Buddy Robinson and Andreas Athanasiou scored less than 26 seconds apart in the third period and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Tuesday night.
The Pittsburgh squad started the game looking for two wins, over the Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets, to extend the longest playoff streak of the four major sports in North America (17 years).
Instead, Petr Mrazek stopped 38 shots and Robinson scored just the fourth goal of his career to give the Blackhawks a late lead.
The Florida Panthers secured a playoff berth following losses to the Buffalo Sabers and Penguins.
The Penguins will not be able to participate in the playoffs if the New York Islanders win Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens. The Penguins would also be out of the picture if the New York team loses in overtime.
Mark Scheifele scored his 42nd goal of the season and the Winnipeg Jets confirmed their playoff berth by defeating the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton added a goal for the Jets, who will finish eighth in the Western Conference with a fifth win in six games.
In his 13th straight start, Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for the Manitoba squad, which eliminated the Nashville Predators.
Kirill Kaprizov threaded the needle on the power play early in the third period, but the Wild still lost for the first time in four outings.
The Minnesota squad can no longer win the Central Division title. She could finish tied with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars in points, but she doesn’t hold the tiebreaker over the Stars.
Tomas Tatar had two goals and an assist as the New Jersey Devils beat the Buffalo Sabers 6-2 on Tuesday night.
The Devils confirmed their home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs and ended the Sabers’ hopes of a top-8 finish in the Eastern Conference.
Jack Hughes scored into an empty net for a 97th point this season, breaking the team record set by Patrik Elias in 2000-01.
Jesper Boqvist, Jonas Siegenthaler and Miles Wood also scored for the Devils, who tied their team record of 51 wins. Vitek Vanecek saved 36 pucks.
Jeff Skinner and Mattias Samuelsson replied for the Sabers, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2011. The 12-year drought is the longest active in the NHL.
21-year-old rookie Devon Levi stopped 24 shots.
Stefan Noesen and Jordan Martinook scored early in the game and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 to retain first place in the Metropolitan Division with one game left on the season.
Brent Burns and Jesperi Kotkaniemi also scored for the Hurricanes. Antti Raanta stopped 20 shots.
The Hurricanes have 111 points, one more than the New Jersey Devils. A win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday would confirm the Hurricanes’ division title for the third straight year.
With their victory, the North Carolina squad confirmed that they would start the first round of the playoffs with home-ice advantage.
Robert Hagg scored the goal for the Red Wings, who have lost their last four games. Former Hurricanes goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic made 25 saves.
Brad Marchand and Tyler Bertuzzi hit the target on the power play and the Boston Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals 5-2.
The Bruins collected a 133rd point this season, breaking the NHL record the Montreal Canadiens set in 1976-77. At that time, however, there was no overtime and no shootout after regulation time.
The Bruins set an NHL record on Sunday with their 63rd win this season, breaking a tie with the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings and the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tomas Nosek, Garnet Hathaway and Jake DeBrusk also flashed the red light for the Boston squad. David Pastrnak set the table for two of his own while Linus Ullmark blocked 19 shots.
Joseph Woll made 46 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3.
Woll, who was urgently recalled from the American Hockey League, frustrated Nikita Kucherov in a six-on-four with 1:31 remaining in the game.
William Nylander provided a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs, who will meet the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs next week.
The Lightning beat the Maple Leafs in the first round last season en route to their third straight Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
Owen Tippett played heroes by scoring his second goal of the game in overtime and the Flyers ended their seven-game losing streak by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3.
James van Riemsdyk got his 300th career NHL goal as Joel Farabee added a goal for the Flyers. Carter Hart made 28 saves.
