The Boston Bruins punched their ticket to the playoffs for the third straight year with a 7-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

Boston's the second team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a postseason spot following the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.

Saturday's win gave the Bruins 101 points on the season and they appear set to capture the second seed in the Atlantic Division, which means Boston will likely meet the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round for the second year in a row.

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The Ottawa Senators are looking to add to their front office by hiring a president of hockey operations, the team said in a statement, according to The Canadian Press.

"The Senators intend to hire a president of hockey operations to support and provide guidance to the general manager, and fill the void left by the late Bryan Murray," the statement said.

"The position is integral to the success of the hockey club, especially as we continue our rebuilding process, hiring a top-notch candidate to fill this role is critically important."

While the Sens seek another hockey mind, the team added that the new hire won't threaten GM Pierre Dorion's position with the club.

The Senators have made several significant trades since the offseason and have begun a full-scale rebuild. The club shipped out former captain Erik Karlsson in September and then dealt Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel - the club's three leading scorers at the time - before the trade deadline.

As a result of the roster makeover, Ottawa has 19 draft picks at its disposal over the next two drafts. In February, owner Eugene Melnyk said the club will be "all-in" for a five-year run of success from 2021 to 2025 when the team will spend close to the league's salary cap.

The Senators currently rank 31st in the NHL with 58 points through 75 games.

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If all goes well for Ken Hitchcock, he'd like to stay in his line of work until he's nearly a centenarian.

"For the record, I feel if I'm good, I can coach until I'm 99," the Edmonton Oilers bench boss told reporters after an overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

When asked about whether he wants to coach the Oilers next season, the 67-year-old acknowledged that decision is out of his hands.

"That's hard because it's somebody else's ballgame now," Hitchcock said. "From a management standpoint, obviously there's going to be a new general manager. I can just tell you what I did this year, I wouldn't change this for the world."

Hitchcock said he's grateful to have the opportunity to work in a Canadian market.

"There's coaching and then there's coaching in Canada, and this is a whole different animal and something that I'm so lucky that I get to experience," he said.

Hitchcock is under contract with Edmonton for two more years after this season.

The Oilers have gone 24-24-7 since Hitchcock came out of retirement and replaced the fired Todd McLellan in November. The club sits six points out of a playoff spot as of Saturday evening and needs to leapfrog five teams to move into a postseason position.

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Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen went all-in at the trade deadline, seemingly improving his roster without trading blue chippers Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky.

Now, in the middle of a three-game losing streak that's resulted in the Blue Jackets falling out of a playoff spot, Kekalainen feels that the team he assembled to make a deep run this spring lacks cohesion.

"We have to start playing like a team," Kekalainen said, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline. "Right now, we're looking like a group of individuals who are pulling in different directions. We don't look like a team."

Columbus has won just five contests since the trade deadline, scoring a measly 2.08 goals per game.

Since the Blue Jackets' big deadline moves, new acquisition Matt Duchene has delivered three goals and six points in 15 games and Panarin - Columbus' leader in points this season - has just one goal during that span, leaving Kekalainen to question his team's sense of accountability.

"Are you able to look each other in the eye and know you've done your job," Kekalainen said. "When you're doing your job, you can demand the same of everybody else. That's called professional pride."

The GM also insisted that he still supports head coach John Tortorella and rejected the idea that he may be let go before the season ends.

"That's just silly," Kekalainen said. "Torts has been our coach for a long time, been a good coach for us. He's coached us into the playoffs twice in a row. He's a very experienced coach in this league."

The Blue Jackets will look to avoid being swept on their Western Canadian road trip as they close it out in Vancouver versus the Canucks on Sunday night.

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Zdeno Chara isn't ready to hang 'em up.

The Boston Bruins signed their 42-year-old captain to a one-year contract extension, the team announced Saturday. The deal comes with a base salary of $2 million, plus an additional $1.75 million in performance-based incentives.

