Lightning clinch Presidents’ Trophy; Canucks win in OT
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored his 36th goal of the season and the Tampa Bay Lightning clinched the Presidents’ Trophy with a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Monday night.
The Lightning, who have 116 points, will have home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Stamkos became the franchise leader in goals with his 384th.
Victor Hedman added his 10th goal of the season and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots. Anthony Cirelli scored his fifth short-handed goal of the season while Yanni Gourde notched his 20th goal of the season.
Clayton Keller scored for Arizona, which remains one point ahead of Minnesota for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Darcy Kuemper finished with 20 saves.
Stamkos’ record-breaking goal was scored at 6:54 of the first period as Stamkos, battling in front of the Arizona net, got his stick on Ryan McDonagh’s shot and deflected the puck past Kuemper.
The goal came in the 737th game for Stamkos and broke the tie with former captain Vinny Lecavalier, who set the record in 1,037 games with Tampa Bay from 1998-2013.
CANUCKS 3, BLACKHAWKS 2, OT
CHICAGO (AP) — Bo Horvat scored 16 seconds into overtime, and Vancouver stopped Chicago’s five-game win streak with a victory over the Blackhawks.
Alexander Edler and Markus Granlund also scored for Vancouver, which was coming off a 3-2 shootout victory in Dallas on Sunday. Thatcher Demko made 29 saves in his third career win.
The Canucks (31-32-10) pulled within six points of Arizona for the second wild card in the jumbled bottom of the Western Conference. They begin a seven-game homestand on Wednesday night against Ottawa.
Jonathan Toews and Erik Gustafsson scored for Chicago (32-30-10), and Corey Crawford made 31 stops.
The Blackhawks trailed 2-1 before Gustafsson’s long slap shot got by Demko with 3:13 left in regulation. It looked as if Gustafsson’s shot might have gone off Edler in front.
But Horvat stepped up for Vancouver, beating Crawford for his 25th of the season.
