AROUND THE NHL Thursday’s NHL games

Penguins 4, Capitals 3, OT

WASHINGTON

Sidney Crosby scored in overtime and the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins rebounded after blowing a three-goal lead to beat the Washington Capitals to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Penguins have won eight games in a row and 14 of their past 15 to vault into second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Capitals have lost three consecutive games for the first time all season and have dropped four of their past five. Matt Cullen scored twice and Matt Murray stopped 27 shots for the Penguins, who have thrived since losing star center Evgeni Malkin to an upper-body injury. Conor Sheary also scored for Pittsburgh. Marcus Johansson had two goals and Andre Burakovsky one for Washington. Braden Holtby made 31 saves but fell short in his second attempt to tie Martin Brodeur’s single-season record of 48 wins.

Islanders 4, Rangers 1

NEW YORK

John Tavares had a goal and an assist, Thomas Greiss made 36 saves and the New York Islanders earned their first regular-season sweep of their rivals with a victory over the New York Rangers. Shane Prince also had a goal and an assist for the Islanders, who moved into a tie for third with the Rangers with 99 points in the Metropolitan Division. The Pittsburgh Penguins have clinched second place in the division. Frans Nielsen and Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders, who took all four matchups with the Rangers. Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein scored with 2:48 left to end Greiss’ shutout bid. The Rangers close the regular season at home against Detroit on Saturday and the Islanders finish with home games against Buffalo on Saturday and Philadelphia on Sunday.

Lightning 4, Devils 2

NEWARK, N.J.

Jonathan Drouin scored the winning goal in his second-chance return to the NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning clinched home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs with a victory over the New Jersey Devils. Eric Condra and Cedric Paquette also scored and Ben Bishop made 20 saves as the injury-plagued Lightning snapped a two-game losing streak and won for only the third time in seven games. Valtteri Filppula scored an empty-net goal in the final minute. The Lightning, who finish the regular season at Montreal on Saturday, will face either Boston or Detroit in the opening round. Sergey Kalinin scored twice for the Devils.

Canadiens 4, Hurricanes 2

RALEIGH, N.C.

Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist, helping the Montreal Canadiens to a victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Charlie Lindgren had 26 saves in his first NHL appearance and Darren Dietz scored his first NHL goal late in the first period for Montreal. Daniel Carr and Lars Eller added the other goals for the Canadiens. Riley Nash and Noah Hanifin scored for Carolina, and Cam Ward stopped 27 shots. No penalties were called against Carolina, with just one against Montreal.

Bruins 5, Red Wings 1

BOSTON

Torey Krug had a goal and two assists, Brad Marchand and Loui Eriksson each added a goal and assist, and the Boston Bruins kept their playoff hopes alive with a win over the Detroit Red Wings. Tuukka Rask had 13 saves for the Bruins, who also got goals from David Pastrnak and Lee Stempniak. Alexey Marchenko scored Detroit’s lone goal in the second period and Jimmy Howard had 21 saves for the Red Wings, who had a three-game win streak snapped. Boston (42-30-9) picked up a much-needed two points after entering the night two behind the Red Wings for third in the division.

Maple Leafs 4, Flyers 3, OT

PHILADELPHIA

Jake Gardiner scored a power-play goal at 2:51 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers fell a point behind Boston and Detroit for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. But Philadelphia would secure a playoff berth by winning its last two games. The Bruins and Red Wings each have one game left and one of them is guaranteed a playoff berth that goes to the third-place team in the Atlantic Division. Wayne Simmonds scored the tying goal with 58 seconds left and goalie Steve Mason pulled for the extra skater. Simmonds redirected Mark Streit’s slap shot for his career-best 30th goal.

Senators 3, Panthers 1

OTTAWA, ONTARIO

Buddy Robinson scored his first NHL goal, helping the Ottawa Senators defeat the Florida Panthers. Mika Zibanejad and Cody Ceci also scored for the Senators, who finished 21-14-6 at home. Craig Anderson made 32 saves in his 60th start of the season. Jaromir Jagr had the lone goal for the Panthers, whose three-game winning streak was stopped. The Senators took a 2-0 lead midway through the second period when Robinson redirected Ceci’s point shot. It was Robinson’s second NHL game after he spent the majority of the season with the American Hockey League’s Binghamton Senators. Zibanejad opened the scoring late in the first period with a power-play goal.

Predators 3, Coyotes 2, OT

NASHVILLE, TENN.

Roman Josi scored 20 seconds into overtime, and the Nashville Predators rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to beat the Arizona Coyotes in their home finale. The Predators trailed 2-0 with Arizona goalie Mike Smith making save after save until Connor Murphy went to the penalty box for elbowing at 7:13 of the third. Nashville needed only 13 seconds before captain Shea Weber scored his 20th goal this season from the left circle, and Filip Forsberg tied the franchise-record with his 33rd goal with 18.3 seconds left to force overtime. The puck had barely dropped when Josi scored quickly with a wrister past Smith. Antoine Vermette and Shane Doan scored for Arizona.

Blues 2, Blackhawks 1, OT

CHICAGO

Vladimir Tarasenko scored his second goal of the game at 3:37 of overtime, and the St. Louis Blues cooled off the Chicago Blackhawks with a victory in a possible playoff preview. Tarasenko also tied it with 1:16 left in regulation with a laser from the left circle on a rebound attempt off a shot from Kevin Shattenkirk. His team-best 39th goal was an easy one, with Alex Pietrangelo making a nice pass to set up an open net for the winner.

Stars 4, Avalanche 2

DALLAS

Jason Dickinson scored in his first NHL game, and the Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche to move closer to the Central Division and Western Conference titles. With one game remaining for each team, the Stars and St. Louis Blues are tied with 107 points, but Dallas holds the tiebreaker. Dallas hosts Nashville and St. Louis hosts Washington, both on Saturday night. Dickinson was recalled from Texas of the AHL earlier Thursday because of injuries to Stars forwards, including 30-goal scorers Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza.

Associated Press