Rangers beat Flyers 6-5 in OT
Adam Fox scored 36 seconds into overtime and the New York Rangers became the first NHL team to clinch a playoff spot this season, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 6-5 following a wild third period Tuesday night.
Alexis Lafreniere had two goals and Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves for the Rangers, who lead the league with 100 points after giving coach Peter Laviolette his 800th career win.
New York technically secured its third consecutive playoff berth just by getting to overtime and earning one point after Detroit lost to Washington in OT. But it didn’t take long for Fox to finish the night in style with a wrist shot from the high slot for his 15th goal, adding to the star defenseman’s career high.
PENGUINS 4, HURRICANES 1>> Sidney Crosby had a goal and an assist and the Penguins scored two goals on five shots in the second period, spoiling Jake Guentzel’s return to Pittsburgh with a victory over Carolina.
Bryan Rust scored his 23rd of the season and his seventh goal in 10 games. Jesse Puljujarvi added his third of the season — and second in as many games for the Penguins, who were outshot 31-14 in the last two periods. Drew O’Connor added an empty-net goal at 18:04 of the third.
Crosby scored his 35th goal of the season and became the first active player, and 14th in NHL history, with 15 or more 40-assist seasons. The Penguins snapped a three-game losing streak and rebounded from an overtime loss at Colorado on Sunday, when they squandered a four-goal lead.
Alex Nedeljkovic, Carolina’s second-round draft pick in 2014, stopped 38 shots for Pittsburgh.
CAPITALS 4, RED WINGS 3, OT >> Dylan Strome scored twice, Charlie Lindgren made 30 saves and Washington beat Detroit In a pivotal matchup in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
The Capitals moved two points ahead of Detroit and still have an extra game left to play. They’re also right on the heels of Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division.
“I think we’re proving a lot of people wrong right now,” Strome said.
Washington has won three in a row and five of six to improve its postseason position to the best it has been in recent weeks. There are 10 games left for the Caps to play this NHL regular season as they attempt to get back in after failing to qualify last year.
DEVILS 6, MAPLE LEAFS 3 >> Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, Jake Allen made 42 saves and the New Jersey Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Jack Hughes scored twice, including into the empty net, and Timo Meier added a goal and an assist for the Devils, who have won four of their last five games. Luke Hughes and Max Willman also scored for New Jersey. Jesper Bratt added three assists and Curtis Lazar had two.
Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 59th goal. William Nylander and Tyler Bertuzzi also scored and Joseph Woll had 19 saves for Toronto. T.J. Brodie had two assists.
The Maple Leafs are third in the Atlantic Division with the postseason less than a month away. New Jersey entered Tuesday’s game five points out of the Eastern Conference’s second wildcard berth.
Toronto was missing injured forward Mitch Marner (high ankle sprain) and goaltender Ilya Samsonov (undisclosed), along with defensemen Morgan Rielly (upper-body injury) and Joel Edmundson (undisclosed). PREDATORS 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 >> Roman Josi scored 40 seconds into overtime to lead the Nashville Predators to a 5-4 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, and extend the team’s stretch of consecutive games unbeaten in regulation to a franchise-record 18.
Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist each had a goal and an assist and Mark Jankowski also scored for Nashville, which last lost a game in regulation on Feb. 15 and is 16-0-2 since.
Juuse Saros made 31 saves.