NEWARK, N.J. -- Kevin Hayes and Ryan McDonagh scored 47-seconds apart in the first period and the New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-2 Tuesday night to win the President's Trophy for the best regular-season record for the third time in franchise history.
The Rangers' fifth straight win improved their record to 52-21-7 for 111 points. The 52-wins ties the franchise record and the point total is one less than that franchise mark, both set in 1993-94, the last time they won the Stanley Cup.
Cam Talbot made 19 saves and James Sheppard and Carl Hagelin added third-period goals as the Rangers swept the four-game season series with New Jersey.
Patrik Elias and Steve Bernier scored and Cory Schneider made 36 saves in the Devils final home game (see full recap).
Wild clinch playoff spot with win
CHICAGO -- Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves, and the Minnesota Wild clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker scored in the third period for the Wild, who were coming off a 2-0 home loss to Winnipeg on Monday night. It was Zucker's first game since he broke his collarbone in the first period of a 5-3 victory over Vancouver on Feb. 9.
It was quite a turnaround from Minnesota's last visit to Chicago in January, when it lost 4-1 in the fifth game of a six-game slide. That losing streak dropped the Wild to 18-19-5, but they traded for Dubnyk on Jan. 14 and the veteran goaltender helped them turn their season around.
NHL
Bryan Bickell scored his 14th goal and Corey Crawford had 28 stops for the Blackhawks (48-26-6), who have lost two in a row (see full recap).
Senators storm past Pens to stay alive
OTTAWA, Ontario -- Mark Stone scored 2:43 into overtime to cap Ottawa's comeback from three goals down in a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night to preserve the Senators' playoff hopes.
Stone also scored in the third period, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Mike Hoffman had the Senators' other goals. Andrew Hammond had 25 saves for Ottawa, which played its final home game of the season.
Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist had a goal and an assist each for the Penguins, and Beau Bennett scored for the first time in 31 games. Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 40 saves.
The Senators moved into a tie with Boston for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa trails Pittsburgh, which holds the first wild-card spot, by one point.
Stone pulled the Senators to 3-2 in the opening minute of the third period, and Hoffman tied it with 1:48 remaining (see full recap).