NHL News

Oettinger's best save came in overtime, when reached his stick back to stop Robert Thomas' elevated shot toward the open side of the net.

Mason Marchment scored the regulation goal for the Stars (52-21-9, 113 points), and Jason Robertson netted the shootout winner.

Thomas scored for the Blues (43-33-6, 92 points), and Jordan Binnington made 36 saves.

The contest was the regular-season finale for both teams. Dallas earned its 12th win in 14 games, while St. Louis ended its season on a 3-1-1 run.

Marchment tied the game 1-1 at 5:11 of the third period. Esa Lindell threw a point shot into heavy traffic, and Marchment converted the carom.

The Stars controlled the first 10 minutes of the first period while outshooting the Blues 8-1. Their best opportunities were Matt Duchene's rush up the right wing, which Binnington stopped, and Robertson's shot from the slot, which missed wide.

The Blues gained momentum later in the period and applied pressure with their power play. However, Oettinger dove to his right to stop Scott Perunovich's shot from the slot.

Dallas put 13 shots on goal in the second period, but Binnington stopped them all. He denied Wyatt Johnston's blast from the right wing on a two-on-one rush, then Miro Heiskanen's shot from the right faceoff dot.

Johnston led another two-on-one break and passed to Jamie Benn on right wing, but Benn shanked his one-time shot attempt.

Blues winger Brandon Saad had multiple scoring chances in the middle period, but Oettinger stopped his shots from the slot and right wing.

Thomas put the Blues up 1-0 with 2:41 left in the second. He took a drop pass from Zack Bolduc just inside the blue line, cut to the right circle and beat Oettinger over the goalie's right shoulder.

The Stars stepped up their pressure in the third period. Binnington gloved Robertson's power-play shot from the slot shot, then stopped Roope Hintz from the slot before Marchment's tying goal.

Holmstrom, Brock Nelson and Samuel Bolduc each had a goal and an assist, and Casey Cizikas and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Islanders, who finished the regular season 39-27-16. They begin a playoff series Saturday against Carolina.

New York goaltender Ilya Sorokin made 41 saves. Sorokin made a save on a penalty shot by Sidney Crosby with 29.5 seconds left.

Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist; Rickard Rakell, Valtteri Puustinen and Jeff Carter also scored; and Crosby and Michael Bunting each had two assists for the Penguins, who finished 38-32-12 after being eliminated from playoff contention a night earlier.

Pittsburgh goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 27 saves.

Nelson gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 4:56 of the first on a backdoor play set up by Holmstrom.

At 18:29 of the first, Rakell tied it for the Penguins on a blast from near the top of the left circle.

Malkin scored career goal No. 498 on a power play at 6:14 of the second for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead. A pass from Crosby went in off him. There was a review to ensure that Malkin did not kick the puck in.

At 7:05 of the second, Puustinen beat Sorokin on a short breakaway, but the Islanders successfully challenged that he was offside.

Cizikas tied it 2-2 at 13:19 of the second on a deflection of a shot by Alexander Romanov.

Puustinen got one that stood 1:18 later for a 3-2 Penguins' lead. He stole the puck in the slot and shot it over Sorokin's glove.

A power-play goal by Palmieri withstood a Penguins challenge with 15.5 seconds left in the second for another tie.

Bolduc got a power-play goal at 1:36 of the third for a 4-3 New York lead when his shot went in off Pittsburgh's Ryan Shea.

On a power play, Carter deflected the puck in at 10:56 of the third for a 4-all tie.

In the regular-season finale for both teams, Kucherov, who has 144 points (44 goals, 100 assists) also scored. He reached the century mark in helpers when he set up Brayden Point's goal at 17:05 of the second, a marker that lifted Tampa Bay to a 4-1 lead.

Wayne Gretzky (on 11 occasions), Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr and Connor McDavid are the only other players in NHL history to rack up 100 assists in a single season. McDavid joined that club here in 2023-24.

For the Lightning (45-29-8, 98 points), Nicholas Paul, Anthony Duclair and Brandon Hagel each had a goal and an assist. Tanner Jeannot also scored.

Steven Stamkos posted two assists and goaltender Matt Tomkins stopped 34 shots as Tampa Bay finished 25-11-5 at home.

Toronto (46-26-10, 102 points) got a goal apiece from Ryan Reaves, TJ Brodie, Pontus Holmberg and John Tavares, plus two assists from both David Kampf and Connor Dewar. Martin Jones made 26 saves, but the Leafs lost their fourth straight (0-3-1).

NHL goal leader Auston Matthews failed to reach the 70-goal plateau, finishing his incredible season with 69, as the Leafs ended 24-11-6 on the road.

Matthews registered a game-high 12 shots.

With the focus on Matthews and Kucherov, Duclair made the first fine play of the night when he saucered a diagonal pass to Paul, who chipped in his 24th tally of the season at 3:58 of the first period.

Kucherov got in on the action at 6:14 when he gathered his own rebound and popped in goal No. 44 past Jones for a 2-0 lead.

But the physical Reaves ripped a one-timer from above the right circle at 13:18, only the fourth time the winger has hit the back of the net this season.

Duclair scored his 24th marker at 6:37 of the second before Kucherov made history by feeding Point.

Hagel pushed the margin to 5-1 with his 26th tally at 17:57.

In the third, Jeannot, Brodie , Holmberg and Tavares all scored.

The Kings (43-27-11, 97 points) clinched a playoff berth for the third straight season a week ago and have split their two games since.

Los Angeles can still finish third in the Pacific Division if it can beat Chicago and the Vegas Golden Knights lose in any fashion to the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.

The third-place finisher in the Pacific will face the second-place Edmonton Oilers in the first round. A difficult team to beat, no doubt, but so are the Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks, who will play the two wild-card finishers in the Western Conference

"I don't think it matters who we play," Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson said. "Anyone that's making the postseason is a really good team. Whoever it is, we need to be ready to play."

The Kings weren't happy with their intensity in a 3-1 loss to the visiting Minnesota Wild on Monday. Their effort wasn't much better in a 3-1 win against the Ducks last Saturday.

