All posts by The Associated Press

Goalless through 79 games, Sheahan scores final tally at Joe Louis Arena

DETROIT - Riley Sheahan had two goals and Henrik Zetterberg scored in his 1,000th NHL game, helping the Detroit Red Wings beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 Sunday in a party-like atmosphere for the final game at Joe Louis Arena.

Zetterberg put Detroit up 3-0 midway through the second period following Sheahan's and Tomas Tatar's goals in the first. Sheahan didn't have a goal in his first 79 games this year but scored his second of the game with 2:33 left to bring fans to their feet, where they stayed for the game.

Jimmy Howard stopped 24 shots for the Red Wings, who failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1990 to end a postseason streak that tied for the third longest in league history.

Cory Schneider made 31 saves for the Devils, who haven't earned a spot in the postseason since advancing to the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals.

New Jersey's John Moore scored early in the third and teammate Taylor Hall had a goal overturned later in the period.

It didn't look or sound as if nothing was at stake for the former NHL powers in the regular season finale for both teams.

Fans were fired up hours before the puck dropped and didn't stop cheering even when the final horn sounded.

The Red Wings rolled out a red carpet for current and former players leading into the arena, and thousands of people showed up.

Fans arriving early enough pressed up against a red velvet rope to get autographs and take selfies with Zetterberg and former favorites such as Hall of Famer Nicklas Lidstrom and tough-guy, fan-favorite Darren McCarty. Those who didn't get there in time for a prime location settled for being perched up on adjacent steps that climb up to the arena and standing on both sides of Steve Yzerman Drive on a sunny, windy and warm afternoon.

''We missed the playoffs and we still have this kind of support from the fans,'' defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. ''It gives me goosebumps.''

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who was among the 20,000-plus people in the arena, also seemed to be touched by the aura.

''What an amazing atmosphere here for the last game, typical of a crowd at The Joe,'' Bettman wrote in an email during the game. ''The end of one era. And, we look forward to the beginning of another at Little Caesars Arena.''

The Red Wings, who have played at Joe Louis Arena since the 1979-80 season, will move to a new facility nearby next season that they will share with the Pistons near the home of the Lions and Tigers.

After the game, Detroit's players skated to center ice and raised their sticks. The fans, in turn, pointed commemorative sticks they were given toward the banner-filled rafters that recognize 11 Stanley Cup titles and retired jerseys of some of the game's greats, such as Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman.

A postgame celebration was planned later in the evening on the ice, and it appeared that most of the fans planned to stick around.

NOTES: The Red Wings (four) and Devils (three) combined to win seven Stanley Cups between 1995, when New Jersey swept Detroit, and 2008. ... Sheahan avoided the dubious distinction of being the first NHL forward to be held scoreless with at least 100 shots in a season.

UP NEXT

Devils: The front office, coaching staff and players have to figure out how to bring the once-proud franchise back to respectability after finishing eighth in a division for the first time and having an Eastern Conference-low 70 points.

Red Wings: A new arena will not fix the team's problems. Detroit needs more talent to surround Zetterberg, who was its best player this season even though he's 36.

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Wild beat Coyotes for franchise record 49th win

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Darcy Kuemper stopped 20 shots, Martin Hanzal scored in his return to the desert and the Minnesota Wild set a franchise record with their 49th win by beating the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 on Saturday night.

The Wild already clinched home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs and the victory over the Coyotes gave them a franchise record 105 points.

Erik Haula and Eric Staal scored in the first period. Hanzal scored in the third in his first game in Arizona since being traded with Ryan White to Minnesota on Feb. 26

Brendan Perlini scored for the Coyotes and captain Shane Doan had an assist in what may be the final game of his 21-year NHL career.

Mike Smith stopped 41 shots his 312th game with the Coyotes, passing Bob Essensa for most in franchise history.

Doan contemplated retirement last season after leading the Coyotes with 28 goals, deciding over the summer to play at least one more season. Doan's production fell off this season - six goals - but said before the final game of the season that he's not sure if it will be the last one of his career.

Saturday's game was No. 1,540 for Doan, tying him with John Bucyk for 14th on the NHL's all-time list.

Arizona played without All-Star defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who traveled back home following the death of his mother in Sweden. The Wild jumped on the Coyotes early without their best defenseman, scoring two goals by the midpoint of the first period.

Both came on mistakes by Smith.

