Saturday 11 April 2015 17:07, UK
John Tavares scored his 37th goal of the season early in the third period as the New York Islanders beat the reeling Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 on Friday night.
Tavares beat Marc-Andre Fleury on a rebound 2:46 in the third before Michael Grabner added his eighth with four minutes remaining to ensure New York can finish no lower than third in the Metropolitan Division.
Casey Cizikas also scored for the Islanders, and Jaroslav Halak made 37 saves.
Rob Scuderi scored his first goal in more than two years for Pittsburgh, but the Penguins are still not certain of a ninth-straight post-season appearance.
A win over Buffalo on Saturday would do just that, but they have lost five straight and are 3-9-2 in their last 14 games.
In Columbus, Cam Atkinson scored on a rebound midway through the third period and Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves as the Blue Jackets beat Buffalo 4-2 and ensured the Sabres have the best chance at the No 1 pick in the draft.
The defeat meant Buffalo (23-50-8) will finish the season with the worst record in the league and the best odds of procuring gifted forward Connor McDavid or Hobey Baker winner Jack Eichel.
Columbus, who also got goals from Nick Foligno and Matt Calvert and an empty-netter from Boone Jenner, tied franchise records with their sixth consecutive home win and 12th game in a row earning at least a point (11-0-1).
Todd Richards also became the Blue Jackets' leader in coaching victories with 126, one more than Ken Hitchcock.
Brian Gionta had a goal and an assist and Mikhail Grigorenko also scored for the Sabres.
NHL RESULTS:
Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 Buffalo Sabres
Pittsburgh Penguins 1-3 New York Islanders