"Sometimes, maybe, it's a relief you get in (the playoffs), but at the same time you can't be taking steps back," Anderson said. "We've got to keep building, because you don't get any time after the year to build your game up, you're jumping right into it. So, just making sure we're ready to go. We've got one more try at it before you need to be ready."

Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller isn't satisfied with how the Kings have played the past few games, but he's not concerned the lack of intensity will leak into the playoffs.

He'd like to see his players lock in on Chicago, just to get their minds off who they'll be facing in the first round of the playoffs.

"We're in a playoff race, that's the way I see it," Hiller said. "That can be the only way you approach it, because you've got to play, you've got to want to win every game and that's what you're doing and then you'll let the chips fall where they may. Different things can happen, who knows, but for us, the focus is on us."

The Kings outscored the Wild 13-3 in their first two meetings this season before losing Monday.

Los Angeles has had the same success against the Blackhawks through two games, outscoring them 11-2 when they met twice over four days in March.

The Blackhawks (23-53-5, 51 points) went 7-7-0 in March, but haven't been as consistent in April, dropping their past five games in regulation.

Chicago most recently lost 3-1 in Las Vegas on Tuesday, allowing the Golden Knights to overtake the Kings for third place.

One of the bright spots in the loss against Vegas was the play of center Frank Nazar, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft who was playing in his second NHL game.

"(Nazar) understands his position as a centerman, especially in the defensive zone (when) we're breaking the puck out," Chicago defenseman Seth Jones said. "He's got a lot of speed. He took a couple big hits he didn't need to take on the rush, just holding it a little bit longer than he should've."

Vegas (45-28-8, 98 points) enters the contest with a one-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings (43-27-11, 97 points) for third place in the Pacific Division.

A win over the Ducks and the Golden Knights can pack their bags for a Western Conference first-round playoff matchup against Connor McDavid and the second-place Edmonton Oilers. A loss and either a Los Angeles win or an overtime loss to visiting Chicago will drop Vegas into the second wild-card spot and an opening-round playoff series at Central Division winner Dallas because the Kings hold the regulation-wins tiebreaker.

Either way, the Golden Knights are looking forward to getting a chance to defend their title.

"The best time of the year is coming," center Nicolas Roy said after sealing a 3-1 victory over Chicago on Tuesday with an empty-net goal. "We're trying to get our game in the best spot possible. I don't think it was our best game tonight, but I think defensively we did a great job, enough to win. There's a great mood around the team, for sure."

Vegas brings a three-game winning streak into the contest with Anaheim and has won six in a row at T-Mobile Arena. A win over the Ducks would give them 100 points for the second straight season and for the third time in the franchise's seven seasons.

"I think guys are feeling good about our game," said forward Michael Amadio, who scored the game-winner against the Blackhawks. "It shows obviously with three straight wins. I think it's about consistency and bringing the same game every night."

Anaheim (26-50-5, 57 points) will finish seventh in the Pacific Division, one spot higher than in 2022-23. The Ducks, who are just 2-7-2 in their past 11 games and have lost two in a row, have had a four-day layoff since losing 3-1 at Los Angeles on Saturday.

"It's one game left and it can be easy to maybe check out," forward Troy Terry said, according to The Sporting Tribune. "But just making sure we feel good about how we ended and getting ready for that game and making sure we're going out there and competing."

One Ducks player who shouldn't have any trouble getting fired up to play is forward Cutter Gauthier, who will be making his NHL debut after signing a three-year entry-level contract on Sunday.

The 20-year-old Gauthier, obtained in a Jan. 8 trade from the Philadelphia Flyers for defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a 2025 second-round pick, was the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. He scored 38 goals for Frozen Four finalist Boston College, including an NCAA-best 10 game-winning goals, and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, which goes to the nation's top collegiate player.

"I'm pretty pumped," said Gauthier, who practiced on Tuesday and Wednesday with the Ducks. "It's been a dream for my whole life. Just getting here I've gotten chills, getting into the airport and meeting all the guys. It's been a real cool experience so far. I can't wait until Thursday comes."

Minnesota (39-32-10, 87 points) is facing a long offseason after missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign. The Wild have continued to play hard despite being eliminated from postseason contention, coming off back-to-back wins over the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings.

Meanwhile, Seattle (33-35-13, 79 points) also hopes to end its season on a positive note even though it will not compete in the playoffs. The Kraken have dropped four straight against the Sharks, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues and Winnipeg Jets.

Kraken rookie Tye Kartye said he and his teammates have to play with maximum effort in their season finale. Kartye, 22, has 10 goals and nine assists in 76 games.

"We've got to just keep playing for each other," Kartye said. "Obviously, every game matters. It doesn't matter what game it is. It's important to us, so we want to just try and fight back. We did (in our last game), but we just fell a little bit short."

Seattle will face Wild veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

The 39-year-old Fleury was set to become a free agent this offseason, with questions swirling around about his future in recent weeks. Fleury and the team put an end to those questions when the netminder signed a one-year, $2.5 million extension for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday.

Fleury is 17-14-5 with a 2.98 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage in 39 games (35 starts) this season. He ranks second all-time with 561 career victories, and he is one of only four goaltenders to appear in at least 1,000 games.

"All good stuff. All cool," Fleury said. "But at the same time, though, I've always played not for me, not for my stats. It's about winning, and it's disappointing to miss (the) playoffs. That's the one thing that's top of my mind first about this year is missing it.

"It's the best time of year, right? You want to battle in the playoffs every year, and that's always the goal. So that's what's tough about it."

Fleury has faced the Kraken seven times in his career. He is 5-1-1 with a 1.98 GAA and a .935 save percentage in those contests.

Seattle could turn to Joey Daccord (18-18-11, 2.45 GAA) or Philipp Grubauer (14-16-2, 2.85 GAA) in net.

Daccord has faced Minnesota twice in his career. He is 0-2-0 with a 4.52 GAA and a .842 save percentage in those games.

Grubauer has gone up against the Wild 17 times. He is 9-7-0 with a 2.95 GAA and a .894 save percentage.

This is the third meeting between the teams this season. The Wild won the first two contests on the road -- a 3-0 win on Dec. 10 and a 5-2 victory on Feb. 24.

