Panthers lose, but still ‘win’
Detroit loss gives them playoff spot
Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period to help lift the New York Islanders past the host Florida Panthers, 3-2, on Thursday night.
“He was stellar,” Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock said of Varlamov. “He made huge saves in big moments, he played the puck well and he looked really solid back there and was a key part of that win.”
Pulock and Mathew Barzal also scored and Casey Cizikas had two assists for New York, which had lost six of its last seven and dropped in the Eastern Conference wildcard standings.
“The key was the start of the game,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We knew they were going to come out fast and I thought we played really well at the beginning of the game and ( Varlamov) made some big saves for us, so it was a team performance.”
Despite the loss, the Panthers still clinched a playoff spot when Detroit lost to Carolina.
Aleksander Barkov became the first player in Panthers history to reach 700 points with the franchise with his second-period goal. Anthony
Stolarz made 21 saves for Florida, which has lost eight of nine.
New York is four points behind Washington for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Other games
Canadiens 4, Flyers 1: Montreal captain Nick Suzuki reached 30 goals for the first time in his NHL career and added an assist to help the host Canadiens beat Philadelphia. Cayden Primeau made 29 saves as Montreal won its third straight in its Bell Centre return after a fivegame trip. Maple Leafs 5, Capitals 1:
Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice to give him six goals in seven games, Joseph Woll made 24 saves in a bounce-back performance and host Toronto beat Washington. Mark Giordano scored following a long injury absence, and Conner Dewar and Bobby McMann added goals to help Toronto improve to 41-22-9.
Hurricanes 4, Red Wings 0: Frederik Andersen made 24 saves, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis each had a goal and two assists, and host Carolina clinched a playoff berth with a win against Detroit. Aho and Jarvis scored 57 seconds apart in Carolina’s four-goal second period, with Martin Necas and Brady Skjei adding the other goals. All four goals came in a 12-minute span. Carolina will be in the postseason for the sixth consecutive season.
Senators 2, Blackhawks 0: Claude Giroux and Parker Kelly scored, and host Ottawa beat Chicago for its fourth consecutive victory. Anton Forsberg made 19 saves in his second shutout of the season and No. 5 for his career.
Blues 5, Flames 3: Brandon Saad, a former PineRichland student, scored his sixth winning goal of the season, lifting host St. Louis to a victory against Calgary. Jordan Binnington made 23 saves and also had a pair of assists to give him seven in his career. Saad scored the go-ahead goal 2:04 into the third period, taking a pass from Jordan Kyrou behind the net and wristing the shot past Dustin Wolf. In the Blues’ last meeting in Calgary, Saad scored a pair of goals including the winner with 48 seconds left in regulation.
Wild 3, Sharks 1: Matt Boldy broke a tie 18 seconds into the third period and host Minnesota beat NHL-worst San Jose to pick up a couple points in its slim playoff bid.
Golden Knights 4, Jets 1: Ivan Barbashev broke a late tie and added an empty-netter, Logan Thompson made 39 saves and visiting Vegas beat Winnipeg. Barbashev made it 2-1 with a high backhander past Connor Hellebuyck with 5:29 left, then scored into the empty net with 1:45 remaining.
Notes
Ivan Fedotov has had his contract in Russia’s KHL terminated by CSKA Moscow, a move that could potentially pave the way for him to join Philadelphia.
CSKA announced the abrupt termination with one year remaining on it, saying it keeps his KHL rights and “the club thanks Ivan Fedotov and wishes him good luck in further career.”