SAN JOSE, Calif. – Al Montoya made 40 saves in the rookie goalie’s third NHL victory, and the last-place Phoenix Coyotes prevented the league-leading San Jose Sharks from clinching the Presidents’ Trophy with an improbable 4-1 victory Thursday night.
Scottie Upshall and Peter Mueller each had a goal and an assist and coach Wayne Gretzky’s club thoroughly wrecked the Sharks’ regular-season home finale, sending San Jose to just its fifth regulation defeat here all season despite the Sharks’ 41-17 shots advantage.
Rangers 2, Flyers 1: At New York, Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves, Ryan Callahan had a goal and an assist as the Rangers clinched an Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Bruins 5, Canadiens 4, OT: At Boston, minutes after Montreal clinched a playoff spot by forcing overtime, Mark Recchi scored his second goal of the game to give Boston the victory.
Sabres 5, Hurricanes 1: At Raleigh, N.C., Jason Pominville scored twice, and Ryan Miller made 26 saves to help Buffalo snap Carolina’s nine-game win streak.
Panthers 3, Thrashers 2: At Atlanta, David Booth scored with 4:25 left in the third period to lift Florida, eliminated for playoff contention when Montreal took Boston to overtime.
Capitals 4, Lightning 2: At Tampa, Fla., Brooks Laich had two goals, David Steckel and Mike Green also scored.
Penguins 6, Islanders 1: At Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin picked up two assists to lengthen his lead in the NHL scoring race (112 points) and Pittsburgh won.
Devils 3, Senators 2, SO: At Ottawa, Zach Parise and Brendan Shanahan scored in the shootout, and New Jersey clinched first place in the Atlantic Division.
Predators 4, Red Wings 3, SO: At Detroit, Ville Koistinen and Jason Arnott scored in the shootout to complete Nashville’s comeback from a two-goal deficit.
Stars 3, Avalanche 2. SO: At Denver, Mike Ribeiro resorted to trickery in the final shootout attempt, skating in backward and flipping a shot into the net off Peter Budaj to lift Dallas.
Canucks 1, Kings 0: At Vancouver, British Columbia, Roberto Luongo made 20 saves for Vancouver for his career-high eighth shutout.