Kraken forward Jared McCann needs one more goal to reach 30. The ninth-year veteran has surpassed that mark once in his career, when he scored 40 last season.

Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov will look to add to another impressive statistical campaign. Kaprizov leads the team with 95 points (45 goals, 50 assists) in 74 games.

"We support Ryan's decision to return to one of the best programs in the nation to continue his development," Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said in a statement Wednesday. "Ryan showed great leadership and made tremendous progress during his first year, which saw him score the most goals by a freshman in Boston College program history and the third-most goals in the NCAA.

"We will continue to monitor his development and progress next year and look forward to watching Ryan build upon his successful freshman season."

After the Capitals selected him with the No. 8 pick of the 2023 draft, Leonard helped Boston College reach the Frozen Four, posting 60 points (31 goals, 29 assists) in 41 games.

Both squads fell well short of reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs -- it's the second consecutive year without a postseason for Calgary and the fifth straight for the Sharks.

"It's on us as players to remember this feeling. ... You've got to be better, you've got to learn, you've got to adapt, you've got to grow," Sharks forward Luke Kunin told The Mercury News. "Hopefully our young guys that are going through this, they don't like this taste either. I know they don't like the feeling or the taste, and hopefully, we can get out of it together."

The Sharks, who suffered a 9-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers in their penultimate game, will finish at the bottom of the league standings and have the best odds for the No. 1 pick in this summer's draft.

San Jose (19-53-9, 47 points), which opened the season with 11 straight losses (0-10-1), can take solace in the fact that it will be adding more young talent to a group that went through a massive rebuild.

"We're in the middle of something that is going well, despite the results we're getting right now," Sharks coach David Quinn said. "I've said this repeatedly, we're in a much better position to get better, quicker than we were two years ago. Just look at all the players that we've traded and got rid of over the last two years so we can get better and be consistently good, competing for Stanley Cups.

"Unfortunately, this is what you have to suffer though."

San Jose forward Mikael Granlund heads into the finale riding a career-best-tying 12-game point streak in which he has recorded two goals and 12 assists.

The Flames are learning what a roster rebuild looks like. In the past year, they traded away five key veteran players who were pending unrestricted free agents. At the March 8 trade deadline, Calgary was within striking distance of a playoff spot, but it heads into the last game of the season with only six victories in the past 19 games.

The Flames (37-39-5, 79 points) sit 24th overall and are a good bet -- depending on how the lottery works out for them -- to draft in the top 10 for the first time since 2016.

Through the struggles, the Flames have consistently shown plenty of effort, but they have not seen results. A prime example is their 4-1 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, a game in which Calgary outshot the Pacific Division regular-season champions by a 40-31 margin.

"I liked the effort. Not the result," Flames coach Ryan Huska said. "But the effort was there for us for, I felt, the full 60 minutes. We made three mistakes coming back into our own zone off the rush; we lost people. And then one turnover, but other than those mistakes, I liked what we did."

The lone Calgary goal was scored by defenseman Brayden Pachal, who was claimed off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights in February.

"It definitely feels good," Pachal said. "Obviously, you wish it would have sparked a little bit of a comeback, but we fell a bit short. Still feels nice, but would've felt a lot sweeter with a win."

Both teams are locked into their divisional positioning heading into the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Canucks are secure at the top of the Pacific while the Jets are set in stone in the second spot in the Central.

Winnipeg knows it holds home-ice advantage when the Jets welcome the Colorado Avalanche to town for Game 1 of their first-round series, but things remain up in the air for the Canucks.

Vancouver (50-22-9, 109 points) could play either Nashville, Los Angeles or Vegas, depending on a number of factors as third place in the Pacific and the final wild-card spot could still see some shifting. As well, if the Stars fail to earn a point Wednesday night hosting the Blues, first place in the Western Conference could be up for grabs.

"Honestly, I'm just happy the guys won the Pacific Division," Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said after Tuesday's win over Calgary that sealed the title. "The guys did a (heck) of a job all year. Let's face it, nobody really picked us to win the division, so you've got to give the players a lot of credit. ... I think they're ready for the next part of this journey."

The Canucks are also pleased to see the return of netminder Thatcher Demko.

He played Tuesday in his first game back since March 9 and looked solid, particularly in the second and third periods against the Flames.

"I feel pretty good. Definitely some stuff that I want to clean up, but I think the important thing is just getting back and seeing some game action," said Demko after stopping 39 shots. "Getting the win was great ... and clinching the division was great, so a lot of really good positives to take away."

The Jets (51-24-6, 108 points) will head into Thursday night on a seven-game winning streak, seemingly peaking at the right time. Winnipeg is undefeated in April, outscoring its opponents 31-13.

"We kind of found ourselves an identity ... this last month and shown what it takes to win," said Jets forward Kyle Connor on how the team was able to turn a six-game winless slide at the end of March into a red-hot run.

"We took a deep look at our game and what was working and what wasn't working ... everyone looked themselves in the mirror at the point and realized we needed better from everybody."

The Jets are taking a blue-collar approach to their final game of the season.

When asked how close he feels their game is at, Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers said, "Very close. ... We got it done and that's what's important ... no matter how close we get it's never going to be perfect and we've got to keep working on our game."

Jets winger Morgan Barron left Tuesday's win over Seattle and did not return. He's listed as questionable, and the team is expected to provide an update on their scrappy fourth-liner ahead of Thursday's contest.

The team announced the deal Wednesday, one day before its season finale against the visiting Seattle Kraken.

Fleury is 17-14-5 with two shutouts, a 2.98 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage in 39 games (35 starts) this season, his 20th in the NHL.

He is 561-329-96 with 75 shutouts, a 2.60 GAA and .912 save percentage in 1,024 games (863 starts) with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2003-17), Vegas Golden Knights (2017-21), Chicago Blackhawks (2021-22) and Wild (2022-24).

Fleury, who turns 40 in November, won three Stanley Cup championships with Pittsburgh (2009, 2016, 2017) and earned the 2020-21 Vezina Trophy with Vegas.

