Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, Nathan MacKinnon added two assists to break the franchise's single-season points mark and the Colorado Avalanche cruised into the playoffs behind a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

MacKinnon wrapped up the regular season with 140 points (51 goals, 89 assists) to top Peter Stastny's franchise record of 139 set in 1981-82 when the club was in Quebec.

Jaromir Jagr returned to action Thursday for the first time since turning 52 and immediately scored as he surpassed legend Gordie Howe to become the oldest player taking regular shifts in professional ice hockey.

Howe, known as "Mr. Hockey," was 52 years, 11 days old when played his final NHL game in 1980. The Canadian later played a single shift with the Detroit Vipers in the International Hockey League in 1997 at the age of 69. Howe died in 2016.

Auston Matthews came up empty in his bid to become the ninth player in NHL history to score 70 goals in a season Wednesday night in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 6-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the regular-season finale.

Matthews was denied on all seven first-period shots by 29-year-old rookie goalie Matt Tomkins, then rocketed a shot off the post midway through the second period. Tomkins finished with 34 saves, including 12 on Matthews, in his sixth NHL start.

Matthews' 12 shots on goal were tied for his second-most in a game this season.

Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov became the fifth player to have a 100-assist season as the Lightning beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-4 on Wednesday night.

Kucherov, the NHL's scoring leader with 144 points, scored a first-period goal, then set up Brayden Point's power-play tally with 2:55 left in the second for the historic assist.

"It's a special moment," Kucherov said. "Thanks to my teammates and coaching staff for putting me in position to have success. I'm fortunate to play with great players."

Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid notched his 100th assist this season against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night, becoming just the fourth player in NHL history to hit triple digits for helpers.

The New York Rangers have been on a mission since falling to the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the playoffs last spring. They responded by finishing with the NHL's best regular-season record.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and the New York Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0 on Monday night to clinch the Presidents' Trophy.

Jared Wright and Rieger Lorenz scored second-period goals, Matt Davis had 35 saves and Denver beat No. 1 overall seed Boston College 2-0 Saturday night to win the 10th national championship in program history.

Alex Ovechkin had eight goals through his first 43 games this season.

At that point, some folks might have wondered if the 38-year-old forward was finally slowing down. But not his Capitals teammates. Forward Dylan Strome said he was chatting with goalie Charlie Lindgren around that time.

“We were like, ‘I’m not going to be surprised when he gets 30 this year,’” Strome said.

Fast-forward to the Capitals’ 2-1 win against the Red Wings on Tuesday.

Ovechkin streaked through the neutral zone as the clock counted down at the end of the second period. Forward T.J. Oshie banked the puck off the left-wing boards, and Ovechkin collected it as he crossed the blue line.

In a flash, Ovechkin handled the puck and snapped a shot from the top of the left circle. The puck whizzed past the blocker of goalie Alex Lyon with eight seconds left, giving the Capitals a 2-0 lead and Ovechkin his 30th goal of the season.

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette called two hits by Islanders players "vicious" after an 4-2 loss on Tuesday night.

With 11:09 left in the third period, Rangers center Mika Zibanejad skated into the shoulder of Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech at center ice while both were watching play down in the Rangers' zone.

Zibanejad fell flat to the ice and Rangers training staff tended to him. Zibanejad left for the dressing room and didn't return to the ice for the rest of the period, although he did return to the Rangers' bench near the end of the game, according to Laviolette.

"He came back at the end from that vicious hit. He came back. That vicious shoulder, elbow to the head. Watch it," the coach said.

When asked if he felt it was less an accidental collision with Pelech and more an intentional hit, Laviolette said, "I do."

The New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils started Wednesday night's game with a brawl involving all 10 skaters on the ice off the opening faceoff.

The main event was Rangers forward Matt Rempe taking on New Jersey's Kurtis MacDermid, with the two having history from the previous time the Devils visited Madison Square Garden on March 11.