Lightning doubles up first-place Capitals

Tampa Bay takes year’s first meeting

Alex Killorn scored three goals for his first career hat trick, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Washington Capitals, 6-3, Saturday night in the teams’ first meeting since last year’s Eastern Conference final.

Tampa Bay set team records for wins (55) and points (114) in a season, becoming the 12th team in league history to get at least 55 victories in a season.

Erik Cernak, Yanni Gourde and Tyler Johnson also scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 shots.

The host Lightning jumped on the Capitals quickly as Brayden Point set up Johnson on a 2-on-1 at 8:35 of the first.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice to give him 48 on the season, John Carlson also scored and Braden Holtby finished with 29 saves for Washington. Ovechkin has 655 career goals, one shy of tying Brendan Shanahan for 13th place on the all-time list.

The Capitals remained two points ahead of the New York Islanders atop the Metropolitan Division.

Bruins

When the first announcement came over the PA at TD Garden Saturday, it sounded a little different than usual. That’s because it was veteran Boston TV host and reporter Jayme Parker’s voice booming over the public address system — and because she’s a woman. Parker combined with inarena host Michaela Johnson to form the first allwoman public address tandem in Bruins history when they worked the game between the Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets. With both their regular PA announcer Jim Martin and backup John Dolan unavailable for the game, the Bruins thought they would do something a little different and celebrate the NHL and NHLPA’s Hockey is for Everyone and Gender Equality Month initiatives at the same time.

Sharks

Erik Karlsson skated for the first time since the San Jose Sharks defenseman reinjured his groin against the Boston Bruins on Feb. 26. Karlsson worked with a trainer before the Sharks’ optional morning skate in preparation for their game against the Nashville Predators at SAP Center There is no timetable on a return for Karlsson, who has missed seven games.

Red Wings

Andreas Athanasiou scored twice and Jonathan Bernier stopped 41 shots, giving Detroit a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders. The Red Wings had lost 12 of 13 to improve their chances of having the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft this summer. While some fans of the franchise may want a lot of losses down the stretch to have a better shot at selecting American star Jack Hughes, the players simply want to win. “It’s why we play hockey,” Red Wings goaltender Jonathan Bernier said. “All the guys in this room are winners.”

Panthers

Jonathan Huberdeau scored with 1:56 remaining to help Florida to its fourth win in a row, 4-3, against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center. The Panthers (32-2712) are seven points behind the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.