NHL Roundup: Dallas Stars clinch last playoff spot, Golden Knights eliminated, and more
Anthony Scultore
|
Today’s NHL Roundup recaps all five games from April 27, 2022.
The Dallas Stars clinch the final playoff spot in the West despite a 4-3 OT loss to the Arizona Coyotes. By picking up the point they eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights, who eventually lost in a shootout later Wednesday night.
This is the first time in the Golden Knights franchise history that they will not be in the postseason. Since their inaugural campaign in 2017-18, Vegas has qualified for the playoffs.
“I’m surprised. I’m disappointed,” Vegas’ coach Pete DeBoer said. “I’m at the front of the line for responsibility. “There was a lot of expectations. It’s not an easy thing and it does’t feel good for anybody right now.”
In other action, the New York Rangers put out a skeleton crew and fell to the Montreal Canadiens 4-3. Plus the Winnipeg Jets blanked the Philadelphia Flyers and the L.A. Kings knocked off the Seattle Kraken.
NHL Roundup: Dallas Stars Clinch!
Coyotes 4 vs Stars 3 (OT)
The Dallas Stars clinched the final spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs by earning a point for a 4-3 overtime loss to the visiting Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.
“We’re in the playoffs,” said Stars coach Rick Bowness. “It’s great for the city, it’s great for our fans, and it’s going to be a great atmosphere here when we get back.”
Travis Boyd scored from in front at 1:43 of the extra frame for the Coyotes, who erased a 3-0, third-period deficit to force overtime. Anton Stralman, Shayne Gostisbehere and Barrett Hayton (two assists) scored while Harri Sateri made 26 saves for Arizona, which posted its second straight victory.
Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist, Jani Hakanpaa and Miro Heiskanen scored and Joe Pavelski logged two assists for the Stars. Scott Wedgewood made 33 saves.
Canadiens dump Rangers
Canadiens vs Rangers 3
Jeff Petry snapped an 18-game drought by collecting two goals — including the game-winner with 30.7 seconds left — as visiting Montreal ended a nine-game losing streak by edging New York.
Petry scored in the final minute of the second period before firing a shot over the glove of Alexandar Georgiev to cap his seventh career two-goal game. Ryan Poehling scored in the first and Mike Hoffman scored in the third for the Canadiens, who have the fewest points in the NHL.
Ryan Reaves, Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome all scored for the Rangers, who lost for the third straight time. New York scratched its four leading scorers — Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox — with its playoff positioning secured.
Blackhawks beat eliminated Golden Knights
Blackhawks 4 vs Golden Knights 3 (SO)
Tyler Johnson scored the winner in the seventh round of the shootout and Taylor Raddysh netted two goals as Chicago ended the playoff hopes of visiting Vegas with a shootout victory.
The loss was the third consecutive defeat by shootout for Vegas, which failed to convert on all 17 of its attempts in those defeats. It marked the first time in the franchise’s five seasons that the Golden Knights failed to make the playoffs.
Max Pacioretty, Amadio and Alec Martinez scored goals and Chandler Stephenson had three assists for Vegas, which lost for the fifth time in six games (1-2-3). Caleb Jones had a goal for Chicago, and Sam Lafferty had two assists.
“You don’t hate your game in those games, but at the same time you didn’t do enough to win them in regulation or overtime to make sure that there’s no question marks,” Pacioretty said. “There’ll be a lot of regret this summer, a lot of reflection.”
Jets blank Flyers
Jets 4 vs Flyers 0
Eric Comrie made 35 saves for his first career shutout, Kyle Connor posted his 46th goal and two assists to set a Winnipeg single-season points record, and the Jets rolled past visiting Philadelphia.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Blake Wheeler each had a goal with an assist while Pierre-Luc Dubois recorded his career-high 28th goal for the Jets. With an empty-netter, Connor posted his 92nd point to top Wheeler’s records from 2017-18 and ’18-19 for the most in a season since the franchise’s relocation to Winnipeg (2011-12).
Felix Sandstrom made 23 saves for the Flyers, who were shut out for the seventh time this season.
Kings crown Kraken
Kings 5 vs Kraken 3
Lias Andersson scored his first goal of the season to break a tie early in the third period as Los Angeles won at Seattle.
Gabriel Vilardi, Phillip Danault, Trevor Moore and Andreas Athanasiou also scored for the Kings. Jonathan Quick made 37 saves.
“Our line played well,” Vilardi said. “I think all the lines played a lot and buried chances. All our lines got a score tonight, so it was nice that we buried our chances.”
Jared McCann, Ryan Donato and Jordan Eberle scored for the Kraken, who blew a 2-0 lead for the third time in their past four games, all losses. Philipp Grubauer stopped 23 of 27 shots.
–Field Level Media contributed to this article