The Edmonton Oilers are returning to the playoffs.

The club has waited over a decade for that announcement, as it hasn't been to the postseason since its Cinderella run back in 2006, when the Oilers were ousted in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Edmonton clinched the playoff berth with a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. In doing so, the Oilers ended the longest active playoff drought in the NHL.

Connor McDavid scored the opening goal during the Tuesday-night tilt, earning his league-leading 89th point of the season. As well, netminder Cam Talbot earned his 38th win of the season while appearing in his league-leading 68th game.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. - T.J. Oshie scored his second goal of the game 1:42 into overtime to bookend Alex Ovechkin's hat trick, Braden Holtby earned his 40th win, and the NHL-leading Washington Capitals beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 on Tuesday night for their fifth straight victory.

After Eric Staal's goal for the Wild tied the game with 26.6 seconds left in regulation, Oshie took a pass in the left circle from Marcus Johansson and beat struggling Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk with a wrist shot. Johansson had four assists.

Martin Hanzal and Jason Pominville had a goal and an assist apiece, but the Wild lost for the eighth time in nine games and fell to 3-11-1 in March after forward Zach Parise exited early with an injury .

Oshie started Washington's longest road trip in six years, five games over an eight-day span, with a first-period goal set up by Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Holtby made 26 saves, brushing off goals by Jared Spurgeon and Staal in the final five minutes to reach 40 victories for the third consecutive season. Martin Brodeur (2005-08, New Jersey) and Evgeni Nabokov (2007-10, San Jose) are the only other goalies in NHL history to do so.

Dubnyk, who stopped 15 shots, has given up 26 goals over his last eight games.

Ovechkin gave him even more trouble, guiding the Capitals one step closer to the Presidents' Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. His 17th career three-goal game came all on power plays.

After Nate Prosser was penalized for hooking, Backstrom and Johansson set up Ovechkin for a vintage left-circle wrist shot to finish the tic-tac-toe sequence and break a tie. Dubnyk was slow to pivot right after going down to a knee on a pass.

Ovechkin, the gap-toothed great, took over the team goal lead from Oshie with a slap shot from the same spot a little later in the second period following a hooking call on Nino Niederreiter.

Then, after Hanzal scored for just the second time in 14 games with the Wild since arriving in a trade with Arizona, Ovechkin triggered a shower of hats from the crowd by burying a feed from Backstrom.

Ovechkin has a whopping 11 goals and six assists in six career games against Dubnyk, four of those with Minnesota.

The Wild, who once had a cushion on Chicago for the Western Conference lead, must hold off surging Nashville and St. Louis in the Central Division to make sure they can at least start the first round at home. This was a promising performance against such a daunting opponent, especially after losing Parise, but there's a lot of work left for them to do on their game before the postseason.

Parise took a high stick from Tom Wilson to the face and collided with Jay Beagle's knee on his fall to the ice, where he stayed for several seconds while kicking his feet in pain before needing assistance off the ice. Parise didn't return, and the Wild went without a whimper on their four-minute power play.

NOTES: After 12 straight home games without allowing a power-play goal, the Wild have given up four in their last two games. ... Oshie has nine goals and 10 assists in 25 career games against the Wild. He played in high school in Warroad, Minnesota.

UP NEXT

Capitals: At the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night.

Wild: Host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.

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TORONTO - Auston Matthews broke Wendel Clark's 31-year-old franchise rookie record with his 35th goal of the season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs earned a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.

The victory kept Toronto (87 points) one point up on the Boston Bruins (86) for the third playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and four up on the Tampa Bay Lightning (83).

Curtis McElhinney made 25 saves to earn the win for the Leafs. Leo Komarov and Zach Hyman also scored for Toronto.

James Reimer allowed two goals on 14 shots for Florida before he was knocked from the game with an injury and replaced by Reto Berra, who made 10 saves. Reilly Smith and Jaromir Jagr scored for the Panthers.

Starting in place of injured No. 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen, McElhinney was the focus of attention in Toronto heading into the game, but Matthews quickly wiped that away with his record-setting score nearly 12 minutes in.

Hyman instigated the action, controlling the puck from behind the Florida goal before finding Matthews in front, his shot slipping between the pads of Reimer to top Clark for the franchise mark.

Clark said he knew after the second period of Matthews' NHL debut against Ottawa - when he scored four goals, including three after less than 22 minutes - that Matthews would likely shatter his record from the 1985-86 season.

''It's good,'' said Clark, who works as a community representative of the Leafs. ''If we're going to be any good we need these young guys breaking all (these records) and doing well.''

Mitch Marner recently tied Gus Bodnar's franchise rookie mark for assists (40), William Nylander matching team rookie records for power-play goals (nine) and power-play points (25) while also establishing a new rookie mark for the team with a point streak that was extended to 12 games on Tuesday night.

