Tavares made it 4-2 at 11:57 of the third period. He forced a turnover in the defensive zone, skated down the right wing and beat Shesterkin to the far side with a wrist shot from the right circle.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnytime you can beat Shesterkin clean, I think you\u2019re pretty happy,\u201d said Tavares, who extended his point streak to four games (three goals, three assists). \u201cHe\u2019s a (heck) of a goalie. You see something and I just felt good on my shot. I didn\u2019t sell the shot very well, so I was able to not let him get super square and changed the angle just slightly at the end and got it loaded and shot it as well as I could have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zibanejad scored his second goal to make it 4-3 just 1:07 later at 13:04, lifting a backhand\u00a0over Woll’s right pad as he drove the net after a saucer pass from Gabe Perreault.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously this is not what we wanted when we started the season. I don\u2019t think any team wants this,\u201d Zibanejad said of being eliminated from playoff contention. \u201cIt\u2019s obviously tough, but it hasn\u2019t come as a surprise in terms of this happening. It was a matter of time looking at the standings doing the quick math, but it still hurts. You play to win and we are in the situation we are in. It\u2019s obviously a tough one.\u201d<\/p>\n