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NHL roundup: Oilers, Bruins clinch playoff bids

[May 04, 2021]

Connor McDavid scored twice and added two assists as the visiting Edmonton Oilers beat the slumping Vancouver Canucks 5-3 on Monday to clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

McDavid, who is running away with the league's point-scoring race, has collected 31 goals and 91 points. He has six games remaining in the regular season to reach the century mark.

Jesse Puljujarvi had a goal and an assist and Tyson Barrie and Dominik Kahun also scored in the win, and Leon Draisaitl logged two assists. Goaltender Mikko Koskinen stopped 20 shots for the Oilers.

J.T. Miller collected a goal and an assist while Nate Schmidt and Brock Boeser contributed goals for the Canucks. Vancouver received a 27-save performance from goalie Braden Holtby in its fifth straight loss.

Bruins 3, Devils 0

Tuukka Rask stopped all 20 shots he faced as Boston clinched the final playoff spot in the East Division by blanking New Jersey in Newark, N.J.

Nick Ritchie and Patrice Bergeron scored in the second period and Matt Grzelcyk added a goal late in the third for the Bruins, who have made the playoffs in each of the past five seasons and in 12 of the past 14 seasons.

The shutout was the second of the season and the second in five starts for Rask, who also blanked the Sabres in a 2-0 win on April 20. Scott Wedgewood made 39 saves for the Devils, whose three-game winning streak was snapped.

Predators 4, Blue Jackets 3 (OT)

Roman Josi scored his second goal of the game 3:24 into overtime to lead Nashville past host Columbus, which squandered Emil Bemstrom's first career hat trick.

The Predators led 3-0 after 40 minutes before Bemstrom took over the game, with his three third-period goals representing his first goals of the season. Elvis Merzlikins made 34 saves for Columbus.

Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and assist for the Predators, and Ryan Ellis contributed two assists. Juuse Saros, making his 11th straight start in net for the desperate Predators, turned away 29 of 32 shots to record his 20th win of the season.

Wild 6, Golden Knights 5

Kirill Kaprizov and Jonas Brodin scored 26 seconds apart in the final two minutes to highlight a three-goal third period as Minnesota rallied past Vegas in Saint Paul, Minn.

Jonathan Marchessault scored late in the second period to give the Golden Knights a 5-3 lead, but Kevin Fiala cut it to 5-4 at the 10:49 mark in the third, and Kaprizov then tied the game with a rebound of a Fiala shot with 1:32 left. Brodin followed with the game-winner 26 seconds later with a knuckling shot through traffic. Cam Talbot finished with 27 saves for the Wild.

Mark Stone and Alec Martinez each had a goal and an assist for Vegas, which lost for just the second time in the last 13 games. Shea Theodore and Alex Tuch also scored goals for Vegas. Robin Lehner stopped 26 of 32 shots for the Golden Knights.

Panthers 5, Stars 4 (OT)

Aleksander Barkov scored a power-play goal with 2:10 left in overtime as Florida defeated Dallas at Sunrise, Fla.

Tyler Seguin, Dallas' six-time All-Star center coming off offseason hip surgery, scored a goal in his season debut to tie the score 4:06 into the third period. Barkov then delivered his team-high 26th goal of the season in overtime for the win. Panthers rookie goalie Spencer Knight made 25 saves to improve to 4-0-0.

Dallas lost its fourth straight game (0-3-1). Stars goalie Anton Khudobin, who made 11 stops, was pulled in the second period after allowing four goals. He was replaced by Jake Oettinger, who made 27 saves and was perfect until he was beaten by Barkov.

Capitals 6, Rangers 3

Daniel Sprong scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and Washington went on to eliminate New York from postseason contention.

Nic Dowd, Garnet Hathaway and Tom Wilson each had a goal and an assist for Washington, which climbed into a tie for first place in the East Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Conor Sheary collected a goal, Michael Raffl had two assists, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves.

Mika Zibanejad scored twice for the Rangers. Kaapo Kakko scored a goal, and Artemi Panarin had two assists before leaving in the second period with a lower-body injury. Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves.

Hurricanes 5, Blackhawks 2

Sebastian Aho scored three goals and Carolina defeated Chicago in Raleigh, N.C., extending its points streak to 11 games. The Hurricanes own a league-leading 77 points, with the Vegas Golden Knights next at 74.