Matthews joined Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby as the only rookies since the 1995-96 season to scored 35 goals.

Clark compared him to former Leafs captain and franchise leading scorer, Mats Sundin. Just like Sundin, Clark said, Matthews could be dangerous all by himself, but also gifted in finding teammates for open looks.

He said Matthews had a ''goal-scorer's touch'' and the ''hands of a little guy'', his strength also likely to grow in the years ahead.

Matthews also increased his NHL lead for game-opening goals - now with 14 on the season - and pulled within four points of Peter Ihnacak's franchise rookie mark for points (66), set during the 1982-83 season.

The Leafs controlled almost every aspect of the first period, outshooting the Panthers 13-3 while spending shift after shift in Florida's zone. Komarov increased Toronto's lead to 2-0 less than three minutes after Matthews's goal, finishing a 2-on-1 opportunity with Connor Brown.

Falling out of the playoff race in recent weeks, Florida found some pushback in the opening minutes of the second, but McElhinney was sharp. He stopped Jussi Jokinen and Smith on consecutive chances around the midway point of the period.

The 33-year-old was starting with Andersen missing his first game because of an upper-body injury suffered Saturday in Buffalo when he was bumped in the head by Sabres forward William Carrier.

It was a similar play that knocked out Reimer - Toronto's longtime starter before Andersen - from Tuesday's game, Brian Boyle clipping him as he circled the net. Reimer stayed down in apparent discomfort immediately afterward as Boyle fought Colton Sceviour. He finally helped to a sitting position by a team trainer and left the ice with a persistent grimace on his face.

Smith got the Panthers on the board with less than five minutes left in the second, beating Matthews to the net as he redirected Keith Yandle's point pass.

McElhinney made two big saves early in the third to keep the Leafs in front, the latter a right pad stop on Aleksander Barkov. It was shortly after, that Hyman scored a short-handed goal that increased Toronto's lead back to two.

Hyman became the fifth Leafs rookie to score at least 10 goals this season.

Jagr pulled Florida within one in the final minute of regulation.

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A note to NHL defensemen: cover Alex Ovechkin.

The future Hall of Famer has made a career out of sniping from his usual spot on the Washington Capitals' power play, but that didn't stop the Minnesota Wild from leaving him open there on three different occasions.

And the Russian sniper burned them all three times, completing a hat trick of near-identical tallies.

Number one:

Doubling up:

Three-for-three:

Not exactly Nikita Kucherov-level identical goals, but it's fair to assume Ovechkin wasn't surprising anyone with those shots.

With the trio, Ovechkin earned his 112th career multi-goal night, moving him past Teemu Selanne for the most since the 1994-95 lockout.

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Sam Reinhart is officially in the doghouse, and that doghouse is apparently on the Buffalo Sabres' bench.

Reinhart was benched for all 60 minutes of the Sabres' Tuesday night loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, apparently as punishment for violating a team rule, according to John Vogl of The Buffalo News.

"Earlier in the day, Sam Reinhart violated a team policy, and the discipline was not playing in tonight's game," head coach Dan Bylsma said after the loss, according to Vogl. "We're going to move forward from here. Disappointing, but it happened and we dealt with it."

"We're part of a team. We do things as a team, and that's hopefully the lesson."

Sabres captain Brian Gionta backed up his coach's decision.

"It's for everybody," Gionta said, according to Vogl. "It's not just Sam. It's everybody. It's keeping everybody to the same level, and that's what we want to do. We're building a culture here, so everybody needs to learn from it."

The decision to have Reinhart dress for the game but not take a single shift, as opposed to making him a healthy scratch, meant the Sabres were forced to play with only 11 forwards.

Evander Kane led the forward corps in ice time with 25:24 minutes during the 3-1 loss, while Jack Eichel finished with more than 23 minutes, and Ryan O'Reilly skated for more than 22.

Reinhart has 17 goals and 46 points on the season - the latter mark ranking as the third-highest total among all Sabres skaters.

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BOSTON - Tuukka Rask made 24 saves in his return from a one-game absence and the Boston Bruins beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Tuesday night, boosting their playoff chances.

Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Noel Acciari and David Backes scored for the Bruins, who moved three points ahead of idle Tampa Bay for the second Eastern Conference wild card with six games remaining. Boston began the night a point behind Toronto for third place in the Atlantic Division.

Rask was sidelined with a lower-body injury for Boston's 2-1 road win against the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Bergeron's goal was his 18th of the season, and Krejci got his 22nd. Acciari scored his first career goal in 43 NHL games, Backes netted his 17th of the season and Zdeno Chara earned his 600th NHL point with an assist on Boston's first goal.

Craig Smith scored his 10th goal for the Predators, who had their four-game winning streak snapped. Pekka Rinne made 27 saves but took his first loss in six starts.

Nashville remained one point ahead of idle St. Louis for third in the Central Division.

