COLUMBUS, Ohio — Oliver Bjorkstrand led Columbus with a goal and an assist in the Blue Jackets’ 5-2 win over Tampa Bay on Thursday night that kept the Lightning from clinching the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Division.
Tampa Bay has a one-point lead over Boston with one game remaining for each team. The No. 3 seed will play the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the other will get the East’s No. 1 wild-card spot and a series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jakub Voracek, Cole Sillinger, Jack Roslovic and Andrew Peeke also scored in the Blue Jackets’ final home game of the season. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 25 shots in his 27th win.
Nikita Kucherov and Corey Perry scored for Tampa Bay, while Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman each had two assists. Brian Elliott stopped 30 shots.
HURRICANES 6, DEVILS 3: Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal and two assists and Carolina closed out a record-setting season with a victory at home against New Jersey.
The Hurricanes, who clinched the Metropolitan Division title two nights earlier, added to their franchise records for wins (54) and points (116) in a season.
Ethan Bear, Martin Necas, Teuvo Teravainen, Steven Lorentz and Jordan Martinook also scored for the Hurricanes, who will carry a six-game winning streak into the playoffs.
ISLANDERS 5, CAPITALS 1: Brock Nelson and Anders Lee scored first-period goals, Mathew Barzal had three assists and Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves as New York routed visiting Washington.
J.G. Pageau, Kyle Palmieri and Josh Bailey added third-period goals for the Islanders, who swept a home-and-home series with the playoff-bound Capitals this week and improved to 20-15-5 at home.
PANTHERS 4, SENATORS 0: Carter Verhaeghe scored twice and Spencer Knight stopped 27 shots for his second career shutout as Florida won at Ottawa.
Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett also scored for Florida, which halted Ottawa’s four-game winning streak.
WILD 3, FLAMES 2: Kirill Kaprizov scored a power-play goal 44 seconds into overtime to give Minnesota a win at home.
The Wild took over sole possession of second place in the Central Division. Minnesota leads St. Louis by two points, with each team having one game remaining on Friday. If the Wild pick up any points in their game against Colorado or if the Blues lose at home to Vegas, Minnesota will have home-ice advantage in its first-round playoff series against St. Louis.
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