Monday's hockey: Capitals blank Bruins, one win away from making the playoffs
Washington — Leaving the ice and seeing the results of other games around the NHL after beating the Boston Bruins 2-0 on Monday night, Washington Capitals players took turns telling each other that it doesn't matter.
“We take care of our business, we know where we’re going to be at," goaltender Charlie Lindgren said after his 16-save shutout.
One more victory and they're in the playoffs.
After John Carlson scored another big goal, Lindgren made one crucial stop after another and Nic Dowd sealed it with an empty-netter with 11.7 seconds left, a win at Philadelphia on Tuesday night would put Washington back in the playoffs, regardless of other results.
“It's in our hands, and that’s the best way,” All-Star winger Tom Wilson said.
The Capitals, if they make it, would be the second wild card in the Eastern Conference after the New York Islanders clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division and face the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers.
Boston also still has something to play for in its regular-season finale Tuesday night at home against Ottawa: the Atlantic Division title, with Florida just one point back in the standings. The Bruins could have wrapped it up by beating the Caps, but couldn't match the urgency of an opponent fighting to for its playoff life.
“I think the word ‘struggle’ is a compliment the way we played," coach Jim Montgomery said. "I thought Washington, their desperation, how well they defended, how well they hung on to pucks in the offensive zone is the way we wanted to play.”
No one exemplified that intensity more for Washington than Dylan Strome, who won a faceoff, controlled the puck and set up Carlson's goal on a blast from the point 12 minutes in. Strome is desperate for his first NHL playoff experience with fans in the stands, outside a pandemic bubble.
So is Lindgren, who put together another stellar performance when his team needed it most – much like a lot of games down the stretch. Lindgren denied Bruins 47-goal scorer David Pastrnak on multiple occasions and turned aside other quality chances to maintain the lead, among them third-period stops on Andrew Peeke, Charlie McAvoy and Patrick Maroon in the final eight minutes.
“Chucky came up with some big stops there sporadically throughout the whole game,” Carlson said. "And when it’s tight like that, that’s enormous.”
Jeremy Swayman was great in goal for Boston, making 23 saves, including a sliding stop on All-Star Tom Wilson in the second period and one on Alex Ovechkin during a penalty kill in the third.
“I thought he was very good – he gave us a chance," Montgomery said. "There wasn’t a lot of bright spots. Just wasn’t. Swayman would be the biggest bright spot.”
The Capitals were playing without two injured defensemen, forced to roll with rookie Vincent Iorio and minor league callup Dylan McIlrath. Carlson skated a game-high 29:34 to get them through game 81. They lost depth winger Beck Malenstyn to an upper-body injury late in the second period on a hit by big Bruins forward Trent Frederic.
N.Y. Islanders 4, (at) New Jersey 1: Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist and the Patrick Roy-led New York Islanders clinched one of the two remaining playoff berths in the Eastern Conference with a victory over New Jersey.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle MacLean also scored as the Islanders secured third place in the Metropolitan Division and earned their fifth postseason berth in the six seasons. Semyon Varamov made 23 saves for his fifth straight win and helped New York extend its point streak to eight games (7-0-1).
Timo Meier scored for the Devils, who missed the playoffs a year after posting a franchise-record 112 points. Jake Allen had 14 saves in New Jersey’s final game of the season.
Buffalo 4, (at) Tampa Bay 2: Dylan Cozens scored twice and Buffalo concluded another disappointing season with a win over the playoff-bound Tampa Bay.
Jordan Greenway and Zach Benson also scored for the Sabres, who will miss the playoffs for an NHL-record 13th consecutive season.
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos reached the 40-goal mark for the seventh time in his NHL career, Erik Cernak scored midway through the third period and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves for Tampa Bay, which is assured of finishing as the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.
(At) Pittsburgh 4, Nashville 2: Sidney Crosby scored his 42nd goal and added an assist as Pittsburgh preserved their playoff hopes with a win over Nashville.
