NHL roundup: Ducks dump Wild, seal playoff bid

[April 05, 2018]  Ondrej Kase's tiebreaking goal at 16:04 of the third period enabled the Anaheim Ducks to clinch a playoff berth with a 3-1 win over the visiting Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.

As a result of the win and the Chicago Blackhawks' victory over the St. Louis Blues earlier Wednesday night, the Ducks guaranteed themselves postseason entry through either the Pacific Division or a Western Conference wild-card spot.

The Ducks posted their eighth win in 10 games and moved into third place in the Pacific, one point ahead of the idle Los Angeles Kings. Minnesota already had qualified for the postseason, and the Wild wrapped up the No. 3 seed from the Central Division thanks to the Blues' defeat.

Kase broke a 1-1 tie as he converted the rebound of a Josh Manson shot. Andrew Cogliano closed out the scoring with an empty-netter with 2:13 left in the game. Nick Ritchie also turned on the red light for Anaheim, and Matt Dumba scored for Minnesota.

Blackhawks 4, Blues 3

Duncan Keith scored a power-play goal with 8.5 seconds remaining as visiting Chicago rallied from a two-goal deficit to deal a key blow to St. Louis' playoff hopes.

The loss by the Blues clinched a Western Conference playoff berth for the idle Los Angeles Kings. St. Louis sits one point behind the Colorado Avalanche in the chase for the West's second wild card.

 

Keith one-timed a shot from the top of the right circle off a pass from Alex DeBrincat, beating Blues goalie Jake Allen on the far side for just his second goal of the season.

Senators 4, Sabres 2

Alexandre Burrows and Ryan Dzingel each collected one goal and one assist as visiting Ottawa beat Buffalo. With the loss, the Sabres clinched the worst record in the NHL for the second time in four years.

Goalie Craig Anderson made 13 of this 32 saves in a perfect third period in the win. Ottawa forward Bobby Ryan left in the first period, having sustained a lower-body injury after being caught in a collision between Buffalo's Jack Eichel and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

Casey Mittelstadt, Buffalo's highly touted 2017 first-round draft choice, collected his third assist in four games since joining the team after his freshman season at the University of Minnesota.

--Field Level Media

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