* The Blues, who are riding a franchise-record four-game shutout streak (240:17), attempt to extend that run when they welcome the Avalanche to Scottrade Center. Colorado, the first club on the outside of the playoff picture, has won the opening three contests in their season series (COL: 3-0-0, STL: 0-1-2), which will wrap up this Sunday, April 3, at Pepsi Center.

* The Predators, who sit in the first Wild Card spot in the conference, try to wrap up a playoff berth when they visit the Stars at American Airlines Center. Dallas has won two of the first three matchups in their head-to-head series (DAL: 2-1-0, NSH: 1-1-1), which will see the teams meet in their final game of the regular season – on Saturday, April 9, also in Texas.

CAPITALS CLINCH PRESIDENTS’ TROPHY, MATCH FRANCHISE RECORD IN WIN
Knotted at 1-1 after two periods, the Capitals scored three unanswered goals to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy and the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs.

* At 54-16-5 (113 points), the Capitals equaled a franchise record for wins in one season, established in 2009-10 when they captured their only other Presidents’ Trophy (54-15-13, 121 points).

* Braden Holtby (21 SV) picked up his League-leading 46th victory of the season (2.19 GAA, .923 SV%, 3 SO). Only four other goaltenders in NHL history have earned as many wins in one campaign:

Most Wins by a Goaltender in One Season, NHL History
48 – Martin Brodeur (78 GP) in 2006-07 w/ NJD
47 – Bernie Parent (73 GP) in 1973-74 w/ PHI
47 – Roberto Luongo (76 GP) in 2006-07 w/ VAN
46 – Braden Holtby (61 GP) in 2015-16 w/ WSH^
46 – Evgeni Nabokov (77 GP) in 2007-08 w/ SJS
^ Active

SHARKS RETURN TO PLAYOFFS WITH VICTORY OVER KINGS
Even at 2-2 after two periods, the Sharks potted three unanswered goals to defeat the rival Kings and clinch their 11th playoff berth in the past 12 seasons.

* The Sharks, who sit five points behind the Kings for first place in the Pacific Division, finished their five-game season series with a 3-1-1 record (LAK: 2-3-0). Joe Pavelski (1-1—2) led all players with 5-5—10 in the five matchups.

* Joe Thornton provided the tiebreaking goal. He ranks second in the NHL with 14-43—57 in 47 games since Dec. 15.

FLYERS, RED WINGS KEEP PACE IN WILD CARD RACE . . .
Both the Flyers (37-25-13, 87 points) and Red Wings (38-27-11, 87 points) eked out wins to keep pace in the race for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference:

* The Jets erased a two-goal deficit, but Claude Giroux (1-1—2) scored with 13.6 seconds remaining in overtime to propel the Flyers to an 11-3-2 record in their past 16 games. Giroux, who has spent his entire NHL career with Philadelphia, posted his seventh overtime goal – and second of the season – to surpass Simon Gagne (6) for the most in franchise history.

* The Red Wings raced to a 3-0 lead and held off a late Sabres rally to pick up their fourth victory in their last six outings. Dylan Larkin notched his 22nd goal of the season, three off the rookie lead held by Chicago’s Artemi Panarin (25), while Jimmy Howard made 18 saves to improve to 7-0-1 in nine career appearances vs. BUF (1.52 GAA, .937 SV%, 1 SO).

. . . AVALANCHE INCH CLOSER IN WESTERN CONFERENCE
The Avalanche built a 3-0 lead midway through the first period and weathered a Predators rally to secure their fourth win in their past six games.

* At 39-33-4 (82 points), Colorado moved within three points of idle Minnesota (37-28-11, 85 points) for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

* Shawn Matthias scored what stood as the game-winning goal. He has 4-4—8 in 14 contests since joining the Avalanche, compared to 6-11—17 in his first 51 appearances of the season (w/ TOR).

AROUND THE RINKS
* Ben Bishop stopped all 34 shots he faced to lift the Lightning to their fourth victory in their past five games and back into a tie – in terms of points – atop the Atlantic Division. Bishop set a career high with his sixth shutout of the season, three of which have come in his last six outings (also March 13 at CBJ: 37 SV and March 19 at ARI: 32 SV).

* John Gibson turned aside 27 of 28 shots to guide the Ducks to a 4-1-1 record in their past six contests and within one point of first place in the Pacific Division. Anaheim also improved to 8-0-1 in its last nine games against Edmonton dating to Dec. 10, 2014, including five straight wins at Rexall Place.

* Sean Monahan posted 1-2—3 and Sam Bennett added two goals to help the Flames snap a three-game skid. Monahan provided his sixth three-point performance of the season, while Bennett notched his third multi-goal game – he ranks eighth among rookies with 17 goals overall.

MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Avalanche forward Blake Comeau (1-1—2) potted his 100th NHL goal.

* Kings defenseman Drew Doughty played in his 600th NHL game.

* Nashville’s Roman Josi (13-44—57) scored to break the single-season franchise record for points by a defenseman, established by Shea Weber in 2013-14 (23-33—56).

LOOSE PUCKS
MUST-SEE: Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick made a highlight-reel stick save to preserve a 2-2 tie late in the second period. . . Sharks defenseman Justin Braun, Coyotes forward Anthony Duclair and Kings forward Vincent Lecavalier each scored twice. Braun recorded his first career multi-goal game (361 GP) . . . Three players reached the 20-goal milestone: Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom (1-1—2), Nashville’sCraig Smith and Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler . . . Lightning captain Steven Stamkos (0-2—2) extended his point streak to six games (5-4—9) . . . Teammate Ondrej Palat, who was celebrating his 25th birthday, scored to extend his point streak to five games (3-6—9) . . . Predators forward Filip Forsberg (3-3—6), Jets forward Blake Wheeler (2-4—6) and Flyers forward Sean Couturier (1-4—5) also extended their point streaks to five games . . . Flyers goaltender Steve Mason (26 SV) improved to 5-0-1 in seven career appearances vs. WPG/ATL (1.23 GAA, .958 SV%, 1 SO) . . . ICYMI: Wild forward Zach Parise, Blues goaltender Brian Elliott and Penguins forward Phil Kessel were named the NHL’s “Three Stars” for the week ending March 27 . . . The crowd at Joe Louis Arena serenaded Gordie Howe in advance of his 88th birthday.

TODAY’S CLINCHING SCENARIO
The Predators will clinch a playoff berth if they defeat the Stars in any fashion AND the Avalanche lose to the Blues in regulation.

SNEAK PEEK AT TUESDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Boston @ New Jersey, 7:00 p.m., SNO, SNP, SNW, TVAS, NESN, MSG
Carolina @ NY Islanders, 7:00 p.m., FS-CR, MSG+
Buffalo @ Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m., MSG-B, BELL TV, ROOT
Detroit @ Montreal, 7:30 p.m., FS-D, SNE, RDS
Toronto @ Florida, 7:30 p.m., TSN4, FS-F
Chicago @ Minnesota, 8:00 p.m., CSN-CH, FS-N
Colorado @ St. Louis, 8:30 p.m., NBCSN
Nashville @ Dallas, 8:30 p.m., FS-TN, FS-SW
San Jose @ Vancouver, 10:00 p.m., CSN-CA, SNP
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the information above was provided by the NHL PR department