Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella had some choice words for Montreal Canadiens forward Andrew Shaw following Columbus' 6-2 victory Thursday.

The 27-year-old agitator caught defenseman Adam McQuaid with an errant elbow to the head in the second period, drawing the ire of the outspoken bench boss.

"Suspendable. Ridiculously suspendable," Tortorella said after the game, according to The Athletic's Aaron Portzline.

Shaw was handed a two-minute minor for interference on the play:

McQuaid, who has a history of concussions, did not return to the game.

Shaw has been suspended three times over his eight-year career, most recently in 2016 when he received a three-game ban for boarding.

With two points on the night, the Blue Jackets now occupy the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference with five games remaining.

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The defending Stanley Cup champs are heading back to the dance.

With a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, the Washington Capitals officially clinched a playoff berth for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons.

The victory brought the Capitals to 100 points on the season, making them the fourth team in 2018-19 to hit the triple-digit milestone. It also strengthened Washington's lead atop the Metropolitan Division, which is now a five-point gap over the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders.

In all likelihood, Washington will claim the second seed in the Eastern Conference, meaning it will take on the higher ranked wild-card team.

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The Ottawa Senators and Calgary Flames are among the teams trying to lure Sweden's Joakim Nygard to the NHL, TSN's Darren Dreger reported during Thursday's "Insider Trading" segment.

Who is Nygard, exactly?

"He's a 26-year-old forward who's had a very good year in the Swedish Elite League playing with Farjestad," Dreger said. "His agent, Matt Keator, has been fielding interest from NHL clubs for several months now, to be frank. Of the teams interested: Ottawa, Calgary - they're both in on this guy hard."

Nygard's notched 21 goals and 14 assists this season and is drawing interest from scouts for his incredible speed, Dreger added.

As a 26-year-old, Nygard would have to agree on a one-year entry-level contract if he were to sign in the NHL.

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Welcome to Puck Pursuit, a weekly NHL podcast hosted by John Matisz, theScore's National Hockey Writer.

Subscribe to the show on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify.

In this episode, Kent Wilson of The Athletic joins John to chat all things Calgary Flames and the Western Conference. Topics include:

• How Calgary stacks up in the crowded West
• The Flames' preferred first-round opponent
• The Mike Smith-David Rittich conundrum
• Ranking the Flames' forwards, defensemen, and goalies among playoff teams

... and more!

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Vancouver Canucks prospect Quinn Hughes made his highly anticipated NHL debut Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings.

The Canucks selected Hughes seventh overall at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. The smooth-skating defenseman registered 33 points in 32 games with the University of Michigan this past season and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award given to the nation's top collegiate player.

Quinn's brother, Jack, is widely considered the top prospect for the 2019 draft.

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The "storm surge" will fade away before the postseason.

Carolina Hurricanes captain Justin Williams confirmed the club will do one last celebration on Thursday night, regardless of the result against the Washington Capitals.

Three home games remain on the Hurricanes' regular-season schedule. They'll host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and the New Jersey Devils on April 4.

Carolina enters Thursday's action occupying the first Eastern Conference wild-card spot. The team sits one point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens with a game in hand, and three points clear of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Hurricanes' post-win routines have captivated the hockey world, while also drawing criticism from the likes of analysts Don Cherry and Brian Burke.

After Cherry called the team a "bunch of jerks," the Hurricanes sold T-shirts featuring that phrase and also projected the words onto the ice.

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The Colorado Avalanche signed Boston University forward Shane Bowers to a three-year, entry-level contract, the Avalanche announced Friday.

The deal won't begin until the 2019-20 season, but Bowers will report to the AHL's Colorado Eagles on an amateur tryout contract.

The 19-year-old sophomore forward produced 11 goals and 21 points over 37 games with the Terriers this season.

Bowers was the Ottawa Senators' first-round pick in 2017. He was dealt to the Avalanche in the three-team swap involving Matt Duchene later that year.

A slew of Boston University players have turned pro since the team's 2018-19 season ended, including Dante Fabbro, Joel Farabee, Jake Oettinger, Bobo Carpenter, and Chad Krys.

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David Pastrnak's Dunkin' Donuts TV advertisement is popular around Boston, and it aired at the perfect time during the Bruins' meeting with the New York Rangers on Wednesday.

The commercial, which depicts Pastrnak going to the penalty box, was played while he received a (rare) real penalty against New York:

With just 30 penalty minutes on the season, Pastrnak is one of Boston's most disciplined players, so the odds of this happening were quite slim.

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