TAMPA, Fla. — Boston Coach Claude Julien postponed any talk about what’s next for the Bruins. The end of a disappointing season was just too soon.
The Bruins lost 3-2 to the playoff-bound Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night when Victor Hedman scored the lone shootout goal.
The Bruins’ postseason hopes ended midway through the third period when Pittsburgh claimed the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth by beating Buffalo, 2-0. Boston had made the playoffs in each of the previous seven seasons.
“I’m not going to comment on any of that stuff right now,” Julien said. “There’s a lot of things that have to be discussed. I’m not ready to do that here.”
Loui Eriksson and Brad Marchand scored for the Bruins, who ended the season with three straight losses. Tuukka Rask finished with 23 saves while tying a team goalie record by playing in his 70th game of the season.
“It’s a tough situation,” Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. “It’s tough to find words. It’s something only people and players in this room really know how it feels.”
Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who finished second behind Atlantic Division winner Montreal. Tampa Bay (50-24-8) reached 50 wins for the first time and will play Detroit in the first round of the postseason.
The Lightning also got a goal from Nikita Nesterov, and Ben Bishop had 36 saves in his career-best 40th win.
Nesterov gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead with his third goal of the season at 5:12 of the third. The Lightning appeared to be on their way to a regulation win before Marchand scored his 24th of the season with 1:06 left.
“We never should have come to this point,” Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. “We had a lot more chances to get ourselves into the playoffs. When you don’t make the playoffs, not even close to your expectations, we definitely underachieved.”
PENGUINS 2, SABRES 0: Brandon Sutter scored twice and Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves as visiting Pittsburgh beat last-place Buffalo.
Pittsburgh extended its playoff string to nine consecutive seasons – the NHL’s second-longest active streak behind Detroit’s 24 – and avoided a near monumental late-season collapse.
SENATORS 3, FLYERS 1: Mark Stone scored twice an Andrew Hammond made 34 saves as Ottawa wrapped up a sizzling second-half surge, clinching a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a victory at Philadelphia.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for Ottawa, which finished 23-4-4 over its final 31 games. Matt Read scored for the Flyers.
CANADIENS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 3: Alex Galchenyuk and David Desharnais scored in the shootout and visiting Montreal clinched the Atlantic Division title and the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
BLUE JACKETS 5, ISLANDERS 4: Cam Atkinson and Alexander Wennberg scored in the shootout to give Columbus a win at Uniondale, New York.
The Islanders’ loss means Washington will have home-ice advantage when the teams meet in the first round of the playoffs.
RED WINGS 2, HURRICANES 0: Petr Mrazek made 35 saves in his third shutout of the season, leading Detroit to a win at Raleigh, North Carolina.
PANTHERS 3, DEVILS 2: Jaromir Jagr had a goal and an assist, and Florida won at home.
BLUES 4, WILD 2: Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen returned from injuries and scored two points apiece, helping St. Louis thwart Minnesota’s bid for an NHL-record 13th consecutive road victory.
RANGERS 4, CAPITALS 2: Kevin Hayes and Dominic Moore each had a goal and an assist, Henrik Lundqvist stopped 22 shots and New York capped its stellar regular season with a win at Washington.
The Rangers (53-22-7), winners of the Presidents’ Trophy as the league’s top team in the regular season, set franchise records for wins and points (113).
KINGS 4, SHARKS 1: Brayden McNabb and Marian Gaborik scored third-period goals, and Los Angeles wrapped up its season with a victory over visiting San Jose.
Tyler Toffoli and Andy Andreoff also scored and Jonathan Quick made 20 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champions, whose reign ended quietly in an afternoon game with no stakes. The California rivals are missing the playoffs in the same season for the first time since 2003.
JETS 5, FLAMES 1: Lee Stempniak had a goal and assist and playoff-bound Winnipeg set a franchise record for points in a rout of visiting Calgary.
The win gave the Jets 99 points, two more than the Atlanta Thrashers earned in 2006-07 before their relocation to Winnipeg in 2011.
NOTES
KINGS: Defenseman Robyn Regehr said he intends to retire after a 15-year NHL career.
Regehr spent his first 11 seasons with Calgary and also played for Buffalo.
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