Capitals shut out Bruins

John Carlson scored another big goal, Charlie Lindgren stopped all 16 shots he faced and the Washington Capitals moved another step closer to the playoffs by beating the Boston Bruins 2-0 on Monday night.

Nic Dowd sealed it with an empty-netter with 11.7 seconds left, and now a win at Philadelphia on Tuesday night would put Washington back in the playoffs, regardless of other results around the NHL. The Capitals, if they make it, would be the second wild card in the Eastern Conference after the New York Islanders clinched third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Boston also still has something to play for in its regular-season finale Tuesday night at home against Ottawa: the Atlantic Division title, with Florida just one point back in the standings. The Bruins could have wrapped it up by beating the Caps, but couldn’t match the urgency of an opponent fighting to for its playoff life.

No one exemplified that more for Washington than Dylan Strome, who won a faceoff, controlled the puck and set up Carlson’s goal on a blast from the point 12 minutes in. Strome is desperate for his first NHL playoff experience with fans in the stands, outside a pandemic bubble.

Jeremy Swayman was great in goal for Boston, making 23 saves, including a sliding stop on All-Star Tom Wilson in the second period and one on Alex Ovechkin during a penalty kill in the third.

ISLANDERS 4, DEVILS 1

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist and the Patrick Roy-led New York Islanders clinched one of the two remaining playoff berths in the Eastern Conference with a victory over New Jersey.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kyle MacLean also scored as the Islanders secured third place in the Metropolitan Division and earned their fifth postseason berth in the six seasons. Semyon Varamov made 23 saves for his fifth straight win and helped New York extend its point streak to eight games (7-0-1).

Timo Meier scored for the Devils, who missed the playoffs a year after posting a franchise-record 112 points. Jake Allen had 14 saves in New Jersey’s final game of the season.

SABRES 4, LIGHTNING 2

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Dylan Cozens scored twice and Buffalo concluded another disappointing season with a win over the playoff-bound Tampa Bay.

Jordan Greenway and Zach Benson also scored for the Sabres, who will miss the playoffs for an NHL-record 13th consecutive season.

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos reached the 40-goal mark for the seventh time in his NHL career, Erik Cernak scored midway through the third period and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves for Tampa Bay, which is assured of finishing as the first wild card in the Eastern Conference.

PENGUINS 4, PREDATORS 2

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored his 42nd goal and added an assist as Pittsburgh preserved their playoff hopes with a win over Nashville.

Erik Karlsson also had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, and Reilly Smith and Emil Bemstrom also scored. Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves while making his 12th straight start for Pittsburgh, which remains one point behind Washington and Detroit for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card.

Filip Forsberg scored his franchise-record 48th goal and Gustav Nyquist added his 23rd but playoff-bound Nashville let a chance to lock up the Western Conference’s top wild card get away. Juuse Saros stopped 34 shots but the Predators finished just shy of the seventh 100-point season in the franchise’s 25 seasons.

RED WINGS 5, CANADIENS 4, OT

Lucas Raymond scored 4:35 into overtime after he tallied a game-tying goal with 1:17 left in regulation, lifting Detroit to a comeback win over Montreal.

Detroit drew iron on two shots in overtime before Raymond’s shot from the right circle got past Sam Montembeault.

Brendan Gallagher scored two goals and Montembeault stopped 30 shots for the Canadiens, who scored two early goals and were ahead 4-1 late in the second period.

RANGERS 4, SENATORS 0

NEW YORK (AP) — Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and the New York Rangers beat Ottawa on Monday night to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy for the NHL’s best regular-season record.

Jack Roslovic, Adam Fox and Alexis Lafreniere also scored and Chris Kreider had two assists as the Rangers won their league-best 55th game and finished with114 points -- both franchise records -- and will have home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

New York won for the fifth time in seven games and went 26-7-1 in their last 34 games. They previously won the Presidents’ Trophy in 1991-92, 1993-94 — when they won the Stanley Cup for only time since 1940 — and 2014-15.

WILD 3, KINGS 1

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist, and Minnesota beat Los Angeles.

Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman also scored for the Wild, who had been outscored 13-3 in their previous two games against the Kings. Filip Gustavsson made 28 saves.

Blake Lizotte scored and Cam Talbot allowed three goals on 25 shots as the Kings lost firm control of their path to third place in the Pacific Division. They are one point ahead of Vegas, which has a game in hand.

