Malkin clinches scoring title in Pens-Flyers playoff preview
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 12 years, 9 months AGO
Evgeni Malkin scored his 50th goal of the season and added an assist to lock up his second NHL scoring title and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 on Saturday.
Malkin finished the regular season with 109 points and became the ninth player in Penguins history to reach the 50-goal mark when his wrist shot with 12 seconds left in the second period beat Philadelphia's Sergei Bobrovsky to give Pittsburgh a two-goal lead.
Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis also scored for the Penguins, who knocked off the Flyers for the first time at Consol Energy Center. Brent Johnson stopped five shots in relief of Marc-Andre Fleury to get the win.
Brayden Schenn and Jaromir Jagr scored for the Flyers, who rested leading scorer Claude Giroux in the regular season finale in preparation for their first-round matchup with Pittsburgh starting next week.
Canucks 3, Oilers 0: Roberto Luongo made 17 saves and Vancouver won the Presidents' Trophy with a win over visiting Edmonton.
The Canucks ended up with the most points in the NHL for the second straight season as they finished the 2011-12 season with a 51-22-9 record.
Vancouver faces No. 8 Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs.
Blackhawks 3, Red Wings 2, SO: Patrick Kane scored the only goal of the shootout to lift Chicago at Detroit.
The Blackhawks, though, have to settle for the sixth seed in the Western Conference. They needed a regulation win to move past Detroit into the fifth seed.
Chicago plays Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs next week after the Coyotes clinched the Pacific Division with a win over Minnesota.
The Red Wings will play No. 4 Nashville in the first round.
Capitals 4, Rangers 1: Washington scored three first-period goals and third-string goaltender Braden Holtby made 35 saves to help the Capitals win at New York.
Washington will be the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference and opens the playoffs in Boston.
Devils 4, Senators 2: At Newark, N.J., Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice, Stephen Gionta broke a third-period tie with his first NHL goal and the Devils beat Ottawa to close the regular season with a season-best six-game winning streak.
New Jersey, the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, will face Florida in the opening round of the playoffs.
Ottawa, which lost its final three games, slipped to the No. 8 seed and will face the top-seeded New York Rangers in the first round.
Bruins 4, Sabres 3, SO: Patrice Bergeron had three assists in regulation and the game-winner in the shootout to lead defending Stanley Cup champion Boston into the postseason with a win over visiting Buffalo.
Flames 5, Ducks 2: Nigerian-born Akim Aliu scored his first two NHL goals and Calgary beat visiting Anaheim.
Panthers 4, Hurricanes 1: At Sunrise, Fla., Florida clinched the first division title in franchise history, getting first-period goals from Marcel Goc and John Madden and 33 saves from Scott Clemmensen to beat Carolina and wrap up the Southeast crown.
Blue Jackets 7, Islanders 3: Cam Atkinson scored two goals - giving him five in five periods - to lead Columbus past visiting New York.
Lightning 4, Jets 3, OT: Steven Stamkos scored his 60th goal of the season and Teddy Purcell had a hat trick - including the overtime winner - and Tampa Bay ended the season with a victory at Winnipeg.
Canadiens 4, Maple Leafs 1: Tomas Plekanec scored a rare short-handed goal with Montreal down two players and the Canadiens beat visiting Toronto.
Coyotes 4, Wild 1: At St. Paul, Minn., Taylor Pyatt scored two goals to help Phoenix clinch the first division championship in franchise history with a victory over Minnesota.
Mikkel Boedker and Radim Vrbata also scored and Michal Rozsival added two assists for the Coyotes, who won the final five games of the regular season to leapfrog Los Angeles and San Jose for the Pacific Division title. The Coyotes had never won a division dating back to their inception as the Winnipeg Jets in 1979-80.
Blues 3, Stars 2: Alex Steen and David Perron scored power-play goals, Jaroslav Halek stopped 33 shots, and playoff-bound St. Louis won at Dallas.
The second-seeded Blues will face No. 7 San Jose in the first round.
Sharks 3, Kings 2, OT: Dan Boyle scored his second goal of the game with 1:02 remaining in overtime to give host San Jose a win over Los Angeles.
Predators 6, Avalanche 1: At Denver, Anders Lindback stopped 34 shots and Nashville beat Colorado.