BOSTON -- Cheering fans stood and waved gold and black towels as the Boston Bruins claimed the Presidents Trophy for the NHLs best regular-season record. The celebration will be a lot bigger if the Bruins achieve their ultimate goal, winning the Stanley Cup. "Weve still got to do some work here in order to get the trophy that we all really want," Boston coach Claude Julien said. David Krejci scored two goals, Patrice Bergeron netted his 30th of the season, and Gregory Campbell got his eighth as the Bruins dominated the Buffalo Sabres 4-1 Saturday in a game between teams at opposite ends of the standings. Its the second time the Bruins have won the Presidents Trophy, which gives them home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, since the award was instituted for the 1985-86 season. The Bruins have 117 points, third most in team history behind 121 in 1970-71 and 119 when they won the Stanley Cup in the 1971-72 season. Buffalos 51 points are tied for its fewest in a season not shortened by a lockout. Each team has one game left. "We need to play a really strong game and feel good about our game going into the playoffs," Krejci said. Boston will end its regular-season schedule at New Jersey on Sunday. Buffalo will finish at home against the New York Islanders. Bostons first-round playoff opponent was still unknown, with Philadelphia, Columbus and Detroit all possibilities. Cody Hodgson scored for the Sabres, but Buffalo sustained another blow in a frustrating, injury-plagued season. Starting goalie Matt Hackett was taken from the ice on a stretcher after Boston defenceman Torey Krug fell on his right leg in the crease with 11:35 left. "It doesnt look good right now," Buffalo coach Ted Nolan said. Hacketts leg wasnt broken, and he was to return with the team to Buffalo to be examined by club medical personnel. He was replaced by Connor Knapp, the seventh goalie to dress for the Sabres this season. He made his NHL debut and allowed Krejcis second goal one minute later. "Some nerves, for sure, especially with the crowd definitely into it," Knapp said. "And theyre on a power play, too." Hoping for another long post-season run after losing last years Stanley Cup finals in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks, the Bruins got back on track after losing four of their previous five games. That followed a streak in which they won 15 of 16. "We were pretty reckless with the puck the last couple games," Krug said. "Thats not something our team wants in our identity." It was more of the same for the Sabres, who lost for the 17th time in 19 games with just 27 goals during that slump. "A good clean bill of health in the summertime (and) well go forward to next year," Nolan said. "Whether we missed the playoffs by one point or we missed it by 30, 60 points, it doesnt matter." The Bruins scored twice in a span of 1:29 late in the first period. Campbell tipped in a pass by Jordan Caron from the left boards at 16:54. Krejci made it 2-0 at 18:23 after Zdeno Charas shot off the backboards ricocheted to him at the left corner of the net. Krejci easily backhanded the puck into the open side. Bergeron made it 3-0 at 11:43 of the third period, taking a pass from the right corner from Brad Marchand and putting a shot from the top of the right circle through Hacketts legs. Tuukka Rask, who leads the NHL with seven shutouts, missed out on another when Hodgson converted a rebound of Marcus Folignos shot at 13:58 of the third period. "My focus has been a little bit (on the playoffs) already," Rask said, "but Ill rest a couple of days and crank it up." Krejci was credited with his 19th goal when his shot off the backboards hit the back of Knapps left skate and went into the net. NOTES: Bruins fourth-line right wing Daniel Paille was helped from the ice after falling hard when he collided with Jake McCabe, who received a major penalty for interference and was ejected with 12:43 left. Paille didnt return, and the Bruins had no update on his condition. ... Besides Hackett, four other Sabres left the game with injuries -- Christian Ehrhoff (concussion), Chris Stewart (leg), Matt DAgostini (lower body), and Brian Flynn (lower body). ... Boston is 14-2-1 in afternoon games with one remaining. ... Hackett is 1-6-1 since being recalled from the AHL on March 17. ... The Bruins were eliminated on home ice in the playoffs the past two seasons, by Chicago last year and by Washington in Game 7 of the opening round in 2012.
