Playoff Field Set As Nhl Season Ends Penguins Can’t Improve Seeding To Exalt Lemieux’s Swan Song
The Blackhawks will be there after all. So will the Mighty Ducks - for the first time and at home, no less. But instead of Bruins, look for Senators and Stars as the NHL playoffs start Wednesday.
The regular season ended Sunday with the Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues looking to improve their seedings in the only games of significance.
The Blues did, defeating third-seeded Detroit 3-1 to clinch sixth place and set up a first-round rematch between the teams in the Western Conference.
The Penguins didn’t, losing 7-3 at Boston, which will miss the playoffs for the first time in 30 years. Pittsburgh, in sixth place in the East, will visit third-seeded Philadelphia in the first round.
The Bruins’ fans, with little reason to cheer for their own team this year, reserved the loudest ovations Sunday for Mario Lemieux, who played his last regular season game in the city where his NHL career began.
“That’s the way it’s been since I announced that I was retiring,” Lemieux said with a grin. “Seems like maybe I should have done that my first year in the league.”
Lemieux didn’t get a goal, but he added two assists to a points total that made him the league’s leading scorer for the sixth time. In 76 games, Lemieux had 50 goals and 72 assists for 122 points. He tied with New York’s Wayne Gretzky for the league lead in assists. It’s the fifteenth time Gretzky has led in assists. Phoenix’s Keith Tkachuk led the league with 52 goals.
In goal, New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur had another great year with a goals-against average of 1.88, the league’s best since Tony Esposito’s 1.77 in 1971-72. He also became the first NHL goalie since Montreal’s Ken Dryden in 1976-77 to post 10 shutouts in a season.
Defending Stanley Cup champions Colorado clinched the overall title.
Ottawa and Anaheim both made the playoffs for the first time, the Ducks even earning home ice in their first series.
The Senators went 10-4-2 down the stretch, ending with three consecutive one-goal, third-period wins. They would have been eliminated by a loss in any of those three games.
It would have been hard to foresee the Ducks’ success earlier in the season, when they won just one of their first 12 games.
“Your first time in the playoffs and you get home ice. Who’d have thunk that November first?” Anaheim coach Ron Wilson said. “Four months ago, I would have been on my knees just to get into the playoffs.”