Kraken slip past the Wild
Fri, Apr 19, 2024
NHL News (AP)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Tye Kartye tipped in a slap shot by Oliver Bjorkstrand for the tiebreaking goal with 2:40 remaining, and the Seattle Kraken beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Thursday night to wrap up the regular season for two teams that missed the playoffs.
Ryan Hartman scored 6-on-4 on a power play for the Wild with 1:05 left and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury pulled, but Kraken goalie Joey Daccord - who had 21 saves - and the defense held up.
Brandon Tanev, who assisted on both of Yanni Gourde's third period goals, painfully blocked a shot in the final seconds that had him doubled over on the ice at the final horn.
Kirill Kaprizov scored his 46th goal of the season on a power play in the first period, and Mats Zuccarello had the tying goal midway through the third period for the Wild.
Matty Beniers tied the game for the Kraken in the second period on a power play tip-in before Gourde's short-handed breakaway. He later scored on an empty-netter.
JETS 4, CANUCKS 2
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) - Nikita Chibrikov scored the game-winner in his NHL debut and Cole Perfetti added two goals as Winnipeg beat Vancouver in the regular-season finale for the playoff-bound teams.
The victory produced some notable accomplishments for Winnipeg.
The Jets finished the regular season giving up 199 total goals, the fewest in the league and one less than the Florida Panthers, to earn the William M. Jennings Trophy. They also extended their win streak to eight games, tying the franchise record. Their 52 victories (52-24-6) also matched the franchise record for wins in a season with the 2017-18 squad.
Winnipeg's 110 points secured second place in the Western Conference behind Dallas and home-ice advantage in the first three rounds of the playoffs against teams other than the Stars.
Gabe Vilardi also scored for the Jets, who won won two of the three games against the Canucks this season. Laurent Brossoit made 18 saves for his 15th win of the season in his 23rd game.
AVALANCHE 5, OILERS 1
DENVER (AP) - Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, Nathan MacKinnon added two assists to break the franchise's single-season points mark and Colorado cruised into the playoffs with win over Edmonton.
MacKinnon wrapped up the regular season with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) to top Peter Stastny's franchise record of 139 set in 1981-82 when the club was in Quebec.
The speedy MacKinnon couldn't catch Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, which goes to the leading points scorer. Kucherov wound up with 144 points.
Mikko Rantanen, Josh Manson and Zach Parise also scored to help the Avalanche snap a two-game slide. Colorado jumped out to a 4-0 lead midway through the first period and never looked back in a game where the Oilers rested several of their starters, including Connor McDavid.
Justus Annunen made 25 saves for the Avalanche, who finished with a league-best 31 home wins. Colorado opens the playoffs at Winnipeg on Sunday.
Dylan Holloway had a power-play goal for Edmonton. The Oilers will face either Vegas or Los Angeles in the first round.
FLAMES 5, SHARKS 1
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) - Blake Coleman scored his 30th goal and MacKenzie Weegar netted his 20th as Calgary beat San Jose.
Adam Klapka posted his first NHL goal and Oliver Kylington, and Kevin Rooney also scored for Calgary (38-39-5). The Flames missed the postseason for the second straight season.
Dustin Wolf had 16 saves and lost his shutout bid with nine seconds left in the game. The 23-year-old rookie closed the season with four straight wins and a record of 7-7-1.
Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose (19-54-9), which finished with the worst record in the NHL. The Sharks have missed the playoffs the last five seasons. Mikael Granlund had an assist and finished the season with a 13-game point streak (two goals, 13 assists).
DUCKS 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Frank Vatrano scored three goals and Anaheim ended their season on a high note, Las Vegas.
Vatrano's goals gave him 37 for the season, a career high. It was his third hat trick this season and the sixth of his career.
Jackson LaCombe had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who finished 27-50-5 for 59 points. Ryan Strome had two assists and Lukas Dostal made 29 saves. Cutter Gauthier had an assist in his first career game.
Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg, who played his final NHL game after 12 seasons in the league, shook hands with Golden Knights players after the game.
Jack Eichel scored his 31st goal for the Knights, and Adin Hill made 19 stops.
KINGS 5, BLACKHAWKS 4
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Viktor Arvidsson scored the tying goal with 1:21 left in regulation, and Los Angeles earned a playoff rematch with Edmonton by jumping into third place in the Pacific Division with an overtime victory against Chicago.
The Kings' comeback and the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights' loss to Anaheim propelled Los Angeles into a third straight postseason meeting with the Oilers, who beat the Kings in both of their previous two first-round matchups. Los Angeles (44-27-11) finished with 99 points, one ahead of the Knights (45-29-8).
Los Angeles took a two-goal lead into the third period against Chicago, but promptly blew it when the Blackhawks scored three times in five minutes. The Kings finally evened it when Arvidsson scored his second goal of the night with goalie Cam Talbot pulled for an extra attacker.
With third place secured by the single point for reaching overtime because of the Kings' advantage in a tiebreaker, Adrian Kempe won the game with an unassisted goal just six seconds into OT.
Tyler Johnson, Joey Anderson and Ryan Donato scored in the third-period flurry by the Blackhawks, with Donato getting the tiebreaker with 13:32 to play in the final game of the NHL's regular season.
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