SUNRISE, Fla, (AP) — Brent Burns scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes scored four times in the third period to beat the Florida Panthers 6-4 on Thursday night to win the Metropolitan Division.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jesper Fast, Shayne Gostisbehere and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Hurricanes, who began the night one point ahead of New Jersey atop the division. Frederick Andersen finished with 31 saves.
Carolina will open the first-round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the New York Islanders.
Aleksander Barkov, Ryan Lomberg, Anthony Duclair and Carter Verhaege scored for Florida, which began the night one point behind the Islnders for the top wild card in the Eastern Conference. Alex Lyon had 30 saves.
The Panthers will face league-best Boston in the first round of the playoffs.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, KRAKEN 1
SEATTLE (AP) — Alec Martinez broke a tie midway through the second period and Vegas won its third Pacific Division title.
The Golden Knights finished 51-22-9 with 111 points, tying the franchise record for victories and holding off the late surge from Edmonton to win the division title and clinch home-ice advantage in the Western Conference.
Vegas will face Winnipeg in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Reilly Smith also scored for Vegas on what technically was its first shot of the game but didn’t touch his stick blade. Vince Dunn’s pass from behind the Seattle goal bounced off Smith’s skate and slipped past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer nearly 10 minutes into the first period.
Chandler Stephenson added an empty-net goal, deflecting the puck from his own zone with 38 seconds left. Laurent Brossoit had 31 saves.
Jaden Schwartz scored his 21st of the season for Seattle’s only goal on a night the Kraken dominated chances but couldn’t convert. Matty Beniers and Adam Larsson both hit posts and Daniel Sprong was stuffed on a breakaway by Brossoit. Grubauer finished with 16 saves.
BRUINS 5, CANADIENS 4
MONTREAL (AP) — David Pastrnak’s goal midway through the third period helped Boston close out its record-setting season with a comeback win.
Dmitry Orlov had a goal and an assist. Trent Frederic, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie Coyle also scored for Boston. Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves.
The Bruins closed their Presidents Trophy-winning season by establishing records for wins (65) and points (135) in a season.
Lucas Condotta scored in his NHL debut, and Michael Pezzetta added a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Nick Suzuki and Justin Barron also scored. Sam Montembeault made 16 saves.
DEVILS 5, CAPITALS 4, OT
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dougie Hamilton tied it in the third period, Luke Hughes scored his first NHL goal in overtime and New Jersey rallied to beat Washington.
New Jersey erased a three-goal deficit, climbing back into it thanks to two from Erik Haula and one on the power play from Miles Wood. But Carolina’s victory at Florida locked the Devils into the second seed in the Metropolitan Division and set up a first-round matchup against the rival New York Rangers.
Mackenzie Blackwood was pulled after giving up four goals on 11 shots. Blackwood allowed goals to Joe Snively, Rasmus Sandin and Craig Smith on the first five shots he faced in 10-plus minutes and got the hook when Tom Wilson scored 1:05 into the second period.
Akira Schmid, recalled from the minors to back up, stopped all 20 shots he faced in relief.
At the other end of the ice, Darcy Kuemper made 29 saves.
AVALANCHE 4, JETS 2
DENVER (AP) — Evan Rodrigues scored the go-ahead goal on a wrist shot early in the third period to help Coloradoremain in control for the Central Division crown.
The Avalanche have 107 points and need to beat Nashville on Friday to secure the division’s top spot over Dallas. The Stars wrapped up their regular season with 108 points after a win over St. Louis.
Denis Malgin and Mikko Rantanen also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champions, with Artturi Lehkonen adding a late empty-net score. It was Rantanen’s 55th goal of the season, which is the most by an Avalanche player since the team moved to town before the 1995-96 season.
Alexandar Georgiev had 18 saves.
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Kevin Stenlund scored for Winnipeg. David Rittich stopped 21 shots.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, RANGERS 2
NEW YORK (AP) — Noel Acciari scored the go-ahead goal late in third period, Joseph Woll made 22 saves and Toronto beat New York in the season finale for both teams.
Timothy Liljegren and William Nylander also scored for Toronto.
Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko scored for the Rangers, and Jaroslav Halak finished with 18 saves.
Acciari nudged the puck past goalie Jaroslav Halak with 7:39 left to snap a tie and send the Maple Leafs into the playoffs with a 5-0-1 record in their last six games.
Rangers forward Filip Chytil appeared to it with 1.9 seconds left, but officials ruled he kicked the puck into the net.
Timothy Liljegren and William Nylander also scored for Toronto. Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko scored for the Rangers.
SABRES 4, SENATORS 3, OT
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Casey Mittelstadt scored 1:18 into overtime and Craig Anderson stopped 30 shots before announcing he is retiring at the end of the season as Buffalo closed its home schedule with a win.
Tage Thompson scored his team-leading 47th goal, while Henri Jokiharju and Victor Olofsson also scored for Buffalo in a game between Atlantic Division rivals eliminated from playoff contention.
Claude Giroux achieved a single-season career-best by scoring his 35th goal, while playing in his 1,100th career game, and three days after reaching the 1,000-point plateau. Tim Stutzle had a goal and assist, and Dylan Gamrell also scored for the Senators, who closed their season with a 39-35-8 record. Rookie Mads Sogaard stopped 32 shots.
