Crosby had a goal and two assists to give the Penguins captain his fourth 100-point season in five seasons—he missed only when he sat out two months of 2007-08 with a high ankle sprain—but Pittsburgh still lost its fourth in a row to Washington.
Ovechkin had four goals in 18 games before scoring on a power play early in the third period, then added an empty-net goal with a second remaining. Nicklas Backstrom set up both during a three-assist game, giving him 67 assists.
Pittsburgh played without star forward Evgeni Malkin, who missed his eighth game in his last 10—this time with an undisclosed illness that caused him to leave the ice a few minutes into the pregame warmup.
Devils 3 Thrashers 0: In Atlanta, Martin Brodeur got his 600th career win with his second straight shutout.
Ilya Kovalchuk, the former Thrashers captain who was traded to the Devils two months ago, didn’t score but returned to see the Thrashers eliminated from playoff contention for the ninth time in their 10-year history.
Dean McAmmond, Zach Parise and Travis Zajac scored and Brodeur stopped 19 shots.
The shutout was Brodeur’s league-leading ninth of the season and the 110th of his career. Brodeur and the Devils beat Carolina 4-0 on Saturday.
Sabres 5 Rangers 2: In Buffalo, N.Y., Ryan Miller made 30 saves, including a brilliant blocker stop on Marian Gaborik, in helping the Buffalo Sabres clinch the Northeast Division title.
Rookie Tyler Ennis had a goal and two assists while Drew Stafford had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, which won its sixth division title and first since 2007.
Jochen Hecht, with the go-ahead goal, Derek Royand Toni Lydman also scored for the Sabres, who chased Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist and delivered a blow to the Blueshirts’ playoff hopes in the final week of the season.
Miller (40-18-8) matched the single-season franchise record for wins he set in 2006-07, and improved to 10-4-1 since leading the United States to a silver medal at the Vancouver Games.
Avalanche 4 Canucks 3, SO: In Vancouver, British Columbia, rookie Matt Duchene used a strong deke to the forehand to score the only goal of a shootout and put Colorado in the playoffs with a win over Vancouver.
Craig Anderson stopped 28 shots through overtime and all three in the shootout as the Avalanche secured a postseason spot.
Darcy Tucker, T.J. Galiardi and Paul Stastny scored for Colorado, which had lost a season high four straight, including a key one to ninth-place Calgary, before rallying to beat San Jose in overtime Sunday.
The Avalanche then ended a four-game road skid by handing the Canucks their ninth home loss and eliminating the Calgary Flames.
Sharks 2 Flames 1: In Calgary, Alberta, Evgeni Nabokov made 38 saves to give San Jose its third straight division title with a win over Calgary.
The Sharks also stayed two points ahead of Chicago for best record in the Western Conference.
The Flames, on the other hand, missed the playoffs for the first time since 2003, after Colorado beat Vancouver later Tuesday night.
Rob Blakeand Jamie McGinnscored for San Jose.
Rene Bourque scored for Calgary.
Kings 5, Ducks 4 SO: In Anaheim, Calif., Michal Handzustied it with 1:09 left in regulation to cap the Kings’ rally from a three-goal deficit, and Anze Kopitar scored the decisive shootout goal in Los Angeles’ victory over Anaheim.
Justin Williams had a goal and an assist in the third period for the playoff-bound Kings, who trailed 4-1 late in the second period before rallying for their fourth win in six games against Anaheim in the annual Freeway Faceoff.
Teemu Selanne scored two goals for the Ducks, who weren’t officially out of the playoff race until moments before the shootout began. That’s when the Colorado Avalanche won their own shootout against Vancouver to eliminate Anaheim.
After Williams trimmed the Ducks’ lead to 4-3 with 12:04 to play, Los Angeles evened it with its first rush after goalie Erik Ersberg left the net. Williams chipped a pass from the wall and past Ducks captain Scott Niedermayerto Handzus, who poked it home for his 19th goal.
Blackhawks 5 Stars 2: In Dallas, Marian Hossa scored 36 seconds after the opening faceoff, Colin Fraserhad the first of his two goals in the final minute of the first period, and Chicago stretched its winning streak to four games.
Chicago’s Antti Niemi made 26 saves in his sixth straight start, and Jonathan Toews added a short-handed goal for the Blackhawks.
Patrick Kane also scored for Chicago.
Steve Ott connected on the power play to reach the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career, and James Nealadded his 27th goal for Dallas.
Hurricanes 8 Lightning 5: In Tampa, Fla., Rod Brind’Amour, Drayson Bowman and Eric Staal scored two goals apiece and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 8-5.
Brind’Amour scored both of his goals during a five-goal first period for Carolina. It was the 39-year-old center’s first multigoal game of the season.
Steven Stamkos scored his team-leading 47th goal, keeping him one behind NHL leaders Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
Brandon Bochenski scored twice for the Lightning and Andrej Meszaros had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay.
Islanders 4 Canadiens 3, SO: In Uniondale, N.Y., Frans Nielsen scored the tying goal with 2:01 left in regulation and added a goal in the shootout.
The Canadiens were moments away from securing their third straight trip to the postseason when Nielsen wrecked the plans. He and Matt Moulson scored on New York’s only two attempts in the shootout to give the also-ran Islanders their fifth win in six games.
Martin Biron made 28 traditional saves and then stopped Maxim Lapierreon Montreal’s first shootout attempt. The win was sealed when Mike Cammalleri hit the post on the final try.
Lapierre’s breakaway goal gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead in the third period. Tomas Plekanechad a goal in the first for the Canadiens, who had won three straight—including shutouts in their previous two.
Flyers 2 Maple Leafs 0: In Toronto, Brian Boucher made 23 saves for Philadelphia.
Claude Giroux scored on a first-period power play and Mike Richards scored an empty-net goal for Philadelphia (40-34-6), which passed Boston and moved into seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 86 points.
J.S. Giguere made 21 saves for the Maple Leafs, who finish the season with road games in New York and Montreal.
Senators 5 Panthers 2: In Sunrise, Fla., Mike Fisher scored twice to help Ottawa to its their seventh win in eight games.
Jarkko Ruutu, Erik Karlsson and Chris Neilalso got goals for Ottawa, and captain Daniel Alfredsson had an assist in the 1,000th game of his NHL career.
Shawn Matthiasand Kamil Kreps each scored for the Panthers.
Ottawa’s Pascal Leclaire made 32 saves, while Tomas Vokoun stopped 23 shots for Florida.