Chara's current salary is $5 million plus $1.75 million in bonuses, so he'll be taking a sizable pay cut in 2019-20.

Despite his age, Chara continues to log over 20 minutes per night on Boston's blue line. He's maintained positive possession numbers too, posting a 54.02 Corsi For percentage at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The 6-foot-9, 250-pound defenseman has four goals and seven assists in 55 games this season. He's the second-oldest active player in the NHL, behind Pittsburgh Penguins center Matt Cullen.

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Los Angeles Kings winger Ilya Kovalchuk isn't pleased with how head coach Willie Desjardins is using him lately.

Kovalchuk was a healthy scratch for the second time in three games on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks, with Desjardins opting to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

The veteran sniper doesn't support that idea, and he didn't enjoy sitting in the press box.

"It's horrible," Kovalchuk said, according to The Athletic's Lisa Dillman. "That's the worst. But he (Desjardins) didn't play young guys. He plays 7 D. That's his new strategy.

"What you can do? That's his decision and he's the head coach - 10 more games. What else we can do. Just practice hard and show the young kids that thing can happen to anybody. You just have to keep going."

Kovalchuk returned to North America last summer on a three-year $18.75 million contract with the Kings after a five-season stint in the KHL. He was brought in to help bolster Los Angeles' offense, but the season hasn't gone according to plan.

The Kings started the season 4-8-1 and fired John Stevens before naming Desjardins interim head coach. Under Desjardins, the club is 22-31-7 and sits last in the Western Conference with 60 points.

"After Willie came here, I don’t have a chance. I play five, six minutes a game," Kovalchuk said.

"A few games I play with Kopi (captain Anze Koptiar)," Kovalchuk said. "We did well. We score all five games and then he (Desjardins) decide to change and I never play again, much. That’s the way he sees the situation."

Kovalchuk has appeared in 60 of the Kings' 73 games in 2018-19, registering 14 goals and 17 assists. Despite recent difficulties, the 35-year-old doesn't appear to regret choosing to play in the Golden State.

"That's what is good about California," he said. "Every day, almost every day, the sun's up. It's easier to go through those kind of stretches in your career. When you're in some city when it's raining, snowing every second day, then it's pretty tough."

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Tampa Bay Lightning forward Yanni Gourde has been suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of Carolina Hurricanes pivot Jordan Staal, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Friday.

Here's the play:

The hit occurred in the first period of Thursday's matchup - a 6-3 victory for Tampa Bay. Gourde was assessed a 10-minute match penalty and was ejected from the game, while Staal briefly exited the contest before returning to score a goal in the middle frame.

Gourde is eligible to return to the Bolts' lineup March 30 versus the Washington Capitals. In 75 games this season, the 27-year-old has notched 20 goals and 24 assists.

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With rumors and speculation running rampant among the masses, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock decided to clear the air Friday on his relationship with general manager Kyle Dubas.

The spotlight on their partnership grew intense following the club's 3-0 loss in Nashville on Tuesday, after which Babcock said other teams around the NHL have done a better job playing through injuries than the Leafs. Some took the comment as a shot at Dubas, but Toronto's veteran coach insisted he meant no harm.

"We've talked about this since this happened," Babcock said Friday, according to NHL.com's Mike Zeisberger. "How would I say it? If any of my comments in any way - because then I read the article and I don't read it that way, at all - but if any of my comments in any way hurt anyone, it (wasn't intended)."

Babcock is in his fourth season as the Leafs' coach, but Dubas is in his rookie season as Toronto's GM, which Babcock believes is a factor in the duo's growing relationship.

"(Dubas) and my relationship isn't as good as it will be four years from now," Babcock said. "Mine with (Detroit Red Wings GM) Ken Holland wasn't as good in my first (season) as in my 10th or Bryan Murray in my first (with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) as in my third. It takes a while to build."

Toronto currently sits sixth in the NHL with 93 points and is all but locked into a playoff spot for the third consecutive season with Babcock at the helm.

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