|
With their sixth win in the last seven games,
the Blue Jackets (46-31-4, 96 points) assured themselves of one
of the wild-card berths in the Eastern Conference and eliminated
the Montreal Canadiens (94 points) from contention.
The Blue Jackets are headed to the playoffs for the third
straight season after making the postseason just twice in their
first 15 seasons. They will enter the final day of the season as
the second wild card, but they would move up to the first wild
card if they beat the Ottawa Senators and the Carolina
Hurricanes lose to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
Panarin's shootout tally capped an evening of roller-coaster
emotions for the Blue Jackets, who trailed 1-0 after two before
tying the game and going ahead in a span of a little more than
12 minutes in the third period on goals by Ryan Dzingel and
Panarin -- only to see Pavel Buchnevich tie the game with seven
seconds left in regulation.
Blackhawks 6, Stars 1
Patrick Kane scored twice, and Chicago got goals from five
different players as it thumped visiting Dallas, keeping its
Central Division rivals from clinching the first wild-card spot
in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Stars (42-32-7, 91 points) have already sewn up a spot in
the playoffs for the first time since 2016, but they need one
point in their final game, at home on Saturday against
Minnesota, to secure the seventh overall seed in the Western
Conference.
Chicago (36-33-12, 84 points) was eliminated from the postseason
on Tuesday and will miss the playoffs for a second straight
season.
Ducks 5, Kings 2
Korbinian Holzer scored his first NHL goal in more than two
years, and rookie Sam Steel also tallied as Anaheim concluded a
disappointing season with a home-ice victory over Los Angeles.
John Gibson made 44 saves -- 20 of them in the third period --
for Anaheim.
While the 30 other teams will play on Saturday, the Ducks
(35-37-10, 80 points) are the first club to finish their
campaign. Anaheim will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the
first time since 2011-12. The Kings (30-42-9, 69 points) will
finish at the bottom of the Western Conference.
--Field Level Media
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
