National Hockey

BOSTON — Roberto Luongo came off the bench to shut down Boston in the third period, and the Florida Panthers dashed the Bruins' hopes of getting the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs with a 4-2 win Sunday night.

Two of the top four teams in the NHL are guaranteed to be out the playoffs after the second round. Goodbye Nashville or Winnipeg. Goodbye Boston or Tampa Bay. Thanks for playing.

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers cleaned out their lockers Sunday after a campaign of high expectations and epic failure brightened only by Connor McDavid winning his second consecutive NHL scoring title.

Freed from the weight of the world of being Stanley Cup favourites , the Washington Capitals are playing like a team eager to prove something.

WINNIPEG — Kyle Connor has been skating on a rink in front of fans since the Winnipeg Jets forward was three years old. But the ice wasn't real back then, and neither were the fans.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes changed owners this season. They'll soon have a new general manager. Perhaps a new coach, too. What didn't change was how early another yet off-season started.

LOS ANGELES — Jamie Benn and the Dallas Stars won't be in the playoffs. Still, they gave the Los Angeles Kings a good preview of how tough raising the Stanley Cup might be.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Minnesota Wild played the season finale with more urgency even though it was the San Jose Sharks who had something at stake.

CALGARY — It was a bittersweet night for rookie centre Mark Jankowski.

DENVER — Gabriel Landeskog sat at his locker stall, his skates still laced and most of his gear still on. The only thing missing was his jersey, which was given to a lucky fan.