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Spud Webb Jersey .com) - Joe Pavelski scored twice to lead the San Jose Sharks in a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers to split a home-and-home set.PHILADELPHIA - Dave Schultz would drop his gloves in a flash, his bare fists pummeling away at unprotected faces in fits of fury so ferocious he became known as The Hammer.Schultz was the intimidating backbone of Philadelphias Broad Street Bullies teams of the 1970s that won a pair of Stanley Cup championships. The Flyers rugged style of play became their calling card, and rare was the NHL team that didnt have a tough guy or two whose primary role was to protect his teammates by brute force.Fast forward 40 years since the Flyers last championship and players like Schultz are having a harder time sticking in the NHL. The role of the enforcer is seemingly going down without a fight as speed and skill on every line have become the norm.In a league that is also facing head injury concerns — and lawsuits — is it finally time to say goodbye to the goon?They just wanted to take fighting out of the game, Schultz said. Its not the same game.But not necessarily a worse one.The true signal the culture in the NHL has changed comes from Schultzs old stomping grounds. For the first time since the organization was in its infancy, the Flyers opened the season without a true enforcer on their roster. Heck, their biggest threat might be goalie Ray Emery, who headlined a fight last season against Washingtons unwilling goalie, Braden Holtby.Weve got some toughness on our team, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said. Weve got some guys that can handle themselves. But I think when you look, there werent a lot of fights in the preseason. There are never any fights in the playoffs. In between, theres been less and less.The numbers back up the former NHL goalie.There were 143 fights through the first 408 games of the season, which projects to 431 fights overall, according to hockeyfights.com. Thats a dramatic dip from 734 fights in 2008-09 and 714 fights in 2009-10. The number of fights fell into the 500s in 2011-12 and the 400s last season (there were 347 fights in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season).The NHL has toughened instigation penalties in place since the 1930s. It added a two-minute minor for the player who started the fight in the 1990s, looking to both cut down on brawling and perhaps attract more casual fans. Of late, the NHL is dishing out longer suspensions for cheap shots and illegal hits, erasing some of the players unwritten code of justice.That tells you, lets just play hockey, Schultz said. And when theres a problem, the league will take care of it.That role used to be left to the enforcers, the de faccto bodyguards for the stars.dddddddddddd Back on the put-up-your-dukes heyday, even Wayne Gretzky had his own personal great one watching his back: Marty McSorley was the Hall of Famers first line of thuggish defence, serving and protecting Gretzky in stints with Edmonton and Los Angeles.I remember when guys like Gretzky said, we want guys to be able to protect us, Schultz said. (Sidney) Crosby doesnt want to be protected. By the league, yes. But not by one of his teammates.Stu Grimson, the colour analyst on Nashville Predators TV broadcasts, was known as The Grim Reaper with 2,113 career penalty minutes in his NHL career. He said fighting still has a role in the game, especially at home games where one entertaining scrum can shift momentum and liven up the fans.I think the fight itself, there is a purpose for it, and you can put your finger on that purpose, he said. I think it makes sense to keep that in the game, and I think its valuable to the game for that reason.Chicago Blackhawks forward Dan Carcillo said fights arent going to completely vanish, either.I dont think the mindless, senseless, go out and fight, rah-rah, for no reason, I dont think that has a place in the game anymore, Carcillo said. If guys take runs at other players, I think those players that take the run at them, whether they fight or not, they have to know in the back of their mind that theres still fighting in this game and theyre going to have to answer the bell or respond to it if theyre going to take dirty runs or cheap shots.But in the back of everyone minds is the risk of concussions and other long-term health risks that come with trading punches on the ice. The idea that brawling was as much fun as a nasty wreck in NASCAR or bench-clearing brawl in baseball came to a jarring halt in 2011 when three former enforcers were found dead.Derek Boogaard, once named in a Sports Illustrated players poll as the NHLs toughest fighter, died from an accidental mix of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone. Wade Belak hanged himself and Rick Rypien was discovered at his home after suffering from depression for a decade.The 65-year-old Schultz said he suffered nothing more than a couple of minor concussions and feels fine.We didnt hit anyone near as hard as they do today, Schultz said.There are just now far fewer of those hits.Its still an exciting sport, Schultz said. Its just evolving. Its the way it is._____AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver and Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.
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