NHL roundup: Capitals beat Bruins to earn East No. 3 seed

T.J. Oshie and Tom Wilson scored, Braden Holtby made 30 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 in round-robin play Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and set up a first-round matchup against former coach Barry Trotz’s New York Islanders.

Boston, which won the Presidents’ Trophy as the top team during the NHL regular season that was cut short in March, lost all three of its seeding games and fell to fourth in the East. The Bruins will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round in a rematch of the 2019 East final.

Trotz coached Washington to its first Stanley Cup title in franchise history in 2018, then left in a contract dispute. Trotz went to the Islanders, while the Capitals hired his top assistant, Todd Reirden, as head coach. This is the first time they’ve faced off in a playoff series since.

“It’ll be interesting,� Wilson said. “We know them well, some personnel and the coaching staff that we’re familiar with, obviously a good rivalry, so we’re excited for it and ready to go.�

Stars 2, Blues 1

Joe Pavelski tied it with 31.4 seconds left in the third period, Anton Khudobin stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout and Dallas beat St. Louis in round-robin play Sunday to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

After Denis Gurianov scored the only goal of the shootout, Dallas will face the Calgary Flames in the first round of the playoffs. The Stars have some momentum going into that best-of-seven series after picking up their first win of any kind since Feb. 25.

“This game kind of re-established our game and got us back to an understanding of what it takes,� Pavelski said. “Relief? No. Confidence a little bit, and we’ll keep moving forward.“

Blue Jackets 3, Maple Leafs 0

Joonas Korpisalo stopped 33 shots and the Columbus Blue Jackets advanced to the first round of the NHL playoffs with a 3-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in a decisive Game 5 on Sunday night.

Zach Werenski’s floater from the left point in the first period held up as the deciding goal. Liam Foudy sneaked in a shot from a bad angle with 8:20 remaining, and captain Nick Foligno sealed the victory by scoring into an open net with 23 seconds remaining.

Werenski played despite not being able to finish Game 4 with an apparent upper body injury. And Korpisalo posted his second shutout of the series, while getting got the start after Elvis Merzlikins was ruled to be unfit to play.

The Maple Leafs ran out of offense with captain John Tavares misfiring by hitting the post while facing a wide-open side in the first period. And Toronto ran out of remarkable comebacks two nights after rallying from a three-goal third-period deficit in a 4-3 overtime win in Game 4.