The Penguins drafted the Quebec native with the No. 1 overall pick in 2003.

St. Louis, 48, guided the Canadiens to a 30-36-16 record this season, resulting in the third consecutive campaign in which the team failed to qualify for the playoffs since reaching the 2021 Stanley Cup Final. He is 75-100-26 since replacing Dominique Ducharme on Feb. 9, 2022.

"Every day he proves something else," Canadiens executive vice president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton said of St. Louis. "There's not a day that goes by we're not happy he's at the helm."

A Stanley Cup champion as a forward with Tampa Bay, St. Louis totaled 1,033 points (391 goals, 642 assists) in 1,134 career games with the Calgary Flames, Lightning and New York Rangers. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018.

In doing so, the two Atlantic Division clubs will meet for the fourth time in their season finale in Tampa, Fla.

The Maple Leafs (46-25-10, 102 points) hold a 2-1 advantage against the Lightning this season after recording pair of overtime wins in the first two matchups and losing most recently in regulation on April 3.

But after Tuesday night's 5-2 loss against the Florida Panthers, Toronto saw its playoff destiny change.

With the Boston Bruins needing to win or come away with two points in their two most recent games -- either at the Washington Capitals or home against the Ottawa Senators -- a Toronto-Florida first-round matchup seemed inevitable.

However, an anemic Boston offense scored just one goal in the two matches and lost both in regulation.

Meanwhile, Florida's four-goal second period erased Toronto's 2-0 early lead on Tuesday.

The ensuing win by the Panthers earned them a second Atlantic Division title in three seasons and a first-round date with the in-state rival Lightning.

For the Leafs, it's off to Beantown to open the postseason in an Original Six matchup.

Mitch Marner and Noah Gregor each scored a goal on Tuesday for Toronto, leaving Auston Matthews stuck on 69 goals.

Naturally, Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe was faced with the subject of taking his club's health into consideration and the prospect of Matthews hitting the 70-goal mark in Tampa.

"We want to get out of the game healthy, which it looks like we did here tonight," Keefe said after the Leafs lost their third straight game (0-2-1). "To that end, it's a successful night."

So, will Matthews play against the Lightning?

"We'll talk about it. We have 12 healthy forwards," Keefe said.

The Lightning (44-29-8, 96 points) have one game left to get back to the little things that made them successful this season.

In a rather meaningless game against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday, more attention was placed on captain Steven Stamkos reaching a milestone goal and Nikita Kucherov padding his lead in the Art Ross Trophy race.

Both players achieved those personal accomplishments, but Tampa Bay lost on the scoreboard 4-2. The setback marked the Lightning's third defeat in four games (1-1-2) at the hands of the disappointing Sabres, who fired coach Don Granato Tuesday.

Stamkos scored the 40th goal of his career for the seventh time in his 16 seasons.

Meanwhile, Kucherov assisted on the captain's goal, giving him 142 points, four ahead of Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon. Each player has one game remaining in the regular season.

Kucherov, who has 43 goals and 99 assists, won the Art Ross Trophy, awarded to the league's top point producer, in the 2018-19 campaign.

But for a game that meant nothing in playoff seeding, the Lightning lost a key player in Luke Glendening -- a grinding center who excels in the circle -- and slipped into some turnover-ridden bad habits.

"Just sloppy, sloppy, sloppy," Stamkos said after his squad lost for the third straight time (0-2-1). "Not much too look at that was good tonight. We've got one game left to do the little things right. It just wasn't great."

The Lightning played their second straight match without bottom-six winger Tyler Motte, who is out with a lower-body injury.

The Islanders (38-27-16, 92 points) clinched both a playoff spot and third place in the Metropolitan Division on Monday with a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. They will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of Stanley Cup playoffs.

That can't change regardless of the result of Wednesday's game.

The Penguins (38-31-12, 88 points) kept their playoff hopes alive with a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Monday but needed Washington to lose to Philadelphia and Detroit to fall to Montreal on Tuesday to avoid elimination. Instead, both of those teams won tight games, and the Capitals claimed the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

That negated a strong push by Pittsburgh, which was 10 points out of a playoff spot in early March and emotionally hit hard when the team traded away top-line winger Jake Guentzel.

The Penguins have posted an 8-1-2 surge record in their last 11 games.

"Given the position we were in a few weeks ago, I think we would have taken this opportunity," captain Sidney Crosby said before the team sweated out Tuesday's results involving other teams. He has nine goals and 14 assists during his last 12 games.

It turned out that push was too little, too late.

"If we play like this all year, probably, we clinch the playoffs," Penguins center Evgeni Malkin said. "We have great potential here. We know that. But we started a little bit late, probably. But again, it's fun to play with these guys the last three weeks after the trade deadline.

"We trade (Guentzel), everybody probably said, 'They have zero chance' (but) everybody plays amazing."

It's unclear how New York will approach Wednesday's game. While it could serve as a tune-up for the series against the Hurricanes, the team also could opt to use its top players sparingly or even sit out a couple for rest purposes.

It's possible the Islanders' heads will be elsewhere, considering their reaction Monday to their drive to get into the postseason. The win against New Jersey gave them an eight-game point streak (7-0-1).

There was relief and talk of resilience after a streaky season when the team -- like Pittsburgh -- was out of the playoff picture at several junctures and struggling to find consistency.

"The amount of times that we were told we were down and out and toast is probably the most I've seen in a year," New York forward Cal Clutterbuck said. "But we were never down and out."

That could set up a letdown against Pittsburgh. Then again, New York might be wary of losing its momentum while playing a meaningless regular-season finale.

"The whole goal is to be playing your best hockey at the right time, and we're putting things together here to continue to build off a foundation that's putting ourselves in position every night to win," Islanders winger and captain Anders Lee said.

"I think now you're seeing that night in and night out, that full 60-minute type hockey game. Whether it's the power play one night or the penalty kill one night, (goalies Semyon) Varlamov or (Ilya) Sorokin, everyone's chipping in."

Trailing the Capitals by two points, the Flyers needed to win in regulation to keep their playoff chances alive, so Philadelphia coach John Tortorella pulled goalie Samuel Ersson with 3:10 remaining in a 1-1 game. Seconds later, Oshie skated in along the right boards and shot into the empty net.

