Ryan McLeod gathered a goal and two assists to help lift Buffalo to a 5-4 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, giving Saber coach Lindy Ruff his 900th career victory.
With the result in the regular season finale for both teams, Ruff became the fifth NHL coach who achieved the milestone. Alex Tuch, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka scored one goal and set another, Peyton Krebs also counted and James Reimer made 21 rescues for Sabers.
Philadelphia beginner Matvei Michkov scored twice to increase his team-leading goal a total of 26 in the season. He also had an assist.
Tyson Foerster scored his ninth goal in his last nine matches and added an assist. Bobby Brink also had a goal and an assist and Aleksei Kolosov turned 26 shots for the flyer.
Rangers 4, Lightning 0
Mika Zibanejad made twice and added an assist that hosted New York ended one of the more disappointing seasons in team history with a victory over the playoffs Tampa Bay.
Vincent Trocheck scored a short -handed goal early in the other to open the points and Zibanejad set up Chris Kreider’s speech early in the third before scoring both his goals. Rangers ended the season with three wins in four matches but will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
New York’s Igor Shesterkin made 27 rescues for his sixth suspension this season and 21st of his career. Tampa Bay goalkeeper Jonas Johansson stopped 18 shots.
Maple Leafs 4, Red Wings 3 (OT)
Scott Laughton made 56 seconds to overtime – after Chris Tanev banded the game with two seconds left in regulation – and Toronto returned to defeat visits to Detroit.
Auston Matthews and Philippe Myers also scored Maple Leafs, while Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies each added two assists and Joseph Woll made 31 rescues.
Justin Holl had a goal and an assist and Austin Watson and Alex Debrincat also scored the red wings. Cam Talbot stopped 16 shots.
Senators 7, Hurricanes 5
Ottawa scored four goals in a third period and beat Carolina visited in a battle at the playoffs.
Drake Batherson and Adam Gaudette had two goals each and Tim Stutzle and Dylan Cozens added one goal and two assists. The Senators Captain Brady Tkachuk returned after missing eight matches with an upper body injury. He left early in the third period as a precaution after taking a stick on his face.
Andrei Svechnikov had a goal and an assist and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Skyler Brind’amour (the first of his career), Jack Roslovi1c and Tyson Jost got the other goals for the hurricanes.
Penguins 5, Capitals 2
Alex Ovechkin made his 897th NHL goal, but the visit Washington released his season finale to Pittsburgh. The 39-year-old veteran ended the season with 44 goals in 64 games, and he broke the NHL’s goal for goal score with no. 895 on April 6.
Bryan Rust did twice and Sidney Crosby and Philip Tomasino each had a goal and an assist for Penguins, who will miss the playoffs for the third straight season. Alex Nedeljkovic made 18 rescues.
Connor McMichael scored the capitals, which will be the best seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Clay Stevenson stopped 33 shots in his NHL debut.
Blue Jackets 6, Islanders 1
Jet Greaves made 36 rescues for Columbus, who beat visited New York to end the season on a winning line with six games.
Greaves, a 24-year-old beginner, won his last five starts, which enabled four goals in that span.
Cole Sillinger and Zach Werenski each had a goal and an assist for Blue Jackets, who finished two points from a playoffs. Hudson Fasching scored and Marcus Hogberg made 20 rescues for the islanders, who lost five of his last six.
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