On the first, Smith tried to pass it out front to Jordan Martinook in front of his own crease. Instead, Jason Pominville intercepted the puck and fed it to Haula, who one-timed it into an empty net.

Staal scored his 28th goal on a power play midway through the first period, ripping a one-timer past Smith after the Coyotes goalie reached down to recover his stick after dropping it earlier.

Perlini scored on a rebound early in the third period, but Hanzal gave the Wild a two-goal lead again a few minutes later.

NOTES: The Arizona Coyotes honored minor leaguer Craig Cunningham and had him drop the ceremonial puck before the game, five months after he collapsed on the ice before a Tucson Roadrunners game and nearly died. ... Hanzal reached 20 goals for the first time in his 11-year career. ... Minnesota has a 14-game points streak against Arizona (11-1-2).

UP NEXT

Wild: Open the playoffs at home next week.

Coyotes: Will have a high draft pick in this year's NHL draft for the second straight season.

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Halak magnificent again as Islanders win to stay alive in playoff hunt

NEWARK, N.J. - Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves, Anders Lee scored twice and the New York Islanders kept their playoff hopes alive with a 4-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

Adam Pelech and Jason Chimera also scored as the Islanders won their fifth straight game - all with Halak in goal. He is 6-1-0 since being recalled from Bridgeport of the AHL on March 23.

Whether New York gets to the playoffs will be determined by the Toronto Maple Leafs. If the Maple Leafs win either of their final two games - home against Pittsburgh on Saturday night and home vs. Columbus on Sunday night - they get the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and eliminate the Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The regular season ends on Sunday.

Beau Bennett scored twice for the Devils, who have three wins in their last 23 games (3-16-4).

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Lightning win again, move within a point of Maple Leafs

MONTREAL - Rookie Yanni Gourde scored twice, Nikita Kucherov got his 40th of the season, and the Tampa Bay Lightning kept their playoff hopes alive with a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.

Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning. They need to win their final regular-season game Sunday against Buffalo and have Toronto and the New York Islanders lose to take the final spot in the Eastern Conference.

Dwight King and Artturi Lehkonen scored for the playoff-bound Canadiens.

The desperate Lightning faced a Canadiens team that had already clinched first place in the Atlantic Division and rested three banged up starting defensemen - Shea Weber, Jordie Benn and Alexei Emelin.

Kucherov could have had three goals in the first period.

The 23-year-old Russian was robbed by Carey Price 3:59 into the game, then froze the Montreal defense on a rush and hit a post from the slot at 11:42, but Gourde fired in the rebound to open the scoring.

At 19:50, Ondrej Palat flipped a pass into the neutral zone that the speeding Kucherov controlled with a quick slap of the stick before beating Price inside the near post.

Lehkonen found King coming off the bench with a stretch pass. He went in alone to beat Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pads for his first goal in 16 games as a Canadien at 9:59 of the second.

Killorn got it back at 14:19 on a rush after Cory Conacher forced a turnover at the Tampa Bay blue line.

Lehkonen saw his pass go in off a skate at 4:36 of the third but, only 21 seconds later, Gourde was left alone on the left side and put Conacher's pass into an open side for a fifth goal in his last seven games.

UP NEXT

Lightning: Host Buffalo on Sunday in their regular-season finale.

Canadiens: At Detroit in their regular-season finale Saturday night.

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Capitals inch closer to Presidents’ Trophy, keep Toronto from clinching

TORONTO - Lars Eller and Kevin Shattenkirk gave Washington a two-goal lead halfway through the game, and the Capitals cruised to a 4-1 win over Toronto on Tuesday night, snapping the Maple Leafs' four-game winning streak.

Nate Schmidt and Tom Wilson also scored for Washington and Philipp Grubauer stopped 27 shots. The Capitals, winners of eight of their last nine, moved closer to clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference and the Presidents' Trophy with the league's best record. However, Pittsburgh's win over Columbus prevented them from doing so.

Mitch Marner scored his 19th of the season, spoiling Grubauer's shutout bid with a power-play goal with 1:08 to go. Curtis McElhinney finished with 34 saves for the Maple Leafs, who lost for just the second time in nine games.

Toronto lost center Brian Boyle to an upper-body injury, possibly from a hard collision with Wilson in the first period.

The Capitals beat the Maple Leafs for the seventh time in their last eight meetings and are 10-2-1 in the last 13 matchups. The first two games this season were tight - Toronto won 4-2 here on Nov. 26 and Washington won 6-5 in overtime at home on Jan. 3 - but the Capitals were in control in this one.

