TAMPA, Fla. — Filip Forsberg had two goals and an assist to lead the Nashville Predators to a 4-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night.
Forsberg returned to the Predators’ lineup after being held out of Saturday’s loss to Buffalo for maintenance. Craig Smith and Ryan Johansen also scored to help Nashville move closer to clinching the Presidents’ Trophy with the league’s best record. Juuse Saros finished with 29 saves.
Tampa Bay, which went 0 for 5 on the power play, played the final two periods without captain Steven Stamkos, who left the game because of an undisclosed lower-body injury.
Ondrej Palat scored for the Lightning and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 21 saves while losing his third consecutive game.
The Lightning fell to 1-4-0 in their last five games and are two points behind Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
DEVILS 2, CANADIENS 1: Taylor Hall scored a short-handed goal late in the third period to lift New Jersey to a victory at Montreal.
Nico Hischier tied the score early in the third and Keith Kinkaid stopped 25 shots for the Devils. New Jersey increased its lead to seven points over Florida for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Devils, vying for their first trip to the postseason since reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 2012, have three games remaining – two fewer than the Panthers.
Carey Price finished with 30 saves while playing his 556th game with Montreal, pulling into a tie with Jacques Plante for most games by a goaltender in franchise history.
CAPITALS 3, PENGUINS 1: Philipp Grubauer made 36 saves and Washington celebrated star Alex Ovechkin’s 1,000th career regular-season game by clinching its third straight Metropolitan Division title with a win over at Pittsburgh.
T.J. Oshie, Dmitry Orlov and Tom Wilson scored for Washington as the Capitals assured themselves of home-ice advantage through the first two rounds of the postseason.
NOTES
WILD: All-Star defenseman Ryan Suter has a fractured fibula and will be sidelined indefinitely, according to numerous reports.
Suter was injured late in the second period Saturday after his right foot slammed awkwardly into the boards following a hit from Stars winger Remi Elie. He had to be helped off the ice, as he appeared to be putting no weight on his right leg.
Already, the Wild were without Suter’s regular partner on the top defensive pairing, Jared Spurgeon, who’s on the mend after he partially tore his right hamstring March 13. Spurgeon is expected to be out at least until the playoffs.
Suter has played in 242 consecutive games and has 51 points in 78 games this season.
SABRES: Victor Antipin suffered a concussion and a broken nose when he was boarded during Saturday night’s game against the Nashville Predators.
The Sabres say Antipin also suffered cuts to his face and dental injuries when he was hit by Predators forward Scott Hartnell behind the Buffalo net. Antipin was strapped to a backboard and taken off the ice on a stretcher, and was hospitalized briefly.
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