Patrick Kane scored the only goal of the shootout as the visiting Detroit Red Wings closed out their season with a 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.
The Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention moments earlier by virtue of Washington’s victory over Philadelphia. The Capitals won the tiebreaker for the final wild-card berth over Detroit by virtue of more regulation victories.
The Red Wings (41-32-9, 91 points) failed to reach the postseason for the eighth consecutive season.
Detroit’s David Perron scored with fewer than five seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Moritz Seider, Joe Veleno and Daniel Sprong scored the other goals for the Red Wings, while James Reimer made 29 saves in the win.
Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (30-36-16, 76 points). Alex Newhook, Brendan Gallagher and Cole Caufield also scored, while Cayden Primeau stopped 36 shots.
Montreal took the lead at 11:32 of the first period. Newhook scored his 15th goal off a Gallagher feed during a two-on-one rush.
Seider knotted the score with 1:31 remaining in the period. He took a slap shot from the point that whistled past Primeau.
The Canadiens regained the lead at 6:17 of the second period. Joel Armia brought the puck in along the right side and cut to the net. His shot trickled past Reimer and Gallagher tapped it in for his 16th goal. Jayden Struble picked up the second assist.
Four minutes later, Caufield banged in a rebound of a Slafkovsky shot to make it 3-1. Nick Suzuki also assisted on Caufield’s 28th goal.
Veleno scored off a rebound 36 seconds later, his 12th goal. The score came after Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot. Sprong picked up the second assist.
Sprong tied it at 3:31 of the third period with his 18th goal. His shot from the right side squirted off Primeau’s leg and into the net.
Slafkovsky scored his 20th goal with 7:14 remaining on a tip-in off a shot by rookie Lane Hutson to give Montreal a 4-3 lead. David Savard collected the second assist.
After Dylan Larkin won a faceoff, Perron ripped a slapshot from the point for the tying goal. It was Perron’s 17th goal with Gostisbehere getting an assist.
–Field Level Media