NHL roundup: Rangers clinch playoff berth

[April 05, 2016]  The Sports Xchange
 
 COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After whiffing in two previous tries to secure a spot in the NHL playoffs, the New York Rangers punched their ticket to the postseason Monday night with a 4-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena.

The Rangers (44-26-9) were 0-2-1 and had lost to non-playoff qualifiers Carolina and Buffalo in the past week before taking care of the business on the road against the Blue Jackets. Columbus (31-40-8) is another opponent that will not be advancing past the regular season.

Chris Kreider, Dan Boyle, Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored goals for the Rangers. Nick Foligno had both of the Blue Jackets' goals.

Columbus tried to rally in the third period, closing within 3-2 on Foligno's second goal of the night with 9:15 remaining.

The Blue Jackets had a later power-play opportunity after a Zuccarello penalty for high-sticking. They pulled goaltender Joonas Korpisalo for an extra attacker to make it six-on-four, but Stepan scored on a backhander into an empty net with 1:11 left to secure the victory.

Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist bounced back from a subpar outing in his previous game to make 27 saves Monday. On Saturday, he gave up three goals and was pulled early in the second period of a 4-3 loss to the Sabres.

Islanders 5, Lightning 2

NEW YORK -- Matt Martin, Brock Nelson and John Tavares scored in a span of less than six minutes in the second period as New York beat Tampa Bay.

The win all but locked up a postseason berth for the Islanders, whose magic number for clinching at least an Eastern Conference wild-card spot is two points to finish ahead of ninth-place Boston Bruins.

Ryan Pulock and Johnny Boychuk also scored for the Islanders, who got two assists apiece from Tavares and Kyle Okposo. Alex Killorn and Victor Hedman scored the Lightning's goals.

Panthers 4, Maple Leafs 3

TORONTO -- Rocco Grimaldi scored two goals, and Florida held on to defeat Toronto for its third consecutive victory.

Grimaldi potted both of his goals in the second period. The center entered the game with one goal for the season, which he scored on Nov. 4.

Nick Bjugstad and Aleksander Barkov also scored for the Panthers, who took a 3-0 lead in the second period and gave the Maple Leafs their third straight loss. Colin Greening scored two goals for Toronto, and T.J. Brennan added one.

Blues 5, Coyotes 2

ST. LOUIS -- Kyle Brodziak scored twice and Vladimir Tarasenko scored one third-period goal and assisted on another to give the St. Louis a win over Arizona that pulled the Blues into a first-place tie with the Dallas Stars in the Central Division.

Tarasenko's unassisted goal, his 37th of the season, at 10:42 came just seconds after Arizona goalie Mike Smith had denied Magnus Paajarvi on a two-on-none break and put the Blues ahead 3-2.

Patrik Berglund increased the lead to 4-2 with the Blues' second power-play goal of the night at 13:00, with Tarasenko getting his 34th assist of the season, before Brodziak added his second goal of the period with 51 seconds left in the game.

Canucks 3, Kings 2

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Jared McCann scored the winning goal in the second period, and Ryan Miller recorded 40 saves -- including 20 in the third period -- as Vancouver beat Los Angeles.

McCann's goal on a breakaway at 19:27 of the second period stood up as the winner as the Canucks posted their third consecutive win. Before Monday, Vancouver failed in eight attempts to record a three-game win streak.

The Kings absorbed their sixth loss in eight games and missed a chance to move into first place in the Pacific Division ahead of the Anaheim Ducks.

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