Washington spent a lot of time in the offensive zone in the first and Eller scored with 5:26 remaining in the opening period as he took a feed from Andre Burakovsky and sent a shot from near the right faceoff spot that took a deflection off a Toronto skate.

The Leafs came out with considerably more bite to open the second period and pressed the Washington goal. But the Caps weathered the storm and doubled their lead on Shattenkirk's power-play goal at the 10-minute mark. It was Shattenkirk's 12th of the year and first with the Capitals, and gave Washington its 36th power-play score in their last 40 games.

Alex Ovechkin got an assist on the play, moving him into sole possession of second place among Russian-born players on the NHL's all-time scoring list. He came into the game tied with Alexander Mogilny with 1,032 points and trailing Sergei Fedorov by 147 points for first place.

Washington played a controlled third period with Grubauer mopping up when needed. Schmidt, a late replacement for the injured John Carlson (lower body), added to the lead at 8:11 coming in from the point with little opposition to snap a shot past McElhinney.

Wilson made it 4-0 with a nifty deke with 3:14 left after being sent in alone by former Leafs player Daniel Winnik.

NOTES: It was the 100th NHL game for Leafs forward William Nylander. ... Ovechkin has 60 points (33 goals, 27 assists) in 42 career games against the Maple Leafs.

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Penguins deal reeling Blue Jackets 4th straight loss

PITTSBURGH - Patric Hornqvist picked up his 20th goal of the season, Matt Murray finished with 37 saves and the Pittsburgh Penguins sped past the slumping Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Jake Guentzel and Carter Rowney also scored for Pittsburgh. Brian Dumoulin added his first regular season goal in more than two years as the Penguins moved three points ahead of Columbus in the race to have home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Pittsburgh won its third straight to inch closer to opening its Stanley Cup defense at home thanks in large part to Murray and offensive contributions from unexpected places.

Brandon Dubinsky scored short-handed for Columbus. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots but the Blue Jackets dropped a season-high fourth straight and have ceded control of the second seed in the Metropolitan Division to Pittsburgh with three games to go.

The teams are almost assured of facing each other when the playoffs begin next week, a rematch from a 2014 first-round series the Penguins won in six taut games and seemed to signal Columbus' arrival as a legitimate contender.

Three years later, Columbus has officially arrived, though the team that spent the better part of 60 minutes chasing the Penguins around sold-out PPG Paints Arena hardly looked like the one that came in 2-0-1 over its first three meetings of the season. The Blue Jackets tried to push the Penguins around, rattling the boards in the process but not Pittsburgh.

The Penguins' fourth line helped bolster a largely lifeless performance in a victory over Carolina on Sunday and the momentum carried over. Rowney put Pittsburgh in front with 1:09 left in the first period when he planted himself in front of Bobrovsky and redirected a feed from Scott Wilson over Bobrovsky's shoulder.

Hornqvist doubled Pittsburgh's lead just before the game's midway point, though linemate Tom Kuhnhackl did all the work. Kuhnhackl tracked down a loose puck in the defensive zone the raced end-to-end down the left wing, fending off Oliver Bjorkstrand in the process before sliding a crossing pass to a streaking Hornqvist that found the open net.

Dumoulin, who scored a pair of goals during last year's run to the Cup, reached the back of the net in the regular season for the first time since Dec. 15, 2014, when he saved a clear at the edge of the blue line, carried the puck behind the Columbus net then saw his wraparound smack off Cam Atkinson and in, ending a 151-game regular season goalless drought.

When Guentzel deflected a Justin Schultz shot from the point by Bobrovsky 33 seconds into the third, the Penguins were in firm control.

Dubinsky's 12th of the year midway through the third spoiled Murray's shutout bid but served as little solace for the Blue Jackets.

NOTES: Columbus rookie D Zack Werenski did not play while dealing with an upper-body injured suffered in a loss to Washington on Sunday. ... Penguins D Trevor Daley skated on Tuesday morning and is hopeful to return before the postseason begins. Daley hasn't played since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery on Feb. 23. ... The Penguins went 0 for 3 on the power play. The Blue Jackets were 0 for 1. ... Pittsburgh's 109 points tied the 2013-14 team for the second-highest total in club history.

