Victory Gives Flyers Top Spot in the East

The Philadelphia Flyers should remember how they earned a season-ending 3-1 victory against the host Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. They will have at least four more opportunities to repeat the performance.

Eric Lindros scored his 47th goal and added an assist in a preview of the upcoming first-round playoff matchup between the teams.

The victory, coupled with Pittsburgh’s loss, gave the Flyers (103 points) the top Eastern Conference playoff spot and a date with eighth-seeded Tampa Bay.

Detroit 5, Dallas 1--The Red Wings wrapped up the most successful season in history with the victory, their 62nd of the season.

Sergei Fedorov had a goal and two assists and Vyacheslav Kozlov scored twice at Dallas.

The NHL suspended Detroit’s Dino Ciccarelli for the game for punching Chicago’s Enrico Ciccone on Friday.

Boston 6, Pittsburgh 5--Mario Lemieux had a goal and four assists to win his fifth scoring title but the Bruins defeated Pittsburgh at Boston. Pittsburgh finished second in the East, and will play host to Washington in the first round.

St. Louis 2, Chicago 2--Ed Belfour stopped 50 of the Blues’ shots but couldn’t keep Geoff Courtnall from scoring with 14:54 left in regulation as the Blues rallied for the tie at Chicago.

Florida 5, New York Rangers 1--Rob Niedermayer scored a goal and assisted on two others as the host Panthers defeated the Rangers to clinch home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Buffalo 4, Hartford 1--Derek Plante scored two goals to lift the Sabres to the victory in the final game at Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium. The Sabres are moving into $127 million Marine Midland Arena next season.