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WASHINGTON -- It came right down to the final moment of the final regular-season game for the Tampa Bay Lightning to secure home-ice advantage against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. "Lets not kid ourselves: We still have to go in and play. It doesnt matter where you play -- the better teams going to win the game -- but it is nice to go home, sleep in your own bed, play in front of your home fans," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "You work so hard for 82 games, and it comes down to the last shot of the game in a shootout to attain that goal." Matthew Carle scored the only goal, Anders Lindback sealed his first shutout of the season by stopping attempts by Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov in the tiebreaker, and the Lightning edged the Washington Capitals 1-0 in the teams regular-season finale on Sunday. "Im glad I could deliver," said Carle, who put the puck past Capitals goalie Braden Holtby. The victory clinched second place in the Atlantic Division for Tampa Bay, which finished with 101 points, one more than Montreal. "They really wanted to get over that century mark in points," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said about his players. "Everybody was genuinely excited for each other. Thats what makes it fun." Tampa Bay will host Montreal in Game 1 on Wednesday night. The Canadiens were idle Sunday, after closing their regular season with a 1-0 overtime victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday night. "You hear stories from when they went on their run," Carle said, "and the building sounds like it gets pretty rowdy." Ovechkin finished with an NHL-leading 51 goals, but he also had a minus-35 rating, and the Capitals failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2006-07, his second season in the league. "Its weird," Ovechkin said. "Its kind of a hard moment to realize youre not going to be in the playoffs and youre not going to fight for the Stanley Cup." His between-the-legs attempt in the shootout was blocked by Lindback, and Ovechkin wound up 2 for 16 in tiebreakers this season. The Capitals played in an NHL-record 21 shootouts this season, going 10-11 in those games. "A lot of em," said Capitals coach Adam Oates, who has one year left on his contract. "Theres a lot of points there." Washington finished with 90 points, three fewer than Detroit, which got the last wild-card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Asked about recent speculation about his job status, Oates said: "For me, you know what? All you can really do, all I focused on, is doing my job. Doing the best I can. And dont worry about it." Washington already had been eliminated but won four games in a row before Sunday. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, heads into the post-season on a four-game winning streak. While Cooper explained beforehand that he wanted to win to secure the higher playoff seeding, he also knew he needed to rest injured players such as centre Valtteri Filppula and left wing Ondrej Palat. "We want those guys to be ready for Wednesday. Were taking every step to make sure that happens," Cooper said. "I cant sit here and say theyre going to play on Wednesday. But they will be better Wednesday than they are today." Notes: Cooper said he didnt think LW Ryan Malones DUI and cocaine possession charges would be a distraction to the team. "Ryan is probably a little embarrassed of whats gone on. He made a poor decision, getting behind the wheel when he had alcohol in his system," Cooper said. "But for me, Ive watched all the good decisions Ryan Malones made in his life, and how charitable hes been and what a staple hes been in our community in the years hes been here. I hope this one instance doesnt take away from that, because hes been a class act for us, on and off the ice." Malone didnt travel with the team to Washington. His playoff status isnt known. ... Ovechkin and Backstrom tied for the team lead in points with 79. ... Tampa Bay C Tyler Johnson briefly stayed down on the ice in the second period and hunched over as he skated off, but he returned to action. Discount Lebron Shoes . Blatter, a 75-year-old Swiss executive who has been in office since 1998, was handed a final four-year term as head of footballs governing body in a vote at FIFAs congress. He won 186 votes out of 203 ballots. Cheap Lebron Shoes For Sale . Specifically, thumbs up to the Canadian-based teams in the NHL, or at least most of them. http://www.cheaplebronshoes.net/ . a€“ All signs point to the Maple Leafs having their top offseason acquisition in the lineup on opening night. Lebron Shoes Sales . First reported by FOX Sports Ken Rosenthal, its unknown if the impetus for the deferral proposal came from players or management, but it never left the preliminary stages. Wholesale Lebron Shoes . Louis still looking for a way out of Tampa Bay, the 38-year-old NHL veteran isnt showing his cards.After the Vancouver Canucks missed the playoffs last spring, they overhauled their front office and revamped the roster