The Flyers closed the season with a 15-6-2 run in which they passed four teams in the standings and clinched their playoff berth with a 3-1 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday.
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Two games that were postponed by snow were to be made up on Sunday, with the outcomes affecting some still-to-be-decided first-round playoff matchups.
The three-time defending Pacific champion Ducks have a game in hand, but the Kings would clinch their first division title since the 1990-91 Smythe Division crown with a home victory over Winnipeg on Saturday in their regular-season finale.
Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin, of Russian Federation, celebrates after scoring his third goal of an NHL hockey game during the third period against the St. Louis Blues, Saturday, April 9, 2016, in St. Louis.
The Sharks and Los Angeles Kings will renew one of the more bitter rivalries in the National Hockey League this week as they meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
As the final seconds ticked off, Jonathan Quick held off one last attack and secured his fortieth win, becoming the first Kings goalie to accomplish that feat. I thought we made a good effort.
San Jose is led by the trio of Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Brent Burns, while Anaheim counters with Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler. But it was their only real offensive highlight of the night. “You get 10 shots on goal, you’re not going to have success. It was a great team response and a pretty special day”. Some of their top players are playing through bumps and bruises. Kevin Bieksa and Brandon Pirri are both out without a timetable for their return.
NOTES: Anaheim’s Sami Vatanen sat out with the flu.
Goalie John Gibson recorded 27 saves for the Ducks (44-25-11). There’s certainly not much to choose from between facing either the San Jose Sharks or Nashville Predators in the opening round. Forward Anze Kopitar got the puck to the front of the net to Tanner Pearson.
Pavelski scored goals 92 seconds apart in the third period as the Sharks went on to successfully close out a five-game road trip that went from one corner of North America to the other.
Barclay Goodrow #89 of the San Jose Sharks gets into a fight with Andy Andreoff #15 of the Los Angeles Kings. There was a feeling after this game that they had flip-flopped to a degree.
The Ducks have won their division three seasons in a row and the story has been similar each year. We’ve got a few execution things we can shore up, but they got it done tonight and we didn’t.
The Ducks finished with 103 points and will face wild card team Nashville in the first round.
They took a preventive measure regarding the team’s health before the game as they scratched veteran defenseman Paul Martin and called up Mirco Mueller from the Barracuda. “We’re going to have to be prepared no matter who we face”.
The Avalanche are eager for the offseason to arrive after missing out on the playoffs, and they’ve been in a nasty slump lately. The Sharks fired blanks despite eight minutes of power play time when they managed a combined seven shots.
“We don’t have it yet”.
The Kings took advantage of home ice against the Ducks for the first time all season and came out with a 2-1 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Staples Center.
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The two teams went into Thursday night’s bout with a lot on the line, sole possession of the division with the season coming to an end.
