The Colorado Avalanche are in and the St. Louis Blues are out.

Colorado secured the final Western Conference playoff spot with a 5-2 victory over the Blues Saturday night.

The Avalanche will face the Nashville Predators - winners of the Presidents' Trophy with the best record in the league - in the first round.

St. Louis missed the playoffs for the first time since 2010-11, ending a run of six straight postseason berths.

Colorado managed to qualify despite losing their No. 1 goaltender, Semyon Varlamov, for the season and their average time-on-ice leader, Erik Johnson, for six weeks due to injuries last Saturday.

The Avalanche (43-30-9) improved dramatically this season after finishing with the worst record in the salary-cap era (22-56-4) in 2016-17.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Warning: Story contains coarse language

Alex Ovechkin came up short in his bid for another 50-goal season, but he didn't seem too broken up about it afterwards.

The Washington Capitals star credited his teammates in a 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, the final game of their regular-season schedule in which he scored twice to pad his league-leading total at 49, but just couldn't pot one more.

"All year they tried to find me, (when) I got closer to 600 (career goals) or another milestone, they tried to find me, but I had pretty good chances in the first, the second, and the third (periods)" Ovechkin told reporters postgame.

"But whatever, you know, shit happens," he added with a laugh.

Ovechkin led all skaters in the game with eight shots on goal.

If it's any consolation, he's now all but assured the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, which he can win for the seventh time.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Metro Division playoff matchups are all set.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the Philadelphia Flyers in the battle of Pennsylvania. The Flyers leapfrogged the Blue Jackets with their win on Saturday to become the third seed in the division.

Speaking of the Blue Jackets, they finished as the Eastern Conference's first wild-card team, and therefore will take on the Washington Capitals in the postseason's opening round.

As for the rest of the East, the seeding for the top two spots in the Atlantic Division will be decided with the Boston Bruins' matchup with the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The New York Rangers officially fired head coach Alain Vigneault on Saturday night.

The news comes hours after the Rangers wrapped up their regular season with a 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, dropping New York's record to 34-39-9, good for last in the Metropolitan Division.

Hired in 2013, Vigneault coached the Rangers to a regular-season record of 226-147-37 during his five-year tenure, leading the club to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014 and a Presidents' Trophy campaign the next season that resulted in another Eastern Conference Finals appearance.

The team stumbled in 2017-18, however, and as the Rangers continue to rebuild on the fly, Vigneault appears to have lost favor as the bench boss to right the ship.

Vigneault is the first head coach to be fired this season - on the second-to-last day, no less.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

An offside review appears set to play a big role in deciding the final playoff spot out West.

Tyson Barrie of the Colorado Avalanche scored a pivotal goal in the second period of Saturday's game against the St. Louis Blues, but it was challenged due to an apparent offside as the puck appeared to cross back over the blue line earlier in the play.

After a lengthy review, the goal was upheld as there were no definitive replays showing the puck leaving the attacking zone. But it was really as close as it gets.

You be the judge:

The Blues need a single point out of this game to clinch a playoff spot, while the Avalanche require a regulation win.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The St. Louis Blues were dealt a major blow in their most important game of the season.

Vladimir Tarasenko left the contest midway through the first period against the Colorado Avalanche, and the club announced in the second frame that the Blues' leading goal scorer would not return with what they would only describe as an upper-body injury.

The Blues needed a single point Saturday to clinch the final Western Conference playoff spot, while the Avalanche required a win over St. Louis in regulation to claim the position.

Tarasenko came into Saturday's contest with 33 goals and 66 points in 79 games.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are national champions, defeating Notre Dame 2-1 on Saturday to claim the NCAA title.

This is the second national championship in school history, having previously won in 2011. Last year they played in the final, but lost to the University of Denver.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 2-0 in the first period, and never looked back, out-shooting the Irish 35-20. Karson Kuhlman led the way with a goal and an assist.

Minnesota Duluth's team defense and goaltending had been exceptional all tournament, conceding just five goals in four games, and never allowing more than 21 shots in a contest.

The Bulldogs weren't exactly favorites, either, as they began the tournament as the No. 3 seed in the West Region.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The final game of the regular season will be a meaningful one.

The Boston Bruins have an opportunity to clinch first place in the Atlantic Division and the top seed in the Eastern Conference when they host the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

After Boston defeated Ottawa and Tampa Bay fell to Carolina in overtime Saturday, the door flew open for the Bruins to leapfrog the Lightning.

The Panthers were eliminated from playoff contention thanks to a Philadelphia win earlier Saturday, meaning all that's on the line for them is pride and spoiling the party in Boston.

Sunday's game is a make up date after the original meeting was postponed by a snowstorm earlier this season.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck set an NHL record for wins in a season by an American-born goaltender with his 44th victory Saturday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Tom Barrasso previously held the record after winning 43 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992-93.

Poor goaltending plagued the Jets over the past few years, but Hellebuyck solved that problem this season - he'll likely be a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, which recognizes the league's top netminder.

He finished the year with a 44-11-9 record, a 2.36 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage, and six shutouts.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Ryan O'Reilly is the new king of the dot.

The Buffalo Sabres center set the NHL record for faceoff wins in a single season Saturday night, winning his 1,269th draw to break the previous record set by Rod Brind'Amour in 2005-06.

O'Reilly has hit quadruple digits in faceoffs won in each of the last three seasons, a particularly impressive feat considering how lackluster his team has been in recent years.

The veteran came into Saturday's game with a career-high 60 percent efficiency rate in the faceoff circle.

Copyright © 2018 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.