COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Alex Ovechkin had an assist on the go-ahead goal in what perhaps will be the final game of his record-breaking career and the Washington Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Tuesday night in the season finale for both teams.
Ovechkin had the second assist on Jakob Chychrun’s power-play goal with 4:07 remaining in the third period. He finished the season leading the Capitals with 32 goals and 64 points
Anthony Beauvillier also scored for Washington and Clay Stevenson stopped 27 shots.
Boone Jenner scored for Columbus and Jet Greaves made 19 saves.
HURRICANES 2, ISLANDERS 1
NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Jankowski scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, and Carolina defeated New York.
Nikolaj Ehlers also scored for Carolina, and Brandon Bussi made 28 saves. The Hurricanes closed the regular season with four wins in their final five games and finished atop the Eastern Conference.
Bo Horvat scored for New York, David Rittich stopped 19 shots and the Islanders lost for the seventh time in eight games.
BRUINS 4, DEVILS 0
BOSTON (AP) — Mark Kasetlic scored twice in the first period, Jeremy Swayman earned his second shutout of the season and Boston clinched the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a win over New Jersey.
Boston needed a win to lock up the top wild-card position. The Bruins will face the Atlantic Division champion Buffalo Sabres in the first round of the NHL playoffs.
Ten Boston players recorded points in the game. Sean Kuraly had a pair of assists and David Pastrnak reached 100 points for the fourth straight season with an assist on one of the Bruins’ four goals in the first.
FLYERS 4, CANADIENS 2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matvei Michkov had a goal and two assists and Porter Martone had one goal to lead the playoff-bound Philadelphia to a win over Montreal.
The Flyers rested most of their key veterans a night after they secured their first playoff berth since 2020 and first home playoff series since 2018.
Michkov and Martone helped spoil Montreal’s shot at hosting the East first-round series against Tampa Bay.
The 19-year-old Martone, who starred for Michigan State only weeks ago, scored his fourth goal of the season when he deflected in Michkov’s point shot early in the first period for the 1-0 lead.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
