Ex-Hawk Dumont instrumental in Predators' big victory
J.P. Dumont scored the tying goal and assisted on the game-winner as the Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues 3-2 Thursday night in Nashville, Tenn.
Jerred Smithson and Greg de Vries also scored, and Jan Hlavac had 3 assists to help the Predators beat the Blues for the second time in three nights.
Jay McClement and David Backes scored for the Blues.
Dumont, a former Blackhawk who helped officially eliminate his former team from the playoff race with Thursday's win, took a pass from Hlavac midway in the slot and put a one-timer past St. Louis goalie Hannu Toivonen to tie the score 2-2 with 2:14 left in the second period.
De Vries put the Predators in front at 4:01 of the third period, beating Toivonen from high inside the right circle with a wrist shot to his glove side.
Nashville, eighth in the Western Conference, has 91 points with one game to play. Vancouver, ninth in the conference, had 88 points entering its late game with Edmonton.
Capitals 4, Lightning 1: Alex Ovechkin scored 2 goals to set an NHL record for left wings, and host Washington moved a step closer to the playoffs with a victory over Tampa Bay.
The win put the Capitals into the top eight in the Eastern Conference, although they have only one game left to play while most of their rivals for the final playoff spots still have two to go. Washington likely needs to beat Florida at home in Saturday's regular-season finale to reach the postseason for the first time since 2003.
Red Wings 3, Blue Jackets 2: Henrik Zetterberg wrapped up the Presidents' Trophy for Detroit, scoring with 11 seconds left to give host Detroit a victory. With 113 points, the Red Wings took the title of regular-season points leaders and earned homeice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs.
In other games: Marian Gaborik scored 2 third-period goals to help host Minnesota beat Calgary 3-1 and clinch the first division title in the franchise's seven seasons. Minnesota will be the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and have an extra home game for at least the first round. … Jaromir Jagr scored 2 power-play goals in a two-minute span of the first period, Henrik Lundqvist stopped 25 shots, and the Rangers clinched an Eastern Conference playoff berth win a 3-0 win over the Islanders. … Bryan Smolinski scored twice, Carey Price came within 8:30 of posting his second straight shutout, and host Montreal eliminated Buffalo from the playoff race with a 3-1 win. … Antoine Vermette scored 3 goals and visiting Ottawa moved within a point of wrapping up a playoff berth with an 8-2 win over Toronto.