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NEW YORK — Derek Stepan scored with 28 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, then got the winner late in the extra period in the New York Rangers’ 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday night.
With their fourth straight win, the Rangers improved to 51-21-7 for a league-best 109 points. With three games remaining, the Rangers are two points ahead of Anaheim for the Presidents’ Trophy. New York has four more (46-42) regulation and overtime wins, a tiebreaker.
The Rangers have won the Presidents’ Trophy once in their 88-year history, in the 1993-94 season — the last time the franchise won the Stanley Cup.
Columbus, the NHL’s hottest team, had won nine in a row, but won’t make the playoffs.
Sabres 4, Hurricanes 3
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Tyler Ennis scored his 20th goal and the Buffalo Sabres avoided clinching a last-place overall finish with a win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Mikhail Grigorenko, Brian Gionta and Johan Larsson also scored for Buffalo, which entered the game a regulation loss away from guaranteeing the best odds at the first pick in June’s NHL draft.
Anders Lindback made 49 saves.
Alexander Semin, Eric Staal and Patrick Dwyer scored for Carolina, which nearly erased a four-goal deficit in the defeat. Carolina out shot Buffalo in every period en route to a 52-25 advantage for the game.
Grigorenko slapped at a loose puck in the slot and it beat Ward to give Buffalo an early 1-0 lead. Zach Bogosian gave Buffalo a chance to double its lead midway through the opening period, but his point blank slap shot was smothered by Ward.
Gionta finished a 2-on-1 break by firing a wrist shot under Ward’s right arm to give Buffalo a 2-0 lead.
Lindback was kept under pressure by Carolina, but made 23 saves in the period.
The Sabres made it 3-0 when Larsson latched onto a loose puck in the slot and one-timed it past Ward just 1:18 into the second period. And it was nearly a four-goal lead when Grigorenko pushed a one-time shot off the right goal post.
An odd bounce off the end wall ended with Larsson finding Ennis for Buffalo’s fourth goal late in session.
Dwyer began Carolina’s comeback when he dragged the puck between Cody Hodgson and Nikita Zadorov before floating a backhand shot over the screened goaltender’s right shoulder with 1:54 to go in the second period.