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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. Nike Zoom China Wholesale . The veteran fighter will be squaring off with Henderson in a five-round lightweight bout as part of another network televised card at the United Center on Saturday night. Nike Zoom Outlet . Leave it to Matt Niskanen, the newly proclaimed Eddie Haskell of the Washington Capitals. http://www.nikezoomoutlet.com/.Manager Brendan Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo on Friday that Sturridge pulled his calf muscle in training as he prepared to return from a five-week layoff due to a thigh strain. Nike Zoom Wholesale . The mood in Seattle was electrified as the parade featuring the NFL champions began near the Space Needle and made its way to CenturyLink Field, the home of the team. At a ceremony inside the stadium, the team thanked its loyal followers -- the 12th Man -- capping a day of boisterous celebration that drew an estimated 700,000 revelers to Seattle. Cheap Nike Zoom . Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports. The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot.TORONTO - Trevor Smith scored twice and added an assist as the Toronto Marlies downed the visiting Lake Erie Monsters 5-1 on Sunday in American Hockey League play. The 28-year-old, who was recently named Torontos new captain, has had a strong start to the season as hes produced three goals, two of which are game winners, and five points in his first two outings. "So far so good," said Smith of the pair Marlies victories. "These are the good times, you got to really embrace them. Theres going to be some learning times coming this way so weve just got to embrace the wins." Knowing this seasons squad would be young and raw -- the Marlies dressed 13 players Sunday 23 or younger -- head coach Steve Spott challenged the veteran Smith to be the teams go-to guy and hes been impressed with what hes seen so far. "He knows what to say, when to say it and on the ice you can see how dominant he is," said Spott. "Hes got to be a point a game guy for us, thats the pressure. He knows that, hes accepted that and he likes that challenge." Defenceman T.J. Brennan had a goal and an assist for the Marlies (2-0-0) while Greg McKegg and Tyler Biggs scored the others. Mark Olver scored the lone goal for the Monsters (1-2-0), who were playing their third game in three days. Drew MacIntyre made 20 saves for the win as Calvin Pickard stopped 28-of-31 shots in defeat. Biggs opened the scoring early in the second with a short-handed goal when he poked home the rebound off Smiths breakaway. Biggs then set the physical tone, throwing a big hit on Lake Erie defenceman Markus Lauridsen behind the Monsters net. Lake Erie tied it 1-1 on the power play as Olver got around Marlies defenceman Petter Granberg and, despite losinng control of the puck, managed to get it between the legs of MacIntyre.dddddddddddd Smith gave the Marlies a 2-1 lead on the power play at 17:59 of the second as a floater fooled Pickard glove side. Smith made it 3-1 when he finished off a feed from Spencer Abbott early in the third. Abbott, who was a minus-2 in just over five minutes of ice time in the Maple Leafs 5-4 shootout win over the Ottawa Senators Saturday night, was reassigned to the Marlies along with Jamie Devane Sunday morsome physining. "They gave us two different elements," said Spott of the returnees. "Spencer gives us some skill and he plays a skilled high-tempo type game. Jamie obviously gives us cality and grit." Brennan and McKegg scored empty-net goals late in the third to put the game out of reach. Spott admitted his team was able to take advantage of a tired Monsters team who split back-to-back games in Abbotsford on Friday and Saturday before travelling to Toronto. "We caught a break, I think, with the schedule," Spott said. "We tried to use that to our advantage today. We were able to wear them down." Toronto went 1-for-8 on the power play while Lake Erie scored once on five chances with the man advantage. An area of concern for the Marlies as they now have a week of practice is their 5-on-3 play. The club has had numerous opportunities to score while up two men in two games to start the year, but havent been able to do it. "We will work a lot on our 5-on-3 this week," said Spott. "Weve got to give their goalie some credit, but ultimately, we have to punish teams when they take those penalties." Toronto doesnt play again until next Saturday when they host the St Johns IceCaps. ' ' '