NHL Three Stars: Playoff field set; Hartnell's huge night
No. 1 Star: Scott Hartnell, Columbus Blue Jackets
Scott Hartnell’s overtime goal gave the Columbus Blue Jackets an entertaining 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. It was his second goal of the game and completed a four-point night.
No. 2 Star: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Ovechkin’s hat trick gave him 50 goals for the third straight season, as the Washington Capitals defeated the St. Louis Blues, 5-1, allowing goalie Braden Holtby to tie Martun Brodeur’s 2006-07 record of 48 wins in a regular season.
No. 3 Star: Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers
Wayne Simmonds scored two goals as the Flyers clinched a playoff spot with a 3-1 win over the Crosby and Letang-less Pittsburgh Penguins. Simmonds has 32 goals on the season.
Honorable Mention: In what could have been his final game as a Devil, Patrik Elias had a goal and two assists in their 5-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Adam Henrique also had two goals. … The Ottawa Senators scored four second-period goals en route to a 6-1 embarrassment of the Boston Bruins. Andrew Hammond made 39 saves. The Bruins were eliminated from playoff contention. … Oscar Lindberg had a goal and an assist in the third period to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Weep not for the Wings, they still backed into a playoff spot. … Jakob Silfverberg had two goals and Corey Perry had three assists in the Anaheim Ducks’ 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche, keeping their postseason hopes alive. … Late goals from Brandon Bollig and Patrick Sieloff gave the Calgary Flames a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. … Alex Galchenyuk ended his strange season with two goals and an assist, giving him 30 tallies on the season, in the Habs’ 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Max Pacioretty had two goals as well. ... Jonathan Drouin had his fourth for the Lightning. … The Florida Panthers scored three first-period goals and never looked back in their 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. … Brian Gionta scored in overtime to give the Buffalo Sabres a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders, but the Isles still picked up a charity point ahead of Sunday’s game vs. Philly. It was Gionta’s second of the game. … Jason Spezza’s hat trick accounted for all three Dallas Stars goals in their 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators. He now has 33 goals on the season. … Emerson Etem scored a goal and had the game-deciding one in the shootout as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3. The Oilers finish 29th, while Vancouver is 28th. … The Los Angeles Kings blew a 3-0 lead and Mark Scheifele scored in the shootout to give the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 victory, preventing the Kings from clinching the division. … Martin Jones pitched a 20-save shutout as the San Jose Sharks used a Joe Pavelski goal to beat the Arizona Coyotes, 1-0. … Shane Doan isn’t sure what the future holds, but went out fighting:
Did You Know? Patrick Kane secured the first Art Ross Trophy by an American-born player with 106 points.
Dishonorable Mention: Robby Fabbri and Carl Gunnarsson were a minus-3. … Brian Elliot’s Blues-record 11-game winning streak ended with him getting pulled for the third. … Loui Eriksson and Ryan Spooner were a minus-3. … Tuukka Rask was too sick to play in the Bruins’ critical game. … Andreas Martinsen was ejected for a late hit on Ryan Garbutt. … Jason Garrison was a minus-3. … Chris Terry, Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask were all minus-3. … TJ Brennan and Martin Marincin were a minus-3. … Thomas Fleischmann was a minus-4. … The Blackhawks blew a three-goal first-period lead. … Derek Dorsett was ejected for squirting water bottle at Oilers bench. … Tyler Johnson was injured in the first period for the Lightning on this hit by Greg Pateryn, for which he earned a game misconduct.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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