Associated Press
The NHL roundup …
PITTSBURGH ó Pascal Dupuis had two goals and the Pittsburgh Penguins moved closer to clinching home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Jordan Staal and Chris Kunitz also scored for the Penguins, who won their regular season home finale to move three points ahead of fifth-place Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference standings with two games to play. The Lightning lost 4-2 at Buffalo.
Pittsburgh remained three points behind conference-leading Washington, which won 3-2 in a shootout at Toronto.
David Steckel and Brian Rolston scored for the Devils, who were officially eliminated from playoff contention with their defeat to Montreal on Saturday.
Capitals 3, Maple Leafs 2
TORONTO ó Mike Knuble scored in the fourth round of the shootout to lift Washington.
Canadiens 2, Blackhawks 1
MONTREAL ó P.K. Subban scored a power-play goal at 1:19 of overtime and Montreal clinched a playoff spot.
Carey Price made 42 saves for Montreal, which went on a 4-on-3 advantage 37 seconds into the extra period when Chicago captain Jonathan Toews was called for hooking Subban in the Canadiensí zone.
Predators 6, Thrashers 3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. ó Jordin Tootoo and Sergei Kostitsyn each had two goals and an assist, and Nashville moved closer to clinching a playoff berth.
Senators 5, Flyers 2
OTTAWA ó Jason Spezza had a goal and three assists to lead Ottawa.
Ryan Shannon and Bobby Butler each had a goal and an assist, and Nick Foligno and Milan Michalek also scored for Ottawa. Craig Andersen stopped 27 shots and Filip Kuba added two assists.
Stars 3, Blue Jackets 0
DALLAS ó Kari Lehtonen made 23 saves for his 17th career shutout, Steve Ott scored his second goal in 25 games on the power play, and Dallas pulled closer to the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Blues 3, Avalanche 1
ST. LOUIS ó Kevin Shattenkirk had a goal and an assist against his former team, Andy McDonald added a goal and two assists, and St. Louis beat Colorado.
David Backes also scored to help St. Louis win for the fifth time in the last seven games. The Blues also snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Avalanche, beating Colorado for the first time since April 12, 2009.
Kevin Porter scored his career-best 14th goal of the season for the Avalanche, who have lost six of seven and 16 of their last 19.
Shattenkirk converted on a 5-on-3 power play early in the second period to give the Blues the lead for good 2-1. McDonald added an empty-netter with 40 seconds to go in the third.
1:Sabres 4, Lightning 2
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) ó Thomas Vanek scored three times to lead Buffalo within a point of clinching a playoff berth.
Tim Connolly had a goal and two assists and Jhonas Enroth made 23 saves to improve to 3-0-1 in filling in since starter Ryan Miller was sidelined after taking a shot off the collarbone last week. Buffalo moved a point ahead of the seventh-place New York Rangers and five up on ninth-place Carolina.
Vincent Lecavalier and Ryan Malone scored for the Lightning, who had a five-game winning streak snapped and lost for the first time in four road games. The loss leaves Tampa Bay in fifth place after opening the night a point behind Pittsburgh in the race for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
1:Oilers 2, Canucks 0
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) ó Devan Dubnyk made 26 saves, Ryan Jones and Magnus Paajarvi scored, and last-place Edmonton beat first-place Vancouver for the second consecutive game.
Dubnyk got his second shutout of the season for the Oilers, who won 4-1 at Vancouver on Saturday to snap an 11-game winless streak. Edmonton now has 61 points, topping the franchise-worst 60 it had in 1992-93.
The Canucks have lost consecutive games after winning 12 of 13 to clinch the Presidentsí Trophy for the leagueís top record.
The Associated Press
04/06/11 00:38