BOSTON (AP) - Jiri Smejkal scored his first career goal midway through the second period and Jakob Chychrun scored again for Ottawa less than a minute later as the Senators beat the Boston Bruins 3-1 on Tuesday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Artem Zub added an empty-net goal with 1:48 remaining and Anton Forsberg had 34 saves for the Senators, who avoided a three-game season sweep by Boston had a chance of spoiling the Bruins' hopes of clinching the Atlantic Division.The Bruins (47-20-15) led second-place Florida by a point entering Tuesday night. Boston blew back-to-back chances to clinch the division by getting shut out by Washington 2-0 on Monday, then a home loss to the Senators on Tuesday night.
Pavel Zacha scored Boston's only goal. Linus Ullmark finished with 17 saves for the Bruins.
BLUE JACKETS 6, HURRICANES 3
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - 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.
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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
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - 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 eight-year streak.
RED WINGS 5, CANADIENS 4, SO
MONTREAL (AP) - 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.
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