The Capitals completed the season with a third consecutive win to grab the No. 2 wild card in the Eastern Conference. They missed the postseason in 2022-23 after a streak of eight straight playoff campaigns.

The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in a shootout on Tuesday to finish tied with the Capitals with 91 points, but Washington won the regulation-wins tiebreaker 32-27 to take the spot.

Panthers 5, Maple Leafs 2

Florida rallied to defeat Toronto in Sunrise, Fla., jumping the Boston Bruins in the standings to win the Atlantic Division title.

The Panthers got goals from Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour in the second period. Reinhart added an empty-net goal, giving him 57 tallies for the season -- second in the league.

Mitch Marner and Noah Gregor scored for Toronto. Florida's Anthony Stolarz (24 saves) beat Joseph Woll (37 saves) in a battle between backup goalies.

Canucks 4, Flames 1

Thatcher Demko was superb in his return from a 14-game absence caused by a knee injury, making 39 saves as Vancouver clinched the Pacific Division title with a convincing win over visiting Calgary.

Tyler Myers had a goal and an assist while Dakota Joshua, J.T. Miller and Nils Hoglander also scored for the playoff-bound Canucks, who are division champs for the first time in 11 years.

Brayden Pachal had the only marker for the Flames, while goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves.

Golden Knights 3, Blackhawks 1

Logan Thompson made 22 saves as Vegas moved into third place in the Pacific Division with a victory over visiting Chicago.

Brayden McNabb, Michael Amadio and Nicolas Roy scored for Vegas, which moved one point ahead of the idle Los Angeles Kings into third with one game remaining for both teams.

Vegas finishes the regular season on Thursday against the visiting Anaheim Ducks, while Los Angeles hosts Chicago. The Kings, who were idle on Tuesday while dropping into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, hold the regulation-wins tiebreaker.

Red Wings 5, Canadiens 4 (SO)

Patrick Kane scored the only goal of the shootout as visiting Detroit beat Montreal but still failed to reach the postseason for the eighth consecutive season.

The Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention moments earlier by virtue of Washington's victory over Philadelphia. Detroit's David Perron scored with under five seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Moritz Seider, Joe Veleno and Daniel Sprong scored the other goals for the Red Wings, while James Reimer made 29 saves.

Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Alex Newhook, Brendan Gallagher and Cole Caufield also scored, while Cayden Primeau stopped 36 shots.

Jets 4, Kraken 3

Kyle Connor scored twice as Winnipeg won its seventh game in a row, defeating visiting Seattle and ensuring home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

The victory gave the Jets 108 points, three more than the Colorado Avalanche with each team down to one game remaining. That gives Winnipeg second place in the Central Division and Colorado third. The Dallas Stars already have clinched the division.

Jets forwards Tyler Toffoli and Nikolaj Ehlers each had a goal and an assist, while Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk each had two assists. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves.

Blue Jackets 6, Hurricanes 3

Zach Werenski scored twice and added two assists as Columbus doubled up visiting Carolina.

Luca Del Bel Belluz, James Malatesta, Johnny Gaudreau and Alex Nylander also scored for the Blue Jackets, who wrapped up their season by snapping a four-game losing streak. Mathieu Olivier and Erik Gudbranson each added two assists and Jet Greaves made 38 saves.

Teuvo Teravainen scored twice and Jesperi Kotkaniemi added the other goal for Carolina, who were resting many regulars with their playoff fate already determined. Brent Burns and Stefan Nosen had two assists apiece in the loss. Spencer Martin stopped 19 shots for the Hurricanes, who saw their five-game winning streak end.

Senators 3, Bruins 1

Jiri Smejkal and Jakob Chychrun scored second-period goals to propel Ottawa to a win over host Boston, knocking the Bruins out of first place in the Atlantic Division as the regular season ended.

Pavel Zacha scored and Linus Ullmark made 17 saves for the Bruins, who lost for the third time in four games and wound up in second place behind Florida.

Smejkal collected his first NHL goal while Artem Zub also scored for the Senators. Ottawa goaltender Anton Forsberg was a rock, making a whopping 22 of his 34 saves in the third period.

Bettman, speaking Tuesday at the CAA World Congress of Sports in Los Angeles, merely lamented the franchise's arena difficulties in the Phoenix area.

Earlier this month, Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo unveiled a plan to buy a 110-acre site in Phoenix and build a privately funded arena.

However, last week numerous media outlets reported that the franchise was set to be sold ahead of a move to Utah. The NHL's executive committee approved the team's move on Monday, according to Sportico.

The Coyotes are about to conclude their second season of playing home games at 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Ariz.

Bettman said Tuesday, according to Sports Business Journal, that Meruelo's new arena likely would need three to five years to be up and running, while the Coyotes were pointing at a three-year timeline.

"We're exploring options as to how to deal with (the arena situation) because, particularly for the players, it isn't an ideal circumstance," Bettman said, per SBJ. "I know there's a lot of rumors and speculation and, when we have something to announce, we'll do it. But we are exploring our options."

The league is set to buy the team from Meruelo for $1 billion before reselling it to Utah Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith for $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion, according to SBJ. The portion above $1 billion would be split among the other teams as a relocation fee, per the report. Meruelo also reportedly would be given a chance to buy an expansion team when the Phoenix arena is in place.

Tuesday marked the final home game of the regular season for the Canucks (50-22-9, 109 points), who needed just one point to be crowned division champs for the first time in 11 years. Vancouver won the Northwest Division back in 2013.

Demko had not played since March 9 due to a knee injury.

Tyler Myers had a goal and an assist while Dakota Joshua, J.T. Miller and Nils Hoglander also scored for the playoff-bound Canucks, who won 50 games in a single season for the first time since 2011-12.

Vancouver was able to cool off a Flames offense that had averaged four goals over its previous four games. But on Tuesday, Brayden Pachal had the only marker for Calgary (37-39-5, 79 points), while goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 27 saves.

The Canucks started quickly, scoring twice in an 88-second span of the first period to take a 2-0 lead.

