ERIK HAULA

Akira Schmid rebounded from his only bad game and made 31 saves in Game 7 to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-0 victory over the New York Rangers Monday night in an entertaining first-round playoff series.

It took until the final day of the NHL regular season to set all eight matchups for the first round of the playoffs.

The Columbus Blue Jackets landed the biggest prize on the opening day of NHL free agency by signing Johnny Gaudreau to a $68.25 million seven-year contract.

Brad Marchand scored one goal and assisted on another to lead the Boston Bruins past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 and send their first-round playoff series to a decisive seventh game.

Seth Jarvis and Nino Niederreiter scored second-period goals while Antti Raanta was strong in net to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Lars Eller had a goal and an assist to help the Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins 4-2 for their third consecutive victory.

Brad Marchard scored twice and Jeremy Swayman made 27 saves and the Boston Bruins beat New Jersey 5-2, ending the Devils’ three-game winning streak.

Sebastian Aho scored his second goal of the game 1:06 into overtime to send the Carolina Hurricanes to the second round with a 4-3 comeback victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night in Game 6.

Jordan Staal scored off a rebound at 2:03 of overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

Luke Kunin scored his second goal at 16:10 of the second overtime,and the Nashville Predators beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 Sunday to tie the first-round series 2-2.

Jordan Staal scored twice and Nino Niederreiter beat Juuse Saros for the go-ahead goal early in the third period, helping the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators in the first game of the teams' first-round playoff series.

The 10th-seeded Panthers trail the best-of-five series 2-1 with Game 4 at the NHL's Eastern Conference hub city of Toronto on Friday. Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Brock Nelson, with 1:27 remaining, scored for the Islanders, the East's seventh seed. The Panthers scored first for the second straight game, with Haulas power-play goal 4:02 into the second period. NOTES: The game was Panthers first as the home team since 4-1 win against Montreal at Florida on March 7. The Islanders made no lineup changes from Game 2, while Panthers D Mike Matheson was scratched after picking up four of the Panthers 10 minor penalties this series.

Hoffman, who led the Panthers with 29 goals this season, is coming off two stellar years with Florida in which he racked up 129 points (65-64-129) in 151 games. When free agency opens sometime in mid-October, Hoffman is expected to be one of the most coveted scorers on the market, and that could place him out of Florida's price range. Depending on what Panthers General Manager Dale Tallon has planned for free agency, it could be difficult for Hoffman to find his way back to the Cats. Huberdeau was slid down to the second line, uniting Hoffman and center Erik Haula. "I think it's going to be great," Hoffman said of the line.