WASHINGTON (AP) — Logan Thompson stopped 24 shots, and the Washington Capitals kept their slim playoff hopes alive by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-0 Sunday in perhaps the final home of Alex Ovechkin’s brilliant career.
To reach the postseason, the Capitals must defeat Columbus in the season finale Tuesday night and hope Philadelphia fails to win either of its last two games.
The 40-year-old Ovechkin intends to wait until the offseason to decide whether to retire or return for a 22nd season. The all-time NHL leader in goals with 929, Ovechkin has played in every game this season and leads the Capitals in goals (32) and points (63).
The spirited, sellout crowd saluted Ovechkin during the game with chants of “One more year!” and “Ovi! Ovi! Ovi!”
Ovechkin helped seal the victory by picking up an assist on an empty-net goal by Connor McMichael, who scored earlier in the third period.
NEW YORK (AP) — Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist to pass the 100-point mark for the season and Montreal beat the Islanders 4-1, eliminating New York from playoff contention.
Ivan Demidov, Alex Newhook and Zachary Bolduc also scored for Montreal, which continues its push for home-ice advantage in the opening round and a potential Atlantic Division title. Jacob Fowler made 30 saves, and defenseman Lane Hutson added three assists.
Casey Cizikas scored for New York and Ilya Sorokin stopped 18 shots but the Islanders lost for the sixth time in their last seven games to fall out of postseason contention.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Mark Kastelic scored with 9:38 remaining and Boston snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over Columbus that moved them into the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot while virtually eliminating the Blue Jackets from playoff contention.
Sean Kuraly had a goal and two assists against his former team, and Henri Jokiharju had a goal and an assist for Boston. Kastelic also added an assist. Joonas Korpisalo made 33 saves. James Hagens, the seventh overall pick in the 2025 draft, contributed an assist and a penalty in his NHL debut.
Mason Marchment and Adam Fantilli scored for Columbus, which has lost five of its last seven games to fall out of playoff contention after sitting as high as second place in the Metropolitan Division on March 24. Jet Greaves made 19 saves.
The Blue Jackets are two points behind idle Philadelphia and one point behind Washington with a game against the Capitals remaining.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Nico Hischier scored his second goal of the game on the power play with 1:45 left in overtime to give New Jersey a win over Ottawa.
The Devils trailed 3-2 after two periods, but Dawson Mercer scored a short-handed goal with 7:32 left in the third period to tie it at 3-3, setting the stage for Hischier’s winner.
Connor Brown also had a short-handed goal for the Devils and Nico Daws made 27 saves.
Michael Amadio, Shane Pinto on the power play, and Fabian Zetterlund all scored in a roughly seven-minute span of the second period for the Senators, who had their four game win streak snapped.