OILERS 9, SHARKS 2

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Warren Foegele scored twice and Adam Henrique and Dylan Holloway each had a goal and two assists as Edmonton beat San Jose Sharks.

Connor McDavid had a goal and added his 100th assist of the season, becoming just the fourth player in NHL history to hit the milestone behind Wayne Gretzky (11 times), Mario Lemieux and Bobby Orr.

Corey Perry, Cody Ceci, Evan Bouchard and Zach Hyman all scored to help the Oilers snap a two-game losing streak. Edmonton has gone 11-1-2 in its last 14 home games. Stuart Skinner finished with 19 saves.

Danil Gushkin and Fabian Zetterlund scored for the Sharks, who have lost four of their last five. Devin Cooley was pulled with 6:11 left in the second period after giving up eight goals on 22 shots. Georgi Romanov came on and stopped 16 of the 17 shots he faced.

Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) and Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd battle for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

BEIRUT (AP) — Leaked photographs of the son of Libya’s late dictator Moammar Gadhafi and the tiny underground cell where he has been held for years in Lebanon have raised concerns in the north African nation as Libyan authorities demand improvements.

The photos showed a room without natural light packed with Hannibal Gadhafi’s belongings, a bed and a tiny toilet. “I live in misery,” local Al-Jadeed TV quoted the detainee as saying in a Saturday evening broadcast, adding that he is a political prisoner in a case he has no information about.

Two Lebanese judicial officials confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that the photographs aired by Al-Jadeed are of Gadhafi and the cell where he has been held for years at police headquarters in Beirut. Gadhafi appeared healthy, with a light beard and glasses.

A person who is usually in contact with Gadhafi, a Libyan citizen, said the photos were taken in recent days. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media outlets.

Gadhafi has been held in Lebanon since 2015 after he was kidnapped from neighboring Syria, where he had been living as a political refugee. He was abducted by Lebanese militants demanding information about the fate of prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric Moussa al-Sadr, who went missing during a trip to Libya in 1978.

The fate of al-Sadr has been a sore point in Lebanon. His family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, though most Lebanese presume al-Sadr, who would be 95 now, is dead.

A Libyan delegation visited Beirut in January to reopen talks with Lebanese officials on the fate of al-Sadr and the release of Gadhafi. The talks were aimed at reactivating a dormant agreement between Lebanon and Libya, struck in 2014, for cooperation in the probe of al-Sadr. The delegation did not return to Beirut as planned.

The leaks by Al-Jadeed came after reports that Gadhafi was receiving special treatment at police headquarters and that he had cosmetic surgeries including hair transplants and teeth improvements. Al-Jadeed quoted him as saying: “Let them take my hair and teeth and give me my freedom.”

Gadhafi went on a hunger strike in June last year and was taken to a hospital after his health deteriorated.

Libya’s Justice Ministry in a statement Sunday said Gadhafi is being deprived of his rights guaranteed by law. It called on Lebanese authorities to improve his living conditions to one that “preserves his dignity," adding that Lebanese authorities should formally inform the ministry of the improvements. It also said Gadhafi deserves to be released.

After he was kidnapped in 2015, Lebanese authorities freed him but then detained him, accusing him of concealing information about al-Sadr’s disappearance.

Al-Sadr was the founder of the Amal group, a Shiite militia that fought in Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war and later became a political party that is currently led by the country’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Many of al-Sadr’s followers are convinced that Moammar Gadhafi ordered al-Sadr killed in a dispute over Libyan payments to Lebanese militias. Libya has maintained that the cleric, along with two traveling companions, left Tripoli in 1978 on a flight to Rome.

Human Rights Watch issued a statement in January calling for Gadhafi’s release. The rights group noted that Gadhafi was only 2 years old at the time of al-Sadr’s disappearance and held no senior position in Libya as an adult.

FILE - In this undated file photo made available Sept. 25, 2011, Hannibal Gadhafi, son of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, watches an elite military unit exercise in Zlitan, Libya. Leaked photographs of Hannibal Gadhafi and the tiny underground cell where he has been held for years in Lebanon have raised concerns. Libyan authorities are demanding that Lebanon improves living conditions for Gadhafi. (AP Photo/Abdel Magid al-Fergany, File)