Islanders qualify

Rossi shines in Minnesota’s win against Los Angeles

Marco Rossi scored twice.(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Austrian ice hockey star Marco Rossi scored twice in his Minnesota Wild's penultimate game of the NHL season. Meanwhile, the New York Rangers crowned themselves the best team in the basic round.

The 22-year-old from Vorarlberg set up Matt Boldy's opening goal (15th) on the power play and Kirill Kaprisov's goal (49th) to make it 3-0 in the 3-1 win at the Los Angeles Kings on Monday (local time). Rossi now has 21 goals and 19 assists in 81 games this season.

In the meantime, Ryan Hartman (40) increased the Wild's lead shortly before the end of the second period. Blake Lizotte (55) scored for the Kings, who suffered their first defeat after eight home wins in a row. Minnesota, in tenth place in the Western Conference and not qualified for the play-offs, will now face the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.

New York rejoices
The New York Rangers secured the title as the best team in the basic round with a 4-0 win against the Ottawa Senators. In 82 games, the Rangers collected a total of 114 points and thus won the so-called "Presidents' Trophy".

City rivals the New York Islanders also had reason to celebrate. With a 4:1 win at the New Jersey Devils, the Islanders secured a place in the play-offs for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Meanwhile, the Edmonton Oilers celebrated a 9-2 victory against the league's bottom team, the San Jose Sharks, with eight different goal scorers. Superstar Connor McDavid recorded his 100th assist of the season.