Wednesday night had just a few games in the National Hockey League (NHL) as attention shifts to the race for the final playoff spots.<\/p>\n
In Toronto, the Washington Capitals<\/a> shut out the Maple Leafs<\/a> 4-0<\/a> to remain in the hunt for\u00a0postseason hockey. The Caps also completed the season sweep with the win.<\/p>\n Dylan Strome<\/a> opened the scoring in the opening frame with his 19th on the year. The winger is one goal away from scoring 20+ for the fifth season in a row.\u00a0<\/p>\n Just 40 seconds after the first intermission, Washington doubled their advantage through Ryan Leonard<\/a>. Martin Fehervary<\/a> made it 3-0 a few minutes later to put the guests in full command.<\/p>\n Despite having more shots in the game, the Leafs could not find their way past Logan Thompson<\/a>. They spent most of the third period trying to break down their opponents and play spoilers in their playoff hopes. But, Cole Hutson<\/a> added a fourth with less than four minutes to go to complete the scoring.<\/p>\n The Caps are now on 89 points with three games left, three points out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference. Remarkably, they have the fourth most regulation wins in the conference this season with 34, yet they sit on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n As for the Leafs, it was a third loss in a row as they remain bottom of the Atlantic Division.<\/p>\n Sabres edge Rangers to continue close in on Hurricanes<\/p>\n The high-flying Buffalo Sabres<\/a> also managed to claim a victory in their match, overcoming the already-eliminated New York Rangers<\/a> 5-3<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ryan McLeod<\/a> and Zach Benson<\/a> put the Sabres up two by the midway point of the first. Given how both teams have done this season, many would expect for them to cruise from there. It became more complicated than they would have wanted.<\/p>\n Alex Lafreniere<\/a> got the Rangers on the board just before the first intermission. The forward then added another early on in the middle frame to tie things up.<\/p>\n Things got worse for the Sabres, as laster on in the second, Adam Fox<\/a> scored on a power play to give New York their first lead of the night.<\/p>\n Yet, despite the challenging situation, the away team found their way through thanks to third period goals from Alex Tuch<\/a>, Jason Zucker<\/a>, and Benson once more. The first two goals came 1:23 apart for the Sabres, who retook the lead with 12:46 left in regulation.<\/p>\n The Rangers tried to restore parity in the contest, but could not do so in the end. Benson added an empty netter in the final moments to complete the win for Buffalo.<\/p>\n With consecutive wins, the Sabres have reached 40 regulation victories, an incredibly rare feat for them. They sit two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> for top spot in the East.<\/p>\n The Rangers stay bottom of the conference, losing the chance to get just a point behind the Leafs.<\/p>\n