Greaves, Blue Jackets skate past resting Hurricanes
COLUMBUS, OHIO >> Zach Werenski had two goals and two assists, Jet Greaves made 38 saves and Columbus beat a diminished version of playoff-bound Carolina.
The Hurricanes, who finished second in the Metropolitan Division, rested eight regulars in the meaningless regular-season finale.
Carolina finished with 111 points at 52-23-7, the second-best record in the Eastern Conference behind the division champion New York Rangers. The Hurricanes reached the postseason for the sixth straight year.
At least it wasn’t another loss for last-place Columbus, which had another season marred by injuries that sidelined top players, including the two goaltenders. The Blue Jackets missed the playoffs for a fourth straight season. CAPITALS 2, FLYERS 1 >> T.J. Oshie scored into an empty net in the rare situation of a team pulling its goaltender in a tie game, and Washington is in the playoffs after beating Philadelphia.
Flyers coach John Tortorella pulled goalie Samuel Ersson for an extra attacker because his team needed to win in regulation to keep its hopes alive. The result allowed the Capitals to clinch a berth and eliminate the Pittsburgh Penguins — rivals for both teams finishing the regular season in Philadelphia — in improbable fashion with Oshie’s goal with exactly 3 minutes left.
The surreal scene played out after the Flyers and Capitals slogged out much of the third period 5 on 5 — and perhaps a minute after Detroit went to overtime in Montreal, eliminating Philadelphia. Tortorella may not have known his team had no chance of winning when he sent Ersson to the bench and opened the net for Oshie.
Washington will face the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers in the first round beginning this weekend, returning to the playoffs after a one-year absence ended their eightyear streak.
RED WINGS 5, CANADIENS 4, SO >> Patrick Kane scored the shootout winner in a Detroit win over Montreal in their regular-season finale, but the Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention.
The Red Wings entered the night tied with Washington for the East’s second wild-card spot with 89 points. The Capitals, however, held the tiebreaker over Detroit with more regulations wins and clinched the final playoff spot with a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.
Detroit has missed the playoffs eight straight seasons.
JETS 4, KRAKEN 3 >> Kyle Connor scored twice and Tyler Toffoli broke a third-period tie to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a key 4-3 victory over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.
The win clinched second place in the Central Division for the Jets and homeice advantage in their firstround playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche.
Winnipeg (51-24-6) also stretched its win streak to seven in front of its eighth sold-out crowd of the season at Canada Life Centre.
Toffoli took a pass from Nikolaj Ehlers during a power play and sent a backhand shot past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer with 8:20 remaining in the third period.
Connor’s pair of markers extended his point streak to eight games, including four goals and eight assists. PANTHERS 5, MAPLE LEAFS 2 >> Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart scored 10 seconds apart midway through the second period, and the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on Tuesday night.
With the victory and Boston’s 3-1 loss to Ottawa, Florida clinched the Atlantic Division title. The Panthers (52-24-6) finished with the season with a fourgame win streak to make up a five-point deficit in the standings.
Carter Verhaeghe and Brandon Montour also scored for Florida, and Anthony Stolarz made 24 saves.
The Panthers will play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round of the playoffs.
Mitchell Marner and Noah Gregor scored for the Maple Leafs (46-25-10), and Joseph Woll made 37 stops.
Toronto is locked into the Atlantic Division’s third seed. It will play Boston in the first round of the playoffs.
Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews remains at 69 goals. He will have one more chance to become the first player since 199293 to score 70 goals in a season when the Maple Leafs take on the Lightning in Tampa Bay on Wednesday night.