Myers opened the scoring with a short-handed goal at the 12-minute mark. He raced down the right wing and took a perfect pass from Teddy Blueger before beating Markstrom blocker side for his fifth goal of the season.

Myers' goal came just moments after former Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko rang a shot off the post.

Hoglander then scored his 24th marker of the season by finishing off a two-on-one rush with Elias Pettersson at 13:28 of the first.

Joshua extended the lead to 3-0 at 1:58 of the second period, mimicking Myers by putting a shot home blocker side on Markstrom.

Pachal scored on a wrist shot from the slot at 10:56 of the third to cut the Canucks' lead to 3-1.

Miller added an insurance goal at 15:02.

Brayden McNabb, Michael Amadio and Nicolas Roy scored for Vegas (45-28-8, 98 points), which moved move one point ahead of the idle Los Angeles Kings (43-27-11, 97 points) into third with one game remaining for both teams.

Vegas finishes the regular season on Thursday against the visiting Anaheim Ducks, while Los Angeles hosts Chicago on Thursday. The Kings, who were idle on Tuesday while dropping into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, hold the regulation-wins tiebreaker.

The Golden Knights posted their third win in a row.

Jason Dickinson scored for Chicago, which took its fifth straight loss. Petr Mrazek stopped 34 of 36 shots for the Blackhawks, who fell to an NHL-worst 7-32-1 on the road.

Chicago had a chance to take the lead early in the second period when center Frank Nazar, appearing in just his second NHL game after playing for Michigan in the Frozen Four last week, broke down the slot on a partial breakaway, but McNabb poked the puck away before he could get a shot off.

The Golden Knights took a 1-0 at 16:25 of the second period. McNabb collected the rebound of a Tomas Hertl shot, spun and shot the puck inside the left post for his fourth goal of the season and first in the past 17 games.

Amadio extended the lead to 2-0 at 7:13 of the third period when he rushed up the right wing after blocking a shot and roofed a shot past Mrazek's glove side for his 14th goal.

The Blackhawks cut the deficit to 2-1 with 3:58 remaining when Dickinson scored his 22nd goal during a goalmouth scrum, putting in a rebound of a Connor Bedard shot that bounced in off the stick of Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin.

Chicago pulled Mrazek for an extra attacker with two minutes remaining, and Roy sealed the win for the Golden Knights with an empty-netter with 1:36 to go.

The victory guaranteed the Jets (51-24-6, 108 points) home-ice advantage in their first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche (49-25-7, 105 points).

Jets forwards Tyler Toffoli and Nikolaj Ehlers both had a goal and an assist, while Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey and Neal Pionk each had two assists. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves for the win.

Yanni Gourde had a goal and an assist for Seattle (33-35-13, 79 points). Tomas Tatar and Tye Kartye also scored, and Philipp Grubauer stopped 20 shots.

The score was 3-3 before Winnipeg got the winner just past the midway point of the third period.

On a power play, Toffoli reeled in a pass from Ehlers, stickhandled in the slot and scored on a backhand attempt to put Winnipeg ahead for good with 8:20 remaining.

The Jets opened the scoring at 10:33 of the first period when Scheifele sent a backhand pass to Connor, who wristed the puck into the net.

Off a rush, Seattle responded with a quick chip pass from Bellemare to Tatar that allowed Tatar to cut into the middle of the ice and shoot and score to even the game at 1-1 with 1:22 left in the first period.

The Jets went on top again with six seconds left in the first. Connor netted his second of the game from the same spot as his first at the edge of the circle.

Winnipeg grew the lead to 3-1 at 2:30 in the second. Jaden Schwartz attempted to clear a Toffoli shot on net that arced over Grubauer and landed in the crease, but it was swept in by Ehlers.

Just 2:41 later, the Kraken got back within one. Using more traffic in front, Gourde deflected in a point shot from Evans that was going wide.

With 1:47 remaining in the middle frame, a series of Winnipeg turnovers led to Gourde and Kartye both being left alone in front, and Kartye put the puck into the roof of the net for a 3-3 tie.

Florida (52-24-6, 110 points) jumped the Boston Bruins in the standings to win the Atlantic Division title. The Bruins lost to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

That means Florida's first-round playoff matchup will be against the Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of the first wild card. Third-place Toronto (46-25-10, 102 points) will play Boston.

The Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews, who is trying to become just the ninth 70-goal scorer in NHL history, did not score. He is expected to get one more shot on Wednesday when Toronto plays its regular-season finale at Tampa Bay.

On Tuesday, Matthews had several near scores before his eight-game goal streak was snapped.

Florida, which trailed 2-0 after the first period, scored four times in the second, putting 29 shots on goal. Toronto, meanwhile, had just four shots on goal in the period.

The Panthers got goals from Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Brandon Montour in that second period.

Reinhart added an empty-net goal, giving him 57 tallies for the season -- second in the league to Matthews.

Verhaeghe, after a six-game injury absence, scored his 34th goal, which is second on the team.

Mitch Marner and Noah Gregor scored for Toronto.

Florida's Anthony Stolarz (24 saves) beat Joseph Woll (37 saves) in a battle between backup goalies.

Toronto, which had a 14-6 advantage on shots on net in the first period, opened the scoring just 3:25 into the game.

After Gustav Forsling was called for cross-checking Tyler Bertuzzi, Marner's shot from above the right circle handcuffed Stolarz glove-side.

The Leafs made it 2-0 on Gregor's first goal in 34 games. Shooting from the same spot as Marner, Gregor's shot went in with the help of Pontus Holmberg's screen.

Florida's second-period barrage started just 28 seconds in on Verhaeghe's rebound off his own shot.

The Panthers tied the score 10 minutes later. Forsling played Matthew Tkachuk's cross-ice pass off the boards. Forsling's shot was then tipped in by Bennett, who was in motion.

Ten seconds later, the Panthers took a 3-2 lead on Reinhart's rebound off Aleksander Barkov's drive to the net.

Montour capped the onslaught with his knuckling drive from the point. That capped a 26-second Panthers possession that featured four shots on goal.

Reinhart's empty-netter came with 2:20 left.

