Rookie sensation Alex Ovechkin scored the tying goal and assisted on the go-ahead goal, leading hometown Washington past Atlanta 6-4 Monday night and eliminating the Thrashers from playoff contention.
Atlanta entered the day ninth in the Eastern Conference but with a chance to reach the postseason for the first time in franchise history if it could win its last two games and get some help. Instead, the Thrashers' four-game winning streak ended, and they will finish behind No. 7 Montreal and No. 8 Tampa Bay in the East.
Ovechkin, honored by the Capitals during ceremonies before and after Washington's home finale, scored from the left slot on a pass from Ben Clymer to tie it 2:36 into the final period, then found Brian Willsie open during a two-man advantage for the score that made it 5-4 at the 8:58 mark. Matt Pettinger tacked on an insurance goal at 12:26, his second of the game, giving him 20 for the season.
Ovechkin reached 52 goals and 105 points; both totals rank third in NHL history for a rookie.
Five of Washington's goals were allowed by Mike Dunham.
RED WINGS 3, STARS 2: At Detroit, Tomas Holmstrom's power-play goal with 44.3 seconds remaining capped Detroit's three-goal third period, rallying the Red Wings over Dallas.
Johan Franzen and Andreas Lilja also scored and Henrik Zetterberg added two assists for Detroit, which trailed 2-0 before stretching its winning streak to eight games. The Red Wings also made it 20 consecutive games (17-0-3) with at least a point, since their last regulation loss on March 7.
Manny Legace stopped 28 shots.
Jason Arnott had a goal and an assist and Jere Lehtinen also scored for Dallas.
PENGUINS 6, ISLANDERS 1: At Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby became the youngest player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season, setting up three goals in a victory that may prevent Pittsburgh from finishing as the league's worst team for the second season in a row.
Crosby's three-point night gave him 62 assists, to go with his 38 goals, and tied Mario Lemieux (1984-85) for the team record scoring record of 100 points. Crosby also joined Hall of Fame forward Dale Hawerchuk of the Winnipeg Jets (103 points, 1981-82) as the only 18-year-olds to score 100 points in an NHL season.
Crosby didn't take long to get his first point, executing a 2-on-1 break with Andy Hilbert to set up Hilbert's 12th goal at 1:04 of the first.
Crosby got his 99th point at 15:19 of the second, passing to Colby Armstrong along the right wing boards before cutting to the net, taking the return pass and feeding it ahead to Tomas Surovy for Surovy's 12th goal. Crosby then grabbed the puck off John LeClair's faceoff win and passed it up ice to Ryan Malone, who beat goalie Garth Snow for his 21st goal and second of the game, at 15:44.
OILERS 4, AVALANCHE 2: At Edmonton, Alberta, Jarret Stoll scored a short-handed, tiebreaking goal in the third period to help Edmonton clinch the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Jaroslav Spacek added an empty-netter in the final second, and Rem Murray and Raffi Torres also scored as Edmonton won its second striaght to close the regular season. The Oilers open the playoffs at Detroit this weekend.
KINGS 4, SHARKS 0: At San Jose, Calif., Luc Robitaille went scoreless in the final game of his 19 NHL seasons, but the Kings sent the top goal-scorer in franchise history into retirement with a season-ending win.
DUCKS 4, FLAMES 3: At Anaheim, Teemu Selanne scored midway through the third period to break the tie.