NHL roundup: Ovechkin earns assist in what could be final game for Capitals

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Alex Ovechkin had an assist on the go-ahead goal in what perhaps will be the final game of his record-breaking career and the Washington Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Tuesday night in the season finale for both teams.

Ovechkin had the second assist on Jakob Chychrun’s power-play goal with 4:07 remaining in the third period. He finished the season leading the Capitals with 32 goals and 64 points.

Anthony Beauvillier also scored for Washington and Clay Stevenson stopped 27 shots.

Boone Jenner scored for Columbus and Jet Greaves made 19 saves.

Elsewhere in the NHL on Tuesday:

HURRICANES 2 ISLANDERS 1

NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Jankowski scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and Carolina defeated New York.

Nikolaj Ehlers also scored for Carolina, and Brandon Bussi made 28 saves. The Hurricanes closed the regular season with four wins in their final five games and finished atop the Eastern Conference.

Bo Horvat scored for New York, David Rittich stopped 19 shots and the Islanders lost for the seventh time in eight games.

BRUINS 4 DEVILS 0

BOSTON (AP) — Mark Kasetlic scored twice in the first period, Jeremy Swayman earned his second shutout of the season and Boston clinched the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a win over New Jersey.

Boston needed a win to lock up the top wild-card position. The Bruins will face the Atlantic Division champion Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the NHL playoffs.

Ten Boston players recorded points in the game. Sean Kuraly had a pair of assists and David Pastrnak reached 100 points for the fourth straight season with an assist on one of the Bruins’ four goals in the first.

FLYERS 4 CANADIENS 2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matvei Michkov had a goal and two assists and Porter Martone had one goal to lead the playoff-bound Philadelphia to a win over Montreal.

The Flyers rested most of their key veterans a night after they secured their first playoff berth since 2020 and first home playoff series since 2018.

Michkov and Martone helped spoil Montreal’s shot at hosting the East’s first-round series against Tampa Bay.

The 19-year-old Martone, who starred for Michigan State only weeks ago, scored his fourth goal of the season when he deflected in Michkov’s point shot early in the first period for the 1-0 lead.

WILD 3 DUCKS 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Hunter Haight got his first career goal and rookie Jesper Wallstedt auditioned for action in the playoffs with 35 saves, as Minnesota finished their regular season by beating Anaheim.

Danila Yurov and Robby Fabbri also scored for the playoff-bound Wild, who have won 21 of their last 22 games against the Ducks, including eight in a row.

Wallstedt, who is second in the NHL in save percentage, went 18-9-6 in his debut and has given the Wild plenty to consider for a potential post-season goalie rotation with Filip Gustavsson. Wallstedt allowed only 12 goals over his last six starts.

Mason McTavish scored on a power play in the first period and again on a tip-in with 45 seconds left for the Ducks, who clinched their first spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2018 during an off night on Monday when Nashville lost to San Jose.

AVALANCHE 3 FLAMES 1

CALGARY, Alta. (AP) — Gabriel Landeskog scored the go-ahead goal at 15:07 of the third period to lead Colorado to a victory over Calgary.

The score was tied 1-1 in the final five minutes of the game when Cale Makar sent a pass across to Brett Kulak, whose shot deflected in off Landeskog in front.

Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan Mackinnon, with his league-leading 53rd goal into an empty net, also scored for Colorado (54-16-11). Makar, a Calgary native, was back in the Avalanche’s lineup after missing seven games with an upper-body injury. He assisted on all three goals.

Blake Coleman scored his 20th goal for Calgary (33-39-9). The Flames had their eight-game (7-0-1) home streak halted.

MAMMOTH 5 JETS 3

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Nick Schmaltz scored twice as Utah beat Winnipeg and secured the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Schmaltz scored his first goal for the Mammoth 4:54 into the second period on the power-play, assisted by Mikhail Sergachev and Dylan Guenther. He added a power-play goal 7:16 into the third, assisted by Logan Cooley and Clayton Keller.

JJ Peterka, Alexander Kerfoot and Cooley also scored for the Mammoth. Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves in the win for the Mammoth.

Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor had a goal and an assist and Isak Rosen also scored for the Jets. Gabriel Vilardi added two assists, and Eric Comrie had 31 saves for the Jets, who lost a third straight.

BLUES 7 PENGUINS 5

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jimmy Snuggerud scored twice and assisted on both of Dylan Holloway’s goals in the third period as the St. Louis rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first period despite resting most of its regular players, including Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, with the playoffs looming this weekend. The Blues surged ahead with five consecutive goals in a span of just over 20 minutes, with Holloway and Pavel Buchnevich scoring 44 seconds apart in the third period.

Holloway gave St. Louis its first lead 4:11 into the third on a wrister from the slot that went it in stick side against Arturs Silovs, who relieved Stuart Skinner for the third period and made seven saves. Buchnevich added a breakaway goal for his 19th of the season.

CANUCKS 4 KINGS 3 (OT)

VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) — Jake DeBrusk scored his second goal of the game in overtime and Vancouver beat Los Angeles.

DeBrusk collected a pass from centre Elias Pettersson and tapped a shot in to seal the victory 2:58 into the extra period.

Defenceman Elias Pettersson opened the scoring for the Canucks (25-48-8), and DeBrusk and Zeev Buium added goals in the second period. Centre Elias Pettersson had two assists. The Canucks won their third straight game for the first time since Dec. 14-20, when they took four straight road victories.

Kevin Lankinen stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced as Vancouver improved to 9-27-5 on home ice this season.

Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere each had a goal and an assist for the Kings (35-26-20). Adrian Kempe scored his 36th of the season and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves.