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    Tuesday, April 23, 2024

    NHL roundup

    Bruins 4, Sabres 1

    Cheering fans stood and waved gold and black towels as the Boston Bruins claimed the Presidents' Trophy for the NHL's best regular-season record.

    The celebration will be a lot bigger if the Bruins achieve their ultimate goal, winning the Stanley Cup.

    "We've still got to do some work here in order to get the trophy that we all really want," Boston coach Claude Julien said.

    David Krejci scored two goals, Patrice Bergeron netted his 30th of the season, and Gregory Campbell got his eighth as the Bruins dominated Buffalo Saturday in a game between teams at opposite ends of the standings.

    It's the second time the Bruins have won the Presidents' Trophy, which gives them home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, since the award was instituted for the 1985-86 season.

    The Bruins have 117 points, third most in team history behind 121 in 1970-71 and 119 when they won the Stanley Cup in the 1971-72 season. Buffalo's 51 points are tied for its fewest in a season not shortened by a lockout. Each team has one game left.

    "We need to play a really strong game and feel good about our game going into the playoffs," Krejci said.

    Boston will end its regular-season schedule at New Jersey on Sunday. Buffalo will finish at home against the New York Islanders.

    Boston's first-round playoff opponent was still unknown, with Philadelphia, Columbus and Detroit all possibilities.

    Cody Hodgson scored for the Sabres, but Buffalo sustained another blow in a frustrating, injury-plagued season. Starting goalie Matt Hackett was taken from the ice on a stretcher after Boston defenseman Torey Krug fell on his right leg in the crease with 11:35 left.

    "It doesn't look good right now," Buffalo coach Ted Nolan said.

    Hackett's leg wasn't broken, and he was to return with the team to Buffalo to be examined by club medical personnel.

    He was replaced by Connor Knapp, the seventh goalie to dress for the Sabres this season. He made his NHL debut and allowed Krejci's second goal one minute later.

    "Some nerves, for sure, especially with the crowd definitely into it," Knapp said. "And they're on a power play, too."

    Hoping for another long postseason run after losing last year's Stanley Cup finals in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Bruins got back on track after losing four of their previous five games. That followed a streak in which they won 15 of 16.

    "We were pretty reckless with the puck the last couple games," Krug said. "That's not something our team wants in our identity."

    It was more of the same for the Sabres, who lost for the 17th time in 19 games with just 27 goals during that slump.

    "A good clean bill of health in the summertime (and) we'll go forward to next year," Nolan said. "Whether we missed the playoffs by one point or we missed it by 30, 60 points, it doesn't matter."

    Canadiens 1, Rangers 0

    Brian Gionta scored on a penalty shot at 2:04 of overtime to give Montreal a victory over New York in the final NHL regular-season game for both teams.

    Gionta was awarded the shot after he poked the puck away from Raphael Diaz and then was tripped by the defenseman on a breakaway. He deked to the backhand to beat Cam Talbot on the shot.

    Carey Price made 39 saves as Montreal finished with 100 points and moved past Tampa Bay for second place in the Atlantic Division.

    The Lightning can still claim home ice advantage for their first round playoff meeting versus Montreal with a victory on their final game Sunday against Washington.

    The Rangers have home ice for the first round.

    Predators 7, Blackhawks 5

    Patric Hornqvist scored the go-ahead goal with 58.2 seconds left and Shea Weber added an empty-netter as Nashville rallied with five goals in the third period.

    The teams combined to score seven goals in a wild and furious final period. Chicago was up 3-2 going into the third, and Nashville finally put the Blackhawks away with the two goals inside the final minute. Nashville had scored more than seven goals only once in franchise history.

    Hornqvist also had an assist. Craig Smith had a goal and an assist. Ryan Ellis, Matt Cullen and Colin Wilson also scored a goal apiece as the Predators took the season series 4-1.

    Ben Smith, Marian Hossa, Matt Carey and Jeremy Morin each scored a goal for Chicago.

    Flyers 4, Penguins 3 (OT)

    Mark Streit beat Marc-Andre Fleury 2:10 into overtime to lift Philadelphia over Pittsburgh and set up a first-round playoff matchup with the New York Rangers.

    Streit's backhand shot from the right circle caromed between Fleury's pads and into the net as the Flyers clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division.

    Jakub Voracek scored twice for the Flyers, and Claude Giroux added his team-high 28th goal of the season. Ray Emery made 12 saves after replacing injured starter Steve Mason to start the third period.

    Jussi Jokinen, James Neal and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins. Fleury stopped 17 shots and hardly looked sharp while giving up the game-winner.

    Letang scored in the final minute of regulation to force overtime after Giroux gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead with 1:15 left.

    Blue Jackets 3, Panthers 2

    Ryan Johansen scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period to and Columbus beat Florida for the eighth straight time.

    Mark Letestu and Cam Atkinson also scored for Columbus and Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves.

    Jimmy Hayes and Vincent Trocheck scored for the Panthers. Roberto Luongo stopped 35 shots.

    The Blue Jackets clinched the first wild-card spot and will face Pittsburgh in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

    Philadelphia's 4-3 overtime win over Pittsburgh earlier Saturday clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division for the Flyers and forced Columbus to the wild-card spot.

    Johansen's 33rd goal of the season, a one-timer from the left circle, got past Luongo at 5:58 of the third period to put Columbus ahead.

    Senators 1, Maple Leafs 0

    Jason Spezza scored the game's only goal and Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as the Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0 Saturday night.

    Spezza scored on the power play at 7:35 of the second period as Erik Karlsson found him alone in the faceoff circle and the Senators' captain caught the inside of the post for his 23rd of the season. Spezza now has 56 points in 56 career games against the Leafs.

    The Senators tied a season high with their fourth straight win.

    James Reimer had 36 saves, making a number of big stops to keep Toronto in the game. The Leafs capped off their season with 12 losses in their last 15 games, leaving them below the Senators in the standings.

    Sharks 3, Coyotes 2

    Joe Pavelski had two goals to become the fourth player in team history with 40 goals in a season and San Jose closed out the regular season with a win.

    Pavelski scored his 40th goal on a power play early in the first period and added No. 41 midway through to join Owen Nolan, Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau in San Jose's 40-goal club.

    Logan Couture also scored and Dan Boyle had a pair of assists for the Sharks, who will face the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round of the playoffs.

    Antti Niemi stopped 30 shots, including Shane Doan on a breakaway late in the third period.

    Mike Ribeiro and Doan scored for Phoenix, which lost its seventh straight.

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