Erik Karlsson also had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, and Reilly Smith and Emil Bemstrom also scored. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves while making his 12th straight start for Pittsburgh, which remains one point behind Washington and Detroit for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card.
Filip Forsberg scored his franchise-record 48th goal and Gustav Nyquist added his 23rd but playoff-bound Nashville let a chance to lock up the Western Conference’s top wild card get away. Juuse Saros stopped 34 shots but the Predators finished just shy of the seventh 100-point season in the franchise’s 25 seasons.
(At) N.Y. Rangers 5, Ottawa 0: Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and the New York Rangers beat Ottawa on Monday night to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best regular-season record.
Jack Roslovic, Adam Fox and Alexis Lafreniere also scored and Chris Kreider had two assists as the Rangers won their league-best 55th game and finished with114 points – both franchise records – and will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
New York won for the fifth time in seven games and went 26-7-1 in their last 34 games. They previously won the Presidents’ Trophy in 1991-92, 1993-94 – when they won the Stanley Cup for only time since 1940 – and 2014-15.
Minnesota 3, (at) L.A. Kings 1: Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, and Minnesota beat Los Angeles.
Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman also scored for the Wild, who had been outscored 13-3 in their previous two games against the Kings. Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves.
Blake Lizotte scored and Cam Talbot allowed three goals on 25 shots as the Kings lost firm control of their path to third place in the Pacific Division. They are one point ahead of Vegas, which has a game in hand.
(At) Edmonton 9, San Jose 2: Warren Foegele scored twice and Adam Henrique and Dylan Holloway each had a goal and two assists as Edmonton beat San Jose Sharks.
Connor McDavid had a goal and added his 100th assist of the season, becoming just the fourth player in NHL history to hit the milestone behind Wayne Gretzky (11 times), Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr.
Corey Perry, Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman all scored to help the Oilers snap a two-game losing streak. Edmonton has gone 11-1-2 in its last 14 home games. Stuart Skinner finished with 19 saves.
Danil Gushkin and Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks, who have lost four of their last five. Devin Cooley was pulled with 6:11 left in the second period after giving up eight goals on 22 shots. Georgi Romanov came on and stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced.
Playoff tracker
Atlantic
▶ Bruins (109)
▶ Panthers (108)
▶ Maple Leafs (102)
Metropolitan
▶ Rangers (114)
▶ Hurricanes (111)
▶ Islanders (92)
Wild card
▶ Lightning (96)
▶ Capitals (89)
(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)
▶ Red Wings (89)
▶ Penguins (88)
▶ Flyers (87)
▶ Sabres (84)
▶ Devils (81)
If playoffs started Monday
Eastern Conference playoff matchups
▶ (1M) Rangers vs. Capitals (WC2)
▶ (A2) Panthers vs. Maple Leafs (A3)
▶ (1A) Bruins vs. Lightning (WC1)
▶ (2M) Hurricanes vs. (3M) Islanders
Remaining games in wild-card race
Islanders (92)
▶ Home (1): Penguins
▶ Away (0): None
Capitals (89 points)
▶ Home (0): None
▶ Away (1): Flyers
Red Wings (89)
▶ Home (0): None
▶ Away (1): Canadiens
Penguins (88)
▶ Home (0): Non4
▶ Away (1): Islanders
Flyers (87 points)
▶ Home (1): Capitals
▶ Away (0)
Two UM players earn first-team honors
Michigan defenseman Seamus Casey and forward Gavin Brindley were named First-Team West All-Americans by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA).
Michigan forward Rutger McGroarty and MSU defensemen Artyom Levshunov were selected second-team All-Americans.
Michigan-area hockey this week
Monday
▶ Red Wings 5, Montreal 4 (OT)
Tuesday
▶ Red Wings at Montreal, 7 (BSD/950)
Wednesday
▶ Grand Rapids at Iowa, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)
Friday
▶ Grand Rapids at Iowa, 8 (AHL/96.1)
Saturday
▶ NTDP U18s vs. Sweden in Finland, world U18s exhibition
Sunday
▶ Milwaukee at Grand Rapids, 5 (AHL/106.9/1300)