Dougie Hamilton and Martin Necas also scored for the Hurricanes. Vincent Trocheck provided two assists while Hamilton also had an assist. Carolina's Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 15 shots.

Chicago got goals from Ian Mitchell and Alex DeBrincat, and Dominik Kubalik collected two assists.

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Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) checks Vancouver Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler (23) in the third period at Rogers Arena. Oilers won 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

Avalanche 5, Sharks 4 (OT)

Andre Burakovsky scored 41 seconds into overtime as visiting Colorado roared back from a pair of two-goal deficits to defeat San Jose, eliminating the Sharks from playoff contention.

The Sharks had a 3-1 lead heading into the third period, but the Avalanche registered three goals in the final frame, including Nazem Kadri's game-tying, unassisted goal with 3:39 to play. Mikko Rantanen, Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog also scored for the Avalanche.

Evander Kane registered two goals, Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist while Timo Meier collected a goal for the Sharks.

Flyers 7, Penguins 2

Claude Giroux had two goals and an assist as Philadelphia upset visiting Pittsburgh.

Joel Farabee had a goal and two assists, Shayne Gostisbehere had a goal and an assist, and Jakub Voracek added three assists for the Flyers, who had lost three straight and four of five. Kevin Hayes, Wade Allison and Robert Hagg also scored, Travis Konecny had two assists and Philadelphia goaltender Alex Lyon made 35 saves.

Sidney Crosby and Jason Zucker scored for the Penguins. Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith stopped 33 of 37 shots through two periods. He was replaced by Tristan Jarry, who stopped five of the seven shots he faced.

Sabers 4, Islanders 2

Sam Reinhart recorded the tiebreaking goal with 4:04 left in regulation and 28-year-old Michael Houser made 34 saves in his NHL debut as host Buffalo scored three times in the third to rally from two goals down and snap a nine-game losing streak to New York.

With the Sabres down 2-1 and less than nine minutes to play in regulation, Rasmus Asplund beat Islanders netminder Semyon Varlamov (36 saves) -- whose club-record shutout streak ended at 248 minutes when Tage Thompson scored at 14:04 into the second -- for the equalizer with 8:35 to play.

Reinhart deflected in a Rasmus Ristolainen shot from the point to give the hosts their first lead of the night. Reinhart added an empty-netter shortly after to give the Sabres their first victory over the Islanders since February 2019.

Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2 (OT)

Cole Caufield scored his second straight overtime goal and Montreal came back to defeat visiting Toronto. Phillip Danault scored in the final minute to tie the game for the Canadiens.

Tyler Toffoli also scored for Montreal while Petry and Nick Suzuki each had three assists. Canadiens goalie Jake Allen stopped 27 shots.

Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs, who had their winning streak end at five. Jack Campbell made 20 saves.

Blues 3, Ducks 1

Robert Bortuzzo's first goal of the season proved to be the game-winner as St. Louis defeated visiting Anaheim.

Brayden Schenn and Ryan O'Reilly also scored, Justin Faulk had two assists, and Jordan Binnington made 19 saves for the Blues, the fourth-place team in the West Division.

Ryan Getzlaf scored and John Gibson made 29 saves for the last-place Ducks.

Kings 3, Coyotes 2

Anze Kopitar scored a goal and had an assist to reach 999 career points as Los Angeles earned a victory in Glendale, Ariz.

Trevor Moore and Alex Iafallo also scored goals for the Kings. Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick did not take the ice after the second period because of an upper-body injury. Quick finished with 17 saves. His replacement, Calvin Petersen, stopped 15 shot.

Christian Dvorak and Jakob Chychrun scored goals for the Coyotes. Arizona goalie Darcy Kuemper recorded 23 saves.

Senators 2, Jets 1

Nikita Zaitsev blasted home the go-ahead goal with 73 seconds remaining night as Ottawa defeated visiting Winnipeg.

The Senators improved to 7-2-1 in their past 10 games. The Jets dropped their seventh consecutive game -- all in regulation.

Ottawa's Connor Brown notched a short-handed tally and had an assist, and goalie Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves on 29 shots. Winnipeg's Josh Morrissey tied the game in the third period, and goalie Laurent Brossoit stopped 16 of 18 shots.

--Field Level Media

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