Associated Press
From around the NHL…
WASHINGTON ó Jason Chimera tipped in a rebound 2:30 into overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 5-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Thursday night.
The Capitals had a 3-on-2 rush, resulting in Brooks Laichís shot that goalie Steve Mason couldnít handle. The rebound went to Chimera and he tapped the puck in to give Washington its 12th victory in March.
The Capitals reached 101 points, crossing the 100-point plateau for the third straight season, to move within a point of Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference lead.
Thrashers 1, Flyers 0
PHILADELPHIA ó Nik Antropov scored the only goal, and Chris Mason stopped 43 shots for his first shutout of the season and 21st overall in Atlantaís victory over Philadelphia.
Lightning 2, Penguins 1
TAMPA, Fla. ó Martin St. Louis scored his 30th goal of the season, helping Tampa Bay clinch its first playoff berth since 2007 with a victory over Pittsburgh.
Steve Downie also scored for the Lightning, who have won three in a row following a four-game losing skid.
Islanders 6, Rangers 2
UNIONDALE, N.Y. ó Radek Martinek and P.A. Parenteau both had a goal and assist during the Islandersí four-goal second period, and the Islanders put the rival Rangers back into postseason peril.
After Blake Comeau got the Islanders even 1 at 3:24, Martinek put them in front 33 seconds later.
Maple Leafs 4, Bruins 3, SO
BOSTON ó Nazem Kadri scored the only shootout goal to help Toronto beat Boston.
With the point for reaching overtime, the Bruins clinched a tie for the Northeast Division title. The next Boston win or loss by Montreal will give the Bruins the division title.
Toronto is 10th in the Eastern Conference, five points behind seventh-place Buffalo and the New York Rangers for one of the eight playoff spots.
Joffrey Lupul scored twice for Toronto, Luke Scheen added a goal and former Bruins forward Phil Kessel had a pair of assists. Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Andrew Ference scored for Boston.
Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, who made 28 saves, made a right-pad save on Mikhail Grabovskiís penalty shot 43 seconds into overtime, but Kadri beat him with a backhand shot over the left shoulder in the shootout.
1:Wild 4, Oilers 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) ó Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom ended a six-start winless streak, beating his favorite opponent in the Wildís victory over Edmonton.
Defenseman Tom Gilbert and Linus Omark each had power-play goals ó a rarity for Edmontonís struggling special teams unit ó but the last-place Oilers fell to 0-8-3 in their last 11 games.
Antti Miettinen, Marek Zidlicky, Brad Staubitz and Martin Havlat scored for Minnesota. Backstrom has never lost to the Oilers, improving to 14-0 in his career against them.
The Wild beat Edmonton at home for the 16th time in a row, matching the longest current run of consecutive home wins against one team in the NHL. Theyíve outscored the Oilers 58-21 during the stretch.
1:Senators 4, Panthers 1
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) ó Rookie Colin Greening scored twice in the second period for Ottawa, and Craig Anderson made 37 saves to improve to 9-4-1 since being acquired in a trade with Colorado in February.
Nick Foligno and Filip Kuba also scored for Ottawa. The Senators swept the season series and have won six in a row against Florida dating to last season.
Michal Repik scored for Florida. The Panthers have lost seven straight.
The Associated Press
03/31/11 22:37