End of the line
Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated from playoff contention.
TAMPA, FLA. (AP) — Ondrej Palat had two goals, Anders Lindback came off the bench to make 25 saves, and the Tampa Bay Lightning ended Toronto’s playoff hopes by beating the Maple Leafs 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop left with 14:17 left in the first due to an undisclosed upperbody injury. He was hurt while lunging to his left and landing on his side while attempting to glove the puck. Lindback replaced Bishop, who is 37-14-7 this season for the playoffbound Lightning.
Victor Hedman had an empty-net goal late in the third for the Lightning, who trail Montreal by two points for second place in the Atlantic Division. Bishop turned aside three shots before departing.
James Reimer stopped 31 shots for the Maple Leafs, who have lost 10 of 12.
Palat put the Lightning up 10 when he beat Reimer from the top of the left circle 9:19 into the second.
Tampa Bay went up 2-0 during a power play when Palat, positioned near the post, scored after Steven Stamkos sent the puck off the boards behind the net with 4:15 left in the second.
Lindback made a nifty glove save on Jake Gardiner’s shot late in the second.
Flyers 5, Panthers 2 SUNRISE, FLA. (AP) — Claude Giroux scored two goals and the Philadelphia Flyers clinched a Stanley Cup playoff berth by beating the Florida Panthers 5-2 on Tuesday.
Tye McGinn, Sean Couturier and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for the Flyers and Steve Mason made 38 saves. The Flyers won their second consecutive game after losing the four previous games.
Jonathan Huberdeau and Erik Gudbranson scored goals for Florida and Dan Ellis stopped 22 shots. Ellis substituted for Roberto Luongo, a late scratch with an upperbody injury. The Panthers have lost six of their past seven games.
The Flyers scored four goals in the second period, including three on their first four shots.
Senators 4, Islanders 1
UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Jason Spezza scored twice and Ales Hemsky added an insurance goal as the Ottawa Senators topped the New York Islanders 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Craig Anderson made 45 saves for the Senators, who will still miss the post-season for the first time since 2011 and just the third time since 1996. They were making their first appearance this season at Nassau Coliseum, and the Islanders won the previous two meetings in Ottawa. Matt Kassian scored an empty-net goal in the closing seconds, his first of the season.
Blue Jackets 4, Coyotes 3
COLUMBUS, OHIO (AP) — Ryan Johansen took a stretch pass from James Wisniewski and scored on a wrist shot at 3:33 of overtime to lead the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 4-3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday night, tying a franchise record for wins.
Sergei Bobrovsky had 29 saves, Blake Comeau, Boone Jenner and Mark Letestu also had goals and Artem Anisimov added two assists for the Blue Jackets. It was their 41st victory to match their most in their 13 seasons. Oliver EkmanLarsson sent the game to overtime with a goal with just 14.6 seconds left in regulation, and Martin Erat and Shane Doan had goals for the Coyotes.