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Rangers eliminate Flyers, will finish no worse than 1st wild-card spot

NEW YORK - Oscar Lindberg and Chris Kreider scored 2:09 apart midway through the third period, and the New York Rangers held on to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 Sunday night for their first win at home in six weeks.

Mika Zibanejad and Brendan Smith scored in the first period, and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 20 shots to help the Rangers win at Madison Square Garden for the first time since beating Washington on Feb. 19. New York was 0-5-3 on home ice since.

The Rangers are guaranteed to fall no lower than the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. They are fourth in the Metropolitan Division, trailing third-place Columbus by six points. New York has three games remaining and Columbus has four.

Valtteri Filppula had two goals and Brayden Schenn also scored for Philadelphia, which was eliminated from postseason contention. Anthony Stolarz finished with 20 saves.

Mats Zuccarello had three assists to become the first Rangers player to have at least 44 since Marian Gaborik in 2009-10.

Leading 2-1, New York appeared to put the game away in a span halfway through the third. Lindberg scored from in front for his eighth at 7:01, and Kreider made it 4-1 with his 28th at 9:10.

However, Schenn scored with 2:06 remaining and Filppula's second of the game - and fourth in his last five games - pulled the Flyers within one 51 seconds later.

Following a scoreless opening period, Filppula gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead with his 11th of the season just 33 seconds into the second. Philadelphia's trade deadline acquisition curled around New York defenseman Marc Staal before lifting a backhander over Lundqvist.

Zibanejad drew New York even with a power-play goal 3:24 later. The New York center fired an end-over-end shot from the top of the left circle over Stolarz's stick.

The Rangers were 1 for 4 on the man advantage and dating back to Mar. 9, are 12 for 35. New York also killed all three Philadelphia power plays.

It took just 3:13 for the Rangers to strike again as Smith's backhander over Stolarz's glove put New York ahead 2-1. The goal was his third of the season and his first since being acquired from Detroit on Feb. 28.

NOTES: Prior to the game, Flyers GM Ron Hextall said G Michal Neuvirth was ''released from Pennsylvania Hospital and is at home resting,'' in a statement. Neuvirth collapsed in his crease and was carted off the ice on a stretcher during the first period of Philadelphia's 3-0 win over New Jersey Saturday night. ''He will be reevaluated (Monday) afternoon,'' Hextall said. ... Flyers RW Matt Read missed his second straight game with an upper body injury. ... Philadelphia scratched D Radko Gudas, C Nick Cousins, LW Roman Lyubimov and RW Mike Vecchione. Philadelphia signed Vecchione to an entry level contract Friday after he finished his college career at Union. ... New York D Ryan McDonagh missed his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said McDonagh ''will come back when he's 100 percent.'' ... The Rangers scratched D Adam Clendening, D Steven Kampfer, LW Pavel Buchnevich and LW Matt Puempel.

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Lightning remain in playoff hunt with big win over Stars

TAMPA, Fla. - Adam Erne scored twice and Ondrej Palat added a power-play goal and two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 on Sunday night.

Brayden Point scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to break a 2-2 tie, and Braydon Coburn and Anton Stralman also had goals for Tampa Bay. Backup Peter Budaj made 23 saves to help the Lightning move within three points of the idle Ottawa Senators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Gemel Smith, Jason Spezza, and Brett Ritchie scored for Dallas, and Esa Lindell assisted on all three goals.

Erne opened up the scoring at 11:47 in the first. Erne, who had just one goal entering the game and hadn't scored since March 3, added a power-play goal in the third.

Dallas answered quickly in the second with Smith's goal less than two minutes into the period.

Smith nearly had a short-handed goal after that, but it was overturned on an offsides call after a Lightning challenge and official review. Dallas did take the lead at 10:57 in the second when Spezza scored his 14th of the season. Spezza also assisted on Smith's goal.

With just 18 seconds left in the second, Tampa Bay tied it on Coburn's goal with assists from Stralman and Palat, who has 32 assists this season.

Point's tiebreaking goal was his 14th of the season, while Palat's power-play goal was his 17th.

Ritchie scored Dallas' third goal late in the third. Stralman had an empty-netter with 2 seconds remaining.

NOTES: Tampa Bay C Steven Stamkos, out since right knee surgery in November, did not play Sunday and remains day to day. ... Lightning C Tyler Johnson returned Sunday after sitting out 11 games with a lower-body injury. ... Lightning D Jason Garrison returned after missing four games due to a lower-body injury. Garrison would later leave during the second intermission with another lower-body injury. ... Stars LW Patrick Sharp missed his fifth game with a hip injury. ... Stars LW Antoine Roussel missed his 15th game with an upper-body injury.