The Predators had won three straight meetings with the Bruins, including a 2-1 victory Jan. 12 in Nashville.

Bergeron opened the scoring 2:28 into the first period, slamming home a rebound after Chara's shot from the blue line bounced off Rinne's leg.

Krejci's wrister trickled through Rinne's legs to double the Bruins' lead at 13:52 of the first.

Smith redirected Roman Josi's shot past Rask to cut the Nashville's deficit in half with 8:44 remaining in the third.

Acciari tapped in a shot-pass from Riley Nash as the Bruins converted on a 3-on-1 chance with 4:13 to play. Backes scored an empty-netter with 1:31 left to seal it.

NOTES: Nashville C Mike Fisher (lower body) missed his fourth straight game. Predators general manager David Poile told 102.5 The Game radio Tuesday he is hopeful Fisher can return ''as soon as Thursday.'' ... Predators D Yannick Weber (upper body) sat out for the second consecutive night. ... Boston C Tim Schaller (lower body) missed his ninth game in a row. ... Chara was named the Bruins' nominee for the Masterson Trophy, which honors dedication to hockey. ''It's a game that gives you so much delight and makes you a better person,'' the 40-year-old defenseman said. ... Boston recalled G Zane McIntyre from Providence of the AHL on an emergency basis two hours before the game, but was returned during the first-period intermission.

UP NEXT

Predators: Open a two-game homestand Thursday against Toronto.

Bruins: Continue a three-game homestand Thursday against Dallas.

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Everything ends. Badly, for the most part.

The Detroit Red Wings were officially eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday night, ending the club's remarkable 25-year postseason streak.

It was the longest active playoff streak in pro sports, and ends tied for the third-longest in NHL history.

It was a most productive generation. Detroit won six Presidents' trophies, made six trips to the Stanley Cup Final since 1991, and ended up hosting four Stanley Cup parades. It was the kind of streak all sports franchises aspire to, containing greatness both on the team and player levels.

"Right now it's hard to talk about, because you're a big reason why it's not continuing," captain Henrik Zetterberg said, writes NHL.com's Nicholas J. Cotsonika.

It's hard to fathom springtime in Detroit without hockey, but that's the reality. The Detroit Tigers will undoubtedly have a lot more eyes on them as the MLB season gets going.

"We've given the fans wonderful hockey for a quarter of a century," Jimmy Devellano, the Red Wings' senior vice president, said. "It had to happen. It had to happen."

The club won more than 1,100 regular-season games during the streak, and enjoyed its best season in club history in 1995-96, when Detroit finished a remarkable 62-13-7. While that campaign ended in a third-round playoff defeat, two Stanley Cups would follow in 1997 and 1998.

Steve Yzerman. Sergei Fedorov. Ken Holland. Scotty Bowman. Nicklas Lidstrom. Pavel Datsyuk. Tomas Holmstrom. Brendan Shanahan. What a run.

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With an assist on Artturi Lehkonen's 14th goal of the season, defenseman Andrei Markov collected career point No. 572 to tie Guy Lapointe for the second-most points by a Montreal Canadiens defenseman on Tuesday night.

Markov hit the milestone feeding Lehkonen who buried a fluky one-timer past Dallas Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen late in the third period. Consequently Markov was then serenaded with a standing ovation by the Montreal faithful.

While the 38-year-old now needs just a single point to move into sole possession of second place, it will take an extra 311 points if Markov is to catch Larry Robinson who sits atop the list with 883 points.

Meanwhile Markov still sits third among franchise defensemen with 119 goals and will once again match Lapointe for second all-time with 47 more goals.

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The Philadelphia Flyers went into play Tuesday with a 0.2 percent chance to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs, according to Sports Club Stats. And they'll live another day thanks to Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson.

With Philly trailing 2-1 with six minutes left in the third period, Anderson put the puck perfectly on Jordan Weal's stick. Only problem: Weal's a Flyer.

Making matters worse, Anderson was behind his net, making Weal's gift even better.

The forward made no mistake, the game eventually went to a shootout, where the Flyers prevailed.

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RALEIGH, N.C. - Lee Stempniak and Joakim Nordstrom scored about five minutes apart in the first period, and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 Tuesday night in the teams' second meeting in two nights.

Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm also scored for Carolina and Cam Ward stopped 21 shots. The Hurricanes have earned a point in 12 straight games (8-0-4) to move four points out of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.

The Red Wings beat the Hurricanes on Monday in a makeup game rescheduled from Dec. 19 when a Freon leak at PNC Arena made for unplayable ice. Tuesday's contest was regularly scheduled.

The postponement resulted in three games in the three days for the Red Wings. They won the first two but visibly struggled with their energy in the finale to snap a four-game point streak.

Tomas Nosek scored his first NHL goal and Jimmy Howard made 29 saves for Detroit.

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