of a team that won just about everything except the Stanley Cup over the previous half-decade. So far, its going better and happening faster than just about anybody predicted. When the Canucks return from a four-day break with a game in Edmonton on Wednesday night, theyll look to improve on a 12-6-0 start that launched them into second place in the tough Pacific Division. You can catch all the action on TSN Radion 1040 at 5 pm/pt. Although theyre still getting to know their new teammates and new coach Willie Desjardins, the Canucks are hoping theyre a contender in their first season together. Weve just kind of come together with a different coach and different players, so its a work in progress, said Ryan Miller, the free-agent goalie who got off to a 10-1 start for Vancouver and is 10-0 with a 1.79 goals-against average lifetime against the Oilers. I think our attitude and our excitement has kind of gotten us through this start, Miller added. Now, we have to come together and understand what it takes to play some of the teams that are willing to play a little bit of a chess match or a smarter game. Although the Canucks are just three years removed from Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and two years past their second straight Presidents Trophy, the club launched big changes even before finishing 25th in the 30-team NHL last spring, Vancouvers worst performance in 14 years. Longtime Canucks star Trevor Linden was named their president of hockey operations in April, replacing Mike Gillis atop the department. Linden hired general manager Jim Benning and fired coach John Tortorella, who was just one season into a five-deal. Tortorella had said the Canucks veteran core grew stale, and the clubs new brass agreed. They made several changes to shake up the roster - and so far theyre all working fairly to spectacularly well. After Roberto Luongo was traded by Gillis in March, the new regime replaced him with Miller, the U.S. Olympian eager to play for a contender. Vancouver then traded veteran center Ryan Kesler, who wasnt eager to stick around for a rebuild. The deal with Anaheim landed center Nick Bonino and defenseman Luca Sbisa, who have both jumped into regular roles for the Canucks. Bonino, the Ducks third-leading scorer last season, is the Canucks third-leading scorer with 14 points already. Veteran Czech right wing Radim Vrbata has six goals and seven assists in 16 games while fitting splendidly alongside the Sedins on Vancouvers top line. Derek Dorsett has added ttoughness, while Linden Vey leads several young players injecting new energy into the lineup.dddddddddddd But perhaps the biggest boost for Vancouver has been a bounce-back season for its twin cornerstones. Their declining contributions and changing roles were just one reason that the Canucks managed the second-fewest goals in the NHL last season after years as an offensive powerhouse. The Sedins are still killing penalties for Desjardins, but theyve combined for 33 points already this season. They credit their surge to the Canucks improved balance. Weve been able to roll four lines and score timely goals, and thats what we need to win, especially in this conference, Henrik Sedin said. We cant just be a team that thinks were going to score three or four goals every night. It comes from playing well defensively. The Canucks wont surprise any future opponents with their new chemistry, and they arent getting excited about their hot start yet. After all, they won seven straight games early in Tortorellas only season in charge. Teams are playing us like were a (winning) team, Desjardins said. Theres a difference when teams are really ready for you and when theyre not, and were getting teams that are really ready for us. ... We have to be better. You cant accept playing poorly. You have to find a way. The Oilers (6-10-2) know firsthand just how good the Canucks have been, losing all three meetings this season. Since a 5-4 shootout defeat on Oct. 11, Edmonton has totaled two goals in a pair of home losses to Vancouver. Miller has stopped 78 of 84 shots in the season series and has a 1.40 GAA in five career starts in Edmonton. Its just kind of how it has worked out, Miller said following a 3-2 victory there Nov 1. When I was out East you would face teams like them maybe every other year and a lot of the games they were on a long trip coming into our building. Its just one of the anomalies of the game. I prepare the same for any team. The conference-worst Oilers havent been doing much offensively against any opponent lately, scoring three goals or fewer in each game during a 2-6-1 slide. Devan Dubnyk stopped 33 shots against his former team in Arizonas 2-1 victory Sunday, dropping Edmonton to 0-8-1 this season against the Western Conference. It was a close game for the most part, said Taylor Hall, who has three goals and two assists during a five-game point streak. It was just one of those game where we were just a bounce away from being there, but those are the games we have to find a way to win somehow. The Oilers have scored seven goals during a four-game home skid (0-3-1). ' ' '