UP NEXT

Stars: Wrap up the season with a three-game homestand, beginning with Arizona on Tuesday.

Lightning: Begin a three-game road trip, starting with a key game at Boston on Tuesday.

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Lee becomes 30-goal scorer as Isles stay alive without Tavares

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Anders Lee scored third-period goals a little more than five minutes apart, and the New York Islanders overcame the absence of captain John Tavares to stay in the playoff hunt with a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.

Cal Clutterbuck and Joshua Ho-Sang also scored and Jaroslav Halak stopped 35 shots to improve to 3-1 since being recalled from the minors.

With four games left, New York earned its 86th point to inch within five of Ottawa and Toronto, and remain six behind Boston in the race for the Eastern Conference's final three playoff berths.

It was the Islanders' first game since Tavares was sidelined by a left hamstring injury in a 2-1 win over New Jersey on Friday.

He's listed week to week and, before the game, coach Doug Weight said there is no chance Tavares will play before New York closes the season against Ottawa on April 9.

Evander Kane, with his team-leading 27th goal, and Zemgus Girgensons scored for Buffalo in a game the Sabres never led. Robin Lehner stopped 22 shots.

Both of Lee's goals were unassisted, and came off Sabres turnovers.

With the score tied at 2, Lee put the Islanders ahead for good with 10:41 remaining.

Lehner inadvertently began the play by casually swatting a shot directed at the Buffalo goal. The puck bounced into the high slot, where Lee snapped a shot, beating Lehner under the left arm.

Lee scored again with 5:27 left after Sabres defenseman Jake McCabe misplayed a puck to the left of his own net. The puck squirted into the lower left circle, from where Lee backhanded a shot in for his team-leading 31st goal.

The Islanders continued their dominance over Buffalo by improving to 8-1-5 in their past 14 against the Sabres.

The Sabres tied the game at 2 on Girgenson's goal 5:17 into the third period. By gaining the Islanders blue line, Girgensons dished off to Matt Moulson and then broke to the net where he deflected in Moulson's return pass.

The Sabres came out flat, resembling a team coming off a four-day break. Buffalo managed just three shots first 17 minutes and six overall through the opening period and gave up the opening goal to Clutterbuck 9:31 into the game.

The Sabres found their legs in the second period, during which they outshot the Islanders 9-0 at one point when Kane tied to convert a two-on-one break midway through the second period.

Kane was set up by C.J. Smith, who was making his NHL debut three days after forgoing his senior season at UMass-Lowell by signing a two-year contract with Buffalo.

It took 56 seconds after Buffalo tied the score on Kane's goal 10:08 into the second period for the Islanders to regain the lead.

New York defensive Dennis Seidenberg forced Jack Eichel to commit a turnover along the left boards of the Islanders zone, and sprung Ho-Sang on a breakaway.

Driving directly at the net, Ho-Sang faked left and then put on the breaks before slipping a shot inside the right post.

NOTES: Sabres D Rasmus Ristolainen returned after serving a three-game suspension for a blindside hit that led to Pittsburgh forward Jake Guentzel sustaining a concussion. ... Islanders C Connor Jones made his NHL debut a day after being called up from AHL Bridgeport. ... Sabres RW Kyle Okposo missed his second game due to illness and has already been ruled out from playing against Toronto on Monday.

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Maple Leafs slide into 2nd in Atlantic with win over Red Wings

DETROIT - Auston Matthews scored twice to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs past the Detroit Red Wings 5-4 on Saturday night.

Matthews' second goal of the night at 18:51 of the third period gave Toronto a 5-3 lead, but proved to be the winner when Detroit's Mike Green tallied with 44.2 seconds left in regulation.

With two goals and an assist, Matthews tied Peter Ihnacak's Leafs rookie points record of 66, set in 1982-83.

James van Riemsdyk scored with 2:36 left in the third period to snap the 3-3 tie and put the Leafs ahead for good. Van Riemsdyk slipped a backhander past Detroit's Jimmy Howard.

Mitch Marner and William Nylander also scored for the Leafs, who moved into a second-place tie in the Atlantic Division with Ottawa.

Gustav Nyquist, Nick Jensen, and Niklas Kronwall had the other goals for the Red Wings.

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