Pittsburgh and Washington keep their playoff hopes alive! Edmonton destroyed San Jose at home with 9 goals, Boston fell

The infarct ending in the Eastern Conference will be resolved in the last game of the regular season, when four teams are still in the race for one playoff spot. Pittsburgh won at home against Nashville (4:2) and Washington also beat Boston at home (2:0). Edmonton devastated San Jose at home (9:2).

Pittsburgh duel for everything

The Penguins played for everything at home against Nashville. And they brought the game against a dangerous team to a successful end. The Pens atoned for the previous defeat to Boston, scoring in 11 of the last 12 games.

Before the last game of the regular season, they kept their hopes of making the playoffs. They are now 10th in the Eastern Conference, just one point behind Washington and Detroit. Sidney Crosby and Erik Karlsson contributed the most to the home team’s victory with a goal and an assist.

Pittsburgh laid the foundation for the win during the first period, which it won by two goals. And they held the lead until the end. So it didn’t collapse like the previous game against Boston.

Alex Nedeljkovic supported his team with 28 hits and played his 12th game in a row. In addition, the Penguins captain became only the 14th player in NHL history to record at least 50 assists in a season in 11 seasons.

Washington holds the No. 8 seed

However, the Penguins’ other playoff contender also won. The Capitals took down a strong Boston team in a cautious defensive game 2:0 and kept the 8th place. They have the same number of points as Detroit and one more than Pittsburgh.

Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren kept the game close, catching all 16 Boston shots and notching his sixth clean sheet of the season. The game-winning goal was scored in the 12th minute by Capitals veteran defenseman John Carlson, who recently celebrated his 1,000th NHL start.

Boston burned out in this game and lost the chance to win the whole regular season. The overall championship went to the New York Rangers. On the other hand, the Capitals’ slim lead was confirmed by Nic Dowd, who scored his 12th goal of the season with 13 seconds left in an empty cage.

Connor McDavid made history in the devastation of San Jose

After a three-game layoff, Edmonton captain Connor McDavid returned to the lineup and it showed. San Jose was one goal away from its third 10-goal lead of the season. The Oilers dominated at home, outshooting the team from California 9-2 and putting the two previous defeats behind them.

The Oilers decided their victory during the first period, which they won 4: 0. In the second 20 minutes Edmonton added 5 more goals and there was no question, it was decided. The Sharks could only manage a cosmetic adjustment to the score.

Plus, they averted a blame game in the form of their third 10-goal loss of the season. McDavid’s desire to play was palpable. He had missed the previous three games. He wanted to come back when he was 100%. Plus, he didn’t want to miss the milestone that was expected of him.

The aforementioned Canadian McDavid made NHL history in bold letters when he added his 100th assist on the Oilers’ last goal this season. However, we wrote about his achievement in more detail in a previous article.

But it must be added, thanks to McDavid’s resurgence from scorer to passer this season, Zach Hyman had the season of his life. He scored a total of 54 goals this year, surpassing his personal best in that statistic by a whopping 18 goals.

Source: NHL