Trailing the Capitals by two points, the Flyers needed to win in regulation to keep their playoff chances alive, so Philadelphia coach John Tortorella pulled goalie Samuel Ersson with 3:10 remaining in a 1-1 game. Seconds later, Oshie skated in along the right boards and shot into the empty net.

The Capitals (40-31-11, 91 points) completed the regular season with a third consecutive win to seal their playoff berth. They missed the postseason in 2022-23 after a streak of eight straight playoff campaigns. Washington has made the playoffs in 15 of the past 17 seasons.

Alex Ovechkin scored for the Capitals, and Charlie Lindgren made 27 saves.

Erik Johnson scored for the Flyers (38-33-11, 87 points) who had won two straight after an 0-6-2 stretch. Ersson made 16 saves.

The Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-4 in a shootout on Tuesday to finish tied with the Capitals in points, but Washington won the regulation-wins tiebreaker 32-27.

The Flyers nearly took a 1-0 lead at 8:17 of the first period. A shot by Joel Farabee hit Lindgren and deflected high into the air. The officials, apparently thinking Lindgren caught the puck, blew the whistle before the puck landed behind Lindgren in the crease and deflected in off Farabee.

After a lengthy review, it was ruled that the play was dead -- and not a continuous play from the initial shot -- as the puck hit a player before going into the net.

The Capitals took a 1-0 lead at 18:08 of the first. Dylan McIlrath shot the puck on net from along the right boards, and it deflected in off Ovechkin, who was credited with his 13th goal in the past 17 games.

Johnson tied it at 12:29 of the second period when Egor Zamula's shot deflected off him in front of the crease and past Lindgren.

Lindgren robbed Travis Konecny with his left pad on a rebound chance with about 2:10 left in the middle period.

The Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention moments earlier by virtue of Washington's victory over Philadelphia. The Capitals won the tiebreaker for the final wild-card berth over Detroit by virtue of more regulation victories.

The Red Wings (41-32-9, 91 points) failed to reach the postseason for the eighth consecutive season.

Detroit's David Perron scored with fewer than five seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Moritz Seider, Joe Veleno and Daniel Sprong scored the other goals for the Red Wings, while James Reimer made 29 saves in the win.

Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (30-36-16, 76 points). Alex Newhook, Brendan Gallagher and Cole Caufield also scored, while Cayden Primeau stopped 36 shots.

Montreal took the lead at 11:32 of the first period. Newhook scored his 15th goal off a Gallagher feed during a two-on-one rush.

Seider knotted the score with 1:31 remaining in the period. He took a slap shot from the point that whistled past Primeau.

The Canadiens regained the lead at 6:17 of the second period. Joel Armia brought the puck in along the right side and cut to the net. His shot trickled past Reimer and Gallagher tapped it in for his 16th goal. Jayden Struble picked up the second assist.

Four minutes later, Caufield banged in a rebound of a Slafkovsky shot to make it 3-1. Nick Suzuki also assisted on Caufield's 28th goal.

Veleno scored off a rebound 36 seconds later, his 12th goal. The score came after Shayne Gostisbehere's shot. Sprong picked up the second assist.

Sprong tied it at 3:31 of the third period with his 18th goal. His shot from the right side squirted off Primeau's leg and into the net.

Slafkovsky scored his 20th goal with 7:14 remaining on a tip-in off a shot by rookie Lane Hutson to give Montreal a 4-3 lead. David Savard collected the second assist.

After Dylan Larkin won a faceoff, Perron ripped a slapshot from the point for the tying goal. It was Perron's 17th goal with Gostisbehere getting an assist.

Luca Del Bel Belluz, James Malatesta, Johnny Gaudreau and Alex Nylander also scored for the Blue Jackets (27-43-12, 66 points), who wrapped up their season by snapping a four-game losing streak. Mathieu Olivier and Erik Gudbranson each added two assists and Jet Greaves made 38 saves.

Teuvo Teravainen scored twice and Jesperi Kotkaniemi added the other goal for Carolina (52-23-7, 111 points), who were resting many regulars with their playoff fate already determined. Brent Burns and Stefan Nosen had two assists apiece in the loss.

Spencer Martin stopped 19 shots for the Hurricanes, who saw their five-game win streak end.

Nylander picked up a rebound off the end boards and beat an out-of-position Martin 47 seconds into the third, giving the Jackets a 5-3 lead.

Werenski doubled the Blue Jackets' lead, beating Martin high glove side with 39 seconds remaining.

Columbus jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.

Del Bel Belluz opened the scoring in his NHL debut, beating Martin with a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle at 3:37 for his first career goal. Del Bel Belluz was recalled from AHL affiliate Cleveland on Tuesday.

Werenski doubled Columbus' lead by putting in the rebound off Kirill Marchenko's shot at 5:24 of the first period.

The Hurricanes responded with a pair of their own. Kotkaniemi got Carolina on the board at 7:10, snapping a rolling puck short side past Greaves.

Teravainen tied it 2-2 with 1:44 remaining in the first when he one-timed a pass from Kotkaniemi.

Malatesta restored Columbus' lead, jamming in a loose puck in the crease with 59 seconds remaining in the period.

The two teams exchanged second-period goals. Teravainen tied it 3-3 on a power play, snapping a shot past Greaves from the faceoff dot at 10:16 of the second period.

Gaudreau gave Columbus a 4-3 lead with a wraparound past Martin at 12:18 of the middle frame.

Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast left the game after taking a hit from Gudbranson early in the second period and did not return.

Ottawa (37-41-4, 78 points) posted its third win in four games to end the season.

Smejkal collected his first NHL goal while Anton Zub also scored for the Senators. Ottawa goalie Anton Forsberg was a rock, making a whopping 22 of his 34 saves in the third period.

An assist on Chychrun's goal gave Brady Tkachuk his 349th point with the Senators, moving him past Mike Fisher for ninth on the franchise's all-time list.

Boston (47-20-15, 109 points) got a third-period goal from Pavel Zacha but lost control of its own destiny in the Atlantic Division title race following a second defeat in as many games.

Linus Ullmark made 17 saves for Boston, which closed the regular season by losing three of the final four games.