PREDATORS 4, WILD 3, OT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Juuso Parssinen scored at 2:44 of overtime to lift Nashville.
Mark Jankowski, Kiefer Sherwood and Yakov Trenin also scored for the Predators. Juuse Saros made 21 saves.
Frederick Gaudreau scored twice and Nic Petan also scored for the Wild. Gustav Nyquist had two assists and Filip Gustavsson made 27 saves.
In overtime, Parssinen skated through the slot and lifted a between-the-legs shot over Gustavsson’s shoulder for the game-winner.
BLUE JACKETS 3, PENGUINS 2, OT
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Johnny Gaudreau scored a minute into overtime and Columbus snapped a four-game losing streak.
Gaudreau scored his 14th overtime goal and the Blue Jackets moved ahead of Chicago and Anaheim for the worst record in the NHL. Columbus has one game remaining.
Andrew Peeke and Emil Bemstrom also scored for the Blue Jackets. Michael Hutchinson stopped 34 shots.
Kris Letang had a goal and an assist, Jake Guentzel scored, and Sidney Crosby added two assists for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots.
The loss was Pittsburgh’s second straight and came a night after the Penguins were eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
STARS 1, BLUES 0
DALLAS (AP) — Rookie center Wyatt Johnston scored his 24th goal and Dallas beat St. Louis.
The Stars won their sixth game in a row to finish with 108 points, keeping them one point ahead of Colorado for the division lead. The Avalanche finish the season Friday night at Nashville.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger had 25 saves for his fifth shutout of the season. He stopped four shots in the final two minutes when St. Louis pulled its goalie for an extra skater.
St. Louis (37-38-7) was already eliminated from the playoff contention, but the loss in its finale also snapped the franchise record of consecutive winning seasons at 14.
OILERS 5, SHARKS 2
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Mattias Janmark scored twice, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists and Edmonton closed the regular season with a franchise-record ninth straight victory.
Evan Bouchard and Evander Kane also scored for the Oilers, and Stuart Skinner made 27 saves. Edmonton went 14-0-1 in its last 15 to finish second in the Pacific Division, two points behind Vegas.
Noah Gregor and Steven Lorentz scored for San Jose. The Sharks lost their last six. James Reimer had 31 saves.
CANUCKS 5, COYOTES 4, OT
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Conor Garland capped his first career hat trick 1:19 into overtime to lead Vancouver.
Elias Pettersson scored his 39th goal and J.T. Miller got his 32nd for the Canucks. Rick Tocchet finished 20-12-4 after replacing Bruce Boudreau as Vancouver’s coach. Quinn Hughes had three assists to give him 69 for the season, and Andrei Kuzmenko had two assists and Collin Delia had 24 saves.
Liam O’Brien scored twice and Nick Schmaltz and Travis Boyd each had a goal for the Coyotes, who completed their first season at Mullett Arena with a 21-16-4 home record. Clayton Keller assisted on Boyd’s goal in the waning seconds of the first period, allowing him to tie Keith Tkachuk for the most points in a season (86) since the Coyotes moved to the desert in 1996.
Karel Vejmelka finished with 19 saves for Arizona.
KINGS 5, DUCKS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Adrian Kempe had three goals and an assist and Los Angeles clinched third place in the Pacific Division.
Captain Anze Kopitar scored a first-period goal that made him Los Angeles’ leading scorer for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons, while Kempe and Trevor Moore scored 49 seconds apart in the second period.
Kempe completed his fourth career hat trick on an empty-net goal with 1:39 to play, and dozens of visiting Kings fans littered the ice in celebration. The Kings won their final two games to finish with 104 points, the second-most in franchise history behind the 1974-75 squad (105).
Troy Terry, Max Jones and Trevor Zegras scored for the Ducks, who wrapped up one of the worst NHL seasons of the 21st century on a 13-game winless streak. Coach Dallas Eakins’ contract is finished after his fourth consecutive losing season, but the rebuilding Ducks have made no announcement about his future.
LIGHTNING 5, RED WINGS 0
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Brayden Point scored his 50th and 51st goals, backup Brian Elliott made 32 saves and Tampa Bay stopped a four-game losing streak.
Point joined Steven Stamkos (2009-10, 2011-12) and Vincent Lecavalier (2006-07) as the only Lightning players to reach the 50-goal mark. The playoff-bound Lightning will face the Toronto Maple Leafs in a first-round series starting next week.
Alex Killorn, Brandon Hagel and Michael Eyssimont also scored for the Lightning.
Ville Husso stopped 27 shots for Detroit.
FLYERS 5, BLACKHAWKS 4, OT
CHICAGO (AP) — Ivan Provorov scored 3:09 into overtime to lift Philadelphia.
Travis Konecny had two goals an an assist, Owen Tippett had a goal and an assist, and Noah Cates also scored for the Flyers. Felix Sandstrom finished with 34 stops.
Jonathan Toews scored in his final game with Chicago, Andreas Athanasiou had a goal and two assists, and Anders Bjork and Jujhar Khaira also scored. Alex Stalock finished with 31 saves.
Toews won three Stanley Cup titles in 15 seasons with Chicago, but general manager Kyle Davidson announced earlier in the day that the team would not re-sign its longtime captain. Toews turns 35 on April 29, and the lowly Blackhawks are rebuilding.
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