NHL roundup: Expansion Knights clinch playoff bid

[March 27, 2018]  Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves to pick up his 403rd career victory and tie Grant Fuhr for 11th place on the all-time wins list as the expansion Vegas Golden Knights clinched a Stanley Cup playoff berth with a 4-1 decision over the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Monday in Las Vegas.

William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault each had a goal and two assists, Shea Theodore finished with a goal and an assist, and Alex Tuch also scored a goal for Pacific Division-leading Vegas. The Golden Knights' Gerard Gallant earned his 200th career coaching victory.

The Golden Knights became the third expansion team since 1968-69 to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Hartford Whalers and Edmonton Oilers both accomplished the feat in 1979-80 after moving over from the World Hockey Association.

Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves for Colorado, and Erik Johnson scored his ninth goal of the season.

Sabres 3, Maple Leafs 2

Jack Eichel scored the tiebreaking goal with 10:23 remaining in the third period as Buffalo ended Toronto's team-record 13-game home winning streak.

Eichel also scored Buffalo's first goal and recorded his fifth multi-goal game of the season and 15th career. It was his first two goals since returning March 17 from a 15-game absence caused by an ankle injury, and he matched his career high by scoring his 23rd and 24th goals.

Casey Nelson also scored while Zemgus Girgensons recorded two assists as Buffalo snapped a four-game losing streak. Patrick Marleau and Nazem Kadri collected goals for the Maple Leafs.

Kings 3, Flames 0

Dion Phaneuf, Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter scored power-play goals, and Jonathan Quick stopped 23 shots for his fifth shutout of the season as Los Angeles topped visiting Calgary.

The Kings moved into a tie with Anaheim for third place in the Pacific Division with 91 points. The result also moves Los Angeles a point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche and two points in front of the St. Louis Blues in the wild-card chase.

Phaneuf and Kopitar each finished the night with a goal and an assist. Dustin Brown added secondary helpers on the final two goals.

Sharks 4, Blackhawks 3 (SO)

Kevin Labanc scored the decisive goal in a shootout, and San Jose won at Chicago for its eighth victory in a row.

Logan Couture also scored during the shootout round for San Jose, which has not lost a game in more than two weeks. Marcus Sorensen, Evander Kane and Tomas Hertl scored in regulation for the Sharks.

Alex DeBrincat, Connor Murphy and Patrick Sharp each tallied goals for the Blackhawks. Sharp also scored during the shootout.

Coyotes 4, Lightning 1

Trevor Murphy scored his first career NHL goal, and visiting Arizona pulled away for a win at Tampa Bay.

Jakob Chychrun, Brendan Perlini and Clayton Keller also scored for the Coyotes, who snapped a two-game skid.

 

Arizona goaltender Antti Raanta allowed a Nikita Kucherov goal late in the third period to spoil a chance for his third shutout of the season. Raanta made 19 saves. Tampa Bay goaltender Louis Domingue stopped 31 of 34 shots but drew the loss against his former team.

Canadiens 4, Red Wings 2

Brendan Gallagher netted a pair of goals 5:05 apart in the second period, and Montreal defeated visiting Detroit in a battle of teams eliminated from the playoff race.

Alex Galchenyuk had a goal and an assist, and Paul Byron also scored for Montreal. Canadiens goalie Carey Price made 26 saves.

Detroit got one goal and one assist from Gustav Nyquist, and Tyler Bertuzzi added a goal. Jared Coreau stopped 27 shots.

Capitals 4, Rangers 2

Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov each had a goal and an assist as Washington scored four first-period goals and defeated host New York for a fourth consecutive win.

Washington also got one goal apiece from Matt Niskanen and T.J. Oshie. Nicklas Backstrom had two assists, giving him six in the past two games.

Rangers center Lias Andersson scored a goal in his first NHL game, and Mats Zuccarello also collected a goal.

Hurricanes 4, Senators 1

Warren Foegele notched a goal in his first NHL game to start the scoring as Carolina defeated visiting Ottawa.

The Hurricanes' Valentin Zykov and Brock McGinn scored in a 98-second span of the second period. Sebastian Aho added an empty-net goal and Derek Ryan provided two assists for the Hurricanes, who have won three games in a row to keep alive slim playoff hopes in the Eastern Conference.

Bobby Ryan scored for Ottawa.

Panthers 3, Islanders 0

Keith Yandle, Nick Bjugstad and Evgenii Dadonov scored goals, and James Reimer tied a career high by recording his fourth shutout of the season for Florida, which moved closer to a wild-card spot and eliminated host New York from playoff contention.

The Panthers won for the seventh time in 10 games (7-3-0) to close within one point of the idle New Jersey Devils for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Florida has a game in hand on New Jersey. Reimer stopped all 32 shots he faced.

The Islanders lost their third straight and fell for the ninth time in 11 games (2-6-3). New York will miss the playoffs for the third time in the past four seasons.

--Field Level Media

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