The Bruins had a 35-20 shot advantage.

After limiting Boston to three first-period shots, Ottawa officially took control with two goals in a 51-second span just past the midway mark of the game.

Smejkal broke the scoreless deadlock at 10:03 of the second period, taking Erik Brannstrom's feed from the top of the circles and sliding a shot five-hole on Ullmark from the left dot. The puck was confirmed to have crossed the goal line following a video review.

The Senators made it 2-0 at 10:54. Chychrun buried another shot from the left circle after a loose puck in the neutral zone turned into Drake Batherson and Tkachuk making a pretty passing connection during a three-on-two break.

Forsberg was equal to the task of Boston's immediate pressure to begin the third period, stopping a Zacha one-timer and making a following glove save on Jake DeBrusk within the opening couple of minutes.

Boston didn't draw its first power play until the 12:03 mark of the third, and Zacha took advantage 41 seconds in when he potted the rebound of a Kevin Shattenkirk point shot with a backhander at the right crease.

Forsberg made multiple key saves during a late four-on-four, including robbing Charlie McAvoy on a point-blank shot after DeBrusk's feed to the back post with 4:34 left.

The Senators netminder also backed a penalty kill in the final four minutes, which resulted in Zub's short-handed empty-netter off a David Pastrnak turnover with 1:48 to go.

The Coyotes (35-41-5, 75 points) will not only conclude the season with Wednesday's home clash against the Edmonton Oilers in Tempe, Ariz., but it appears the end of an era.

An announcement is expected soon that the Coyotes will move to Salt Lake City next season. The franchise relocated to Phoenix from Winnipeg in 1996 and played in three different arenas in the area while struggling to make an impact.

"We want to play our last game with class, with respect and give the best effort that crowd can expect," Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said after Tuesday's practice. "We want to make sure we are remembered as a group who fought with every last ounce we have in our body."

Arizona heads into the finale with victories four of its last six games, although it is coming off a 6-5 road loss to the Calgary Flames on Sunday.

The franchise has a bright future with a bevy of young, talented players. However, the relocation appears to have become a necessity after two seasons in the 5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the Arizona State University campus while ownership failed to close a deal for a new venue in Tempe.

There always is a possibility an expansion team will bring the NHL back to the desert, with efforts in the works for a new facility in nearby Scottsdale.

For the players, the concern is to leave on a positive note for the fans who have supported the team.

"Arizona is home for me, and the eight years I've been here, they've been great supporting us through the ups and downs," Arizona forward Lawson Crouse said, according to The Hockey News. "They mean so much to not only myself but all of my teammates."

The Oilers, second in the Pacific Division, are kicking off a two-game road trip to conclude the regular season. Edmonton (49-25-6, 104 points) arrives in Arizona after crushing the last-place San Jose Sharks 9-2 on Monday and is gearing up for a potential lengthy playoff run.

To say it has been a wild season in Edmonton would be an understatement. The Oilers won only five of their first 18 games and changed coaches before going on a torrid run to reach having home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Along the way, Edmonton rattled off winning streaks of eight and 16 games.

"We've come through some adversity," defenseman Vincent Desharnais said, according to Postmedia. "It's good for a team to go through that. Obviously, it wasn't the start we wanted but we learned a lot from it. We battled back hard."

A healthy and productive attack helps. The Oilers put that on full display in their final regular-season home game, with captain Connor McDavid becoming only the fourth player in league history to reach 100 assists in a season, joining Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

"It means a lot," McDavid said. "Those three are obviously three of the greatest players to ever play. To share a little something with them, it means a lot to me.

"It's been a different type of year, but everybody stuck with it and we've put ourselves in a good spot heading into when it matters most."

The Stars (51-21-9, 111 points) close their regular season Wednesday night by hosting the St. Louis Blues (43-33-5, 91 points).

It's possible Dallas will bring injured forward Evgenii Dadonov off the injured list to see game action before the playoffs start. Dadonov hasn't played since Feb. 10 due to a lower-body fracture.

Defenseman Jani Hakanpaa (lower body) has been ruled out, and a few regulars like goaltender Jake Oettinger could get a game off.

But heading into Tuesday night's NHL action, the Stars had not yet clinched the top postseason seed in the Western Conference. Vancouver was still in the running heading into their game against Calgary but a Canucks loss would clinch the West for Dallas.

"In a perfect world, Dadonov and Hak, we'd like to get them a game before the playoffs start," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "But depending on the results of other games, we've still got things to play for, so the results of other games between now and Wednesday might dictate some of that."

The Stars will head into postseason play after winning their first division title since 2016 and just their second in 18 years.

"It represents the work that has been done in this room and how the group has progressed over the season. We're proud of it," forward Craig Smith said.

"It's obviously not what we're after, but it's definitely a step," DeBoer said. "You can't minimize the work put into doing that. Six months ago, starting in training camp in a really good division with a lot of good teams and a lot of adversity along the way. It's a great step for our group. I'm proud of the accomplishment. We're looking for more than that."

Dallas went 1-1-1 against the Blues this season, winning 2-1 in a shootout on Oct. 12 at home, losing 4-3 in overtime at St. Louis on Dec. 16 and losing 2-1 in St. Louis on Dec. 27.

While the Stars are preparing for the postseason, the Blues are preparing for next season and beyond.

"I don't know if we can hang on our hat on anything because, at the end of the day, we're not playing for a Stanley Cup," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "We're going to be going home early, a lot earlier than we wanted to. I think we've learned some valuable lessons over the last two months of playing these games to make us a better team, and hopefully, over the summer, that sinks in with our guys."

Bannister has been giving extra responsibility to younger players like forwards Zack Bolduc and Zach Dean and defensemen Matt Kessel, Scott Perunovich and Tyler Tucker.

"Every game is obviously important to me, and trying to improve your game and prove that you belong," Perunovich said.

Of those young players, Dean has the least NHL experience and most yet to prove.

"I think for him, he has to, I don't know how to say this right, but he has to have more ‘jam' to his game," Bannister said. "He has to have more physicality to his game. He has to get inside on guys. Once he learns that aspect of his game, that'll keep him in the NHL for a long time."