Los Angeles: Anaheim secured the top seed in the NHL Western Conference play-offs with a 4-3 shoot-out win over city rivals Los Angeles on Saturday, with Devante Smith-Pelly scoring in regulation and then the only goal in the shoot-out.
Elsewhere, Philadelphia edged Pittsburgh in overtime to set up a play-off series against the New York Rangers, who lost in overtime at Montreal, San Jose edged Phoenix and Nashville scored five goals in the third period to overwhelm Chicago.
Anaheim’s Nick Bonino and Matt Beleskey also scored in regulation for the Ducks, who will face Dallas in the opening round of the postseason.
Anze Kopitar had two goals, including the equaliser with 3:12 left, and Dustin Brown also scored for Los Angeles.
Both local rivals scored in the final five minutes of regulation and Smith-Pelly then beat Jonathan Quick in the fourth round of the shoot-out.
Philadelphia’s Mark Streit scored in overtime to give the Flyers a 4-3 win over state rivals Pittsburgh. Streit’s backhand shot from the right circle bounced between Marc-Andre Fleury’s pads and into the net as the Flyers clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division.
Jakub Voracek scored twice for the Flyers and Claude Giroux added his team-high 28th goal of the season. Jussi Jokinen, James Neal and Kris Letang scored for the Penguins.
San Jose’s Joe Pavelski scored twice to become the fourth player in team history with 40 goals in a season as the Sharks downed Phoenix 3-2.
Pavelski scored his 40th goal on a power play early in the first period and added No. 41 midway through to join Owen Nolan, Jonathan Cheechoo and Patrick Marleau in San Jose’s 40-goal club.
Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks, who will face the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round of the play-offs. Mike Ribeiro and Shane Doan scored for Phoenix, who lost their seventh straight.
Montreal’s Brian Gionta scored from a penalty shot at 2:04 of overtime to give the Canadiens a 1-0 win over the Rangers.
Gionta was awarded the shot after he poked the puck away from Raphael Diaz and then was tripped by the defenceman on a breakaway. He deked to the backhand to beat Cam Talbot on the shot.
Montreal moved past Tampa Bay for second place in the Atlantic Division. The Lightning can still claim home ice advantage for their first round play-off meeting if they win their final game Sunday against Washington.
Nashville’s Patric Hornqvist scored the go-ahead goal with 58.2 seconds left and Shea Weber added an empty-nester to complete the Predators’ 7-5 win over Chicago.
The teams combined to score seven goals in a furious final period. Chicago were up 3-2 going into the third and Nashville finally put the Blackhawks away with the two goals inside the final minute.
Craig Smith had a goal and an assist. Ryan Ellis, Matt Cullen and Colin Wilson also scored a goal apiece. Ben Smith, Marian Hossa, Matt Carey and Jeremy Morin each scored for Chicago.
Ottawa’s Jason Spezza scored the game’s only goal and Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots for his fourth shutout of the season as the Senators beat Toronto 1-0.
Boston clinched the NHL’s best record and home-ice advantage throughout the play-offs with a 4-1 win over league-worst Buffalo.
Columbus made it eight straight wins over Florida as Ryan Johansen scored the tiebreaker in the third period to complete a 3-2 win.
Edmonton marked Ryan Smyth’s final game with a 5-2 win over Vancouver, with Taylor Hall having three assists to reach 80 points for the season.
