The Florida Panthers rallied late in the third period Saturday night, scoring twice in an 8-second span to break a 4-4 tie with the Washington Capitals.
David Booth had two goals and three assists to lift the Panthers to a 7-4 win over the Capitals on Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Steve Eminger and Michael Frolik had the back-to-back goals in the third period that broke the 4-all tie, and Nick Tarnasky added an empty-netter with 9 seconds remaining.
"I know this game didn't mean anything for the playoff push any more," Eminger said. "But it's still a game. You've still got to work hard and make the best of it."
The Panthers were eliminated from playoff contention on Thursday. They haven't been in the postseason since 2000.
"That was a great effort tonight," Booth said. "Kind of wish maybe Montreal or New York lost on Thursday but that's the way it goes. You look back and over the course the year and just think where you could have made up one point."
Alexander Semin scored twice for Washington, and Brooks Laich and Alex Ovechkin also got goals. The Capitals clinched the second seed in the Eastern Conference on Thursday.
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"We haven't played as well as we would have liked in recent games," Capitals defenseman Brian Pothier said. "I'm not sure the reason for that. But now we have to look forward."
With his assist on Semin's goal, Ovechkin tied his career high for assists in a season with 54, matching the total he set in his rookie season.
Ovechkin finished the season likely to win the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league's top goal scorer. He had 56 goals this season, 11 more than Philadelphia center Jeff Carter.
The Capitals will face the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
"It's finally good to know so you can prepare," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "But then it's like we're preparing for a whole new team because we haven't seen this team under (John) Tortorella that's played very good. Right off the bat, I think we're in for a tough team."
