: Anton Lundell scored the game-winning goal in the second period, and Florida beat Nashville for their seventh straight victory. Jonathan Huberdeau and Gustav Forsling scored empty-net goals 17 seconds apart, and Carter Verhaeghe also had a goal, and Forsling had an assist as Florida split the season series with Nashville.
Ducks 5, Flyers 3: Trevor Zegras had a goal and an assist to lead Anaheim to a victory over Philadelphia. Sonny Milano, Zach Aston-Reese, Derek Grant and Troy Terry also scored for the Ducks. They opened a four-game trip by winning for just the second time in the last 15 contests. Travis Sanheim, Ronnie Attard and Ivan Provorov scored for the Flyers.
Flames 4, Kraken 1: Noah Hanifin had four assists and Calgary beat Seattle for its fourth straight victory. Blake Coleman, Trevor Lewis and Michael Stone scored off primary assists from Hanifin; he also had a secondary assist on a goal from Tyler Toffoli.
Blue Jackets 5, Red Wings 4 (OT):
Jack Roslovic had three goals, including the winner at 3:19 of overtime, and added an assist to lead Columbus past Detroit. The Red Wings got goals from Dylan Larkin and Jakub Vrana, his second of the game, in the final few minutes of regulation to tie the game at 4-4.