Making the playoffs was all but a given for the Washington

RALEIGH Marian Hossa Jersey Womens , N.C. (AP) — Capitals. It’s still a big deal for the player whose late goal wrapped up their latest postseason berth.Nic Dowd scored on a deflection with 4:56 remaining, and the Capitals clinched a playoff berth with a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.Brett Connolly and Jakub Vrana scored and Braden Holtby made 24 saves. The reigning Stanley Cup champions scored twice in the third period to reach the 100-point mark for the fifth straight year and wrap up their 11th spot in the playoffs in 12 seasons.Still, it’s a first for Dowd — who never skated in a postseason game while playing the past three seasons for Los Angeles and Vancouver before signing a free-agent deal with Washington in the summer.“I’m excited. I’ve never even come close to making it, to clinching playoffs or even playing for it, so I’m really excited,” Dowd said. “I’m sure the guys in here obviously kind of echo what I say, too. It’s just one of those things where you’re happy to get it out of the way, and then we can resume the rest of the season and play well and carry it into the playoffs.”Warren Foegele and Nino Niederreiter scored for the Hurricanes, who lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since mid-January and missed out on an important two points that would have helped their chase for their first playoff berth in a decade.Carolina, which started the third period with a 2-1 lead, fell to 30-3-2 when leading after two periods.“We have to find a way to win these games, tight games, but I think the effort was there and it was a good effort by us,” center Sebastian Aho said. “We had lots of chances to win this game. Their chances Joakim Nordstrom Jersey Womens , they made them count.”Washington’s game-winner came after Nick Jensen’s shot from the boards clipped Dowd’s stick and slipped between Curtis McElhinney’s pads.“Just got there and the puck happened to find me,” Dowd said. “Good timing, I guess.”That goal came about 3 minutes after Holtby’s best save of the night, gloving Niederreiter’s shot from about 10 feet, and Holtby then robbed Brett Pesce and Niederreiter again with about 90 seconds remaining.Alex Ovechkin — who entered with 49 goals — was held off the score sheet and missed a long shot toward an empty net with about 45 seconds remaining.McElhinney finished with 17 saves for Carolina, which went 0-3-1 this season against the Capitals and lost to them twice in a three-night span.“The fact that you got zero points from both games … we just have to bounce back from this,” Aho said.Jensen’s assist on the winner came after he was embarrassed on the goal by Foegele that put Carolina up 2-1 with 7:30 left in the second. The Hurricanes rookie juked past Jensen and beat Holtby with a forehand — then celebrated his first goal since Feb. 8 with an Ovechkin-style leap into the glass.Vrana tied it 95 seconds into the third when he took a pass from Evgeny Kuznetsov, got behind two Hurricanes and slipped the puck between McElhinney’s legs.“It was a tight game, and we never stopped playing,” Vrana said.That came after Niederreiter put the Hurricanes up 1-0 at 4:31 of the first when he poked a loose puck at the post past Holtby for his 13th goal in 31 games with Carolina. Connolly tied it 42 seconds later with his goal on a 2-on-1.NOTES: Vrana also hit the crossbar early in the first. … McElhinney was Carolina’s nominee for the Masterson Trophy, given to the player who exemplifies perseverance and dedication to the sport. … The Capitals’ nominee was D Brooks Orpik. … Carolina D Dougie Hamilton skated in his 500th career game.UP NEXTCapitals: Visit Tampa Bay on Saturday in a matchup of the East’s division leaders.Hurricanes: Host Philadelphia on Saturday. GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Nashville Predators grew so accustomed to winning, losing on successive nights proved quite the disappointment to them.Though not quite as displeased as Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet was following what might have been his team’s worst performance — and worst effort — of the season.The Predators and Coyotes play Thursday night at Gila River Arena, with each coming off losses in games in which they fell behind 3-0 in the first period. The biggest difference was how they responded to being down so early.Article continues below ...The Predators (13-4-1) came back from their three-goal deficit to take a 4-3 lead in San Jose on Tuesday Tyler Graovac Jersey Womens , only to lose 5-4 on two goals 13 seconds apart in the third period by Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton. It was Nashville’s first road loss in regulation this season.“Lousy first (period), good second, back and forth in the third,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “We made some mistakes at the end that cost us, and we had plenty of looks and chances to make it 5-3 or even go back to tie it again, but it didn’t bounce for us.”That loss came one night after the Predators lost on the road for the first time this season, 2-1 to the Anaheim Ducks in a shootout. Prior to that loss, they had won five in a row overall and were 8-0-0 on the road.“We came in after the first (period Tuesday) and knew it was not acceptable for the best team in the league,” said forward Rocco Grimaldi, who scored his first NHL goal against the Sharks. “We came out and we showed why we’re on top right now.”Nashville still has the NHL’s best record even after losing on back-to-back nights.The Coyotes (8-8-1) had a similar start Tuesday in Detroit, but a dissimilar finish.They trailed 3-0 after the Red Wings scored three goals in slightly over seven minutes — and then it got worse. They fell behind 6-0 in the third period before Lawson Crouse scored to prevent Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard from getting his 25th career shutout.The Coyotes went 1-2-1 on a four-game game road trip, and they’ve lost four of five since winning five in a row. But it was their effort, or lack thereof, in Detroit that most disturbed Tocchet.Rather than responding the way the Predators did Noah Hanifin Jersey Womens , the Coyotes seemed indifferent most of the night.“It was just lackluster by some guys. I don’t know if it was the day off (Monday), I don’t know if it was the end of the trip and guys wanted to go home,” Tocchet said. “But it’s inconsistent hockey the last two weeks and it’s something we’re going to have to stamp out really quick.”Tocchet especially didn’t like his players’ decision making, or at least the slowness of it.“You’ve got to make your decisions quick,” Tocchet said. “When you’re not focused and you’re not sharp, (your) hockey IQ goes. That’s one of my pet peeves, not having hockey IQ. That’s a tough one for me.”Maybe it’ll help that the Coyotes are beginning their second five-game homestand in three weeks’ time. They went 4-1-0 on the last one, and this one runs until the Sunday after Thanksgiving.Fourth-line forward Austin Watson is eligible to return to the Predators on Thursday now that his 18-game suspension for domestic assault has ended.However, the Predators are uncertain about defenseman P.K. Subban’s status for the final game of a five-game road trip in which they’ve gone 2-1-1. He left Monday with an apparent injury only to return in the second period, but then played only 7 minutes, 7 seconds on Tuesday before leaving the game and not returning.Filip Forsberg leads Nashville with 12 goals and 18 points, while Clayton Keller has five goals and 12 points. Goalie Pekka Rinne was 2-0 last season as Nashville won two of three from the Coyotes, and he is 18-7-2 with a 2.02 goals-against average in his career against them.