Bruins Defeat Devils and Win Division Title

The Boston Bruins earned home-ice advantage for at least the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs and made the New Jersey Devils’ quest for consecutive titles a little more difficult.

Glen Murray set up a goal and scored another in a big first period, and the Bruins won the Northeast Division title and helped take away the Atlantic Division crown from the Devils with a 3-1 victory Sunday at East Rutherford, N.J.

“It’s absolutely a relief,” goaltender Andrew Raycroft said after the Bruins bounced back from a loss at home to New Jersey to win the division.

“It’s a huge win going into the playoffs, coming on the road and beating New Jersey at home. It gives us a lot of confidence.”

The Bruins, who played without star center Joe Thornton for the second consecutive game because of what’s being called an upper-body injury by the team, will play the Montreal Canadiens in a best-of-seven series starting Wednesday.

The Bruins, the second-seeded team in the Eastern Conference, won the season series with the seventh-seeded Canadiens, 3-0-1-2.

Coupled with Philadelphia’s 3-3 tie with the New York Islanders, the Devils finished one point behind the Flyers in the Atlantic Division.

Philadelphia 3, New York Islanders 3 -- Kim Johnsson’s goal tied the score 4:20 into the third period at Uniondale, N.Y., and the Flyers got the point they needed to clinch the Atlantic Division title.

The Flyers edged New Jersey, 101 points to 100, and will open the playoffs with home-ice advantage against the Stanley Cup champion Devils.

Pittsburgh 4, Washington 3 -- The Penguins, despite finishing last in the NHL standings for the first time since 1984, finished their late-season surge with a victory at Pittsburgh.

After losing 18 consecutive games, the Penguins went 12-5-3 -- the greatest turnaround by an NHL team in any season after a winless streak of 15 games or longer.

The Penguins were 6-0-2 in their final eight home games after going 0-15-1 during a franchise-record 16-game home winless streak that included a 14-game losing streak.

Carolina 6, Florida 6 -- Brad Fast scored his first NHL goal with 2:26 left in the third period at Sunrise, Fla., to help the Hurricanes salvage a tie after they squandered a 4-0 lead.

Fast, playing his first NHL game after being recalled from the American Hockey League on Saturday, made it 6-6 with a wrist shot from the right circle.

Nashville 2, Colorado 1 -- David Legwand scored 32 seconds into overtime, and Chris Mason stopped 38 shots, helping the Predators end the regular season with a victory in Denver.

Colorado was in control for most of the game and outshot Nashville, 39-22, but Scott Hartnell tied it with 10 1/2 minutes left in regulation.

The Avalanche could be without forward Paul Kariya for the start of the playoffs against the Dallas Stars.

Kariya had to be helped off with 2:21 left in regulation after being dumped by Hartnell and hitting his head on the ice.

Minnesota 3, St. Louis 0 -- Marian Gaborik had a goal, and Dwayne Roloson stopped 24 shots for his fifth shutout, leading the Wild to a season-ending victory in St. Paul, Minn.

The Wild finished 10th in the West after advancing to the conference finals last season.

They did go 9-3-1-1 in their final 14 games and moved above .500 for the first time all season to finish at 30-29-20-3.

Dallas 5, Chicago 2 -- Marty Turco returned from a four-game suspension and made 24 saves to help the Stars get past the Blackhawks in Dallas.

Shayne Corson scored two goals for Dallas, which finished fifth in the Western Conference. The Stars will play fourth-seeded Colorado in the opening round.

Turco had been suspended for high-sticking Edmonton’s Ryan Smyth in the face on March 24.

In addition to Turco, the Stars also got back four injured regulars: Jere Lehtinen, Stu Barnes, Sergei Zubov and Jon Klemm.