WASHINGTON (AP) Nashville Predators players stood around the locker room

WASHINGTON (AP) Nashville Predators players stood around the locker room after beating the Washington Capitals 4-3 Adidas Leo Komarov Jersey , huddled around cellphones watching and rooting for more franchise history.Seconds after the Boston Bruins lost to the Florida Panthers in regulation on Thursday night, Mattias Ekholm yelled out, ”Yeah boys!” as teammates high-fived to celebrate the first Presidents’ Trophy in the team’s 19-year history.A year after the Predators made an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, they’ve clinched home ice throughout the playoffs as the top team in the NHL during the regular season.The road to the Cup now runs through Nashville.”It’s a pretty good night for us,” captain Roman Josi said. ”Obviously the big goal for every team is to win the Stanley Cup, but you can’t win the Stanley Cup right now. It was something we took a lot of pride in, and I think it’s a big accomplishment for us.”Josi, who scored a power-play goal in the clincher, said he and fellow Predators players looked at the rafters of other buildings this season and wanted to earn more than just the one ”Western Conference Champions 2016-17” banner that currently hangs in Bridgestone Arena.They accomplished that in Washington thanks to two goals from Craig Smith, a game-winner from Ryan Johansen and 29 saves from backup goaltender Juuse Saros, setting a franchise record with 52 wins in the process.”It’s always just been about home ice and trying to stay in our building, give ourselves the best chance to be successful in the playoffs,” coach Peter Laviolette said. ”With that, those things happen. You end up winning a division Adidas Valtteri Filppula Jersey , a conference and first place in the league.”David Poile, who has been general manager since the franchise’s inception, shook hands and congratulated each player as he walked out of the locker room.While Laviolette and his staff watched the end of the Bruins-Panthers game in the coaches’ office and players took it in on hockey operations manager Brandon Walker’s phone, Poile watched alone from the concourse on one of the prouder nights in Predators history.”We all have goals. That was part of it,” Poile said. ”It feels real good. When we get to a week from now and we start the playoffs, we’ll be moving on to something else, but I’m very proud of our franchise. This is the first time we’ve done it and it means a lot and I’m proud of everybody, all the effort that was put in all year.”It was almost poetic that the Predators won the Presidents’ Trophy by beating the Capitals, who won it the past two seasons and three times since 2010.Days after the five-year anniversary of his now-infamous trade from Washington to Nashville, star winger Filip Forsberg remarked: ”We’ve seen especially here (in Washington) that the trophy doesn’t mean that much going forward. But I think just the home ice is going to be huge.”The Metropolitan Division-champion Capitals, who have home ice through at least the first two rounds, got two goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin’s league-leading 47th of the season and 25 saves from Philipp Grubauer in the loss.Washington could still face New Jersey, Philadelphia Adidas Dylan DeMelo Jersey , Columbus or back-to-back defending Cup-champion Pittsburgh in the first round.”I like the way we’re playing,” said coach Barry Trotz, who was in Nashville for that franchise’s first 15 seasons and has Washington in the playoffs for the fourth time in four years. ”We’re playing with lots of speed, we’re playing with lots of pace, and that was a good test.”The Predators know there are more tests upcoming, this time as the Cup favorite that won’t fly under the radar. But after going 9-2 at home on their run to the final a year ago, they assured themselves of more playoff hockey in Music City than on the road.”We learned what it was like to play at home in the playoffs,” defenseman Ryan Ellis said. ”To have the home ice is huge for our team.”NOTES: Smith’s two goals gave him a career-high 25. … Johansen scored the go-ahead goal with 5:27 left. … Kuznetsov has seven goals and 11 assists in his past 10 games. … Capitals F Alex Chiasson left the game with an illness. … Ovechkin was honored before the game for playing in 1,000 NHL regular-season games. In addition to the traditional silver stick and Tiffany crystal from the team and league, Ovechkin’s teammates got him and his wife a trip to Spain, presidential suite tickets to see FC Barcelona and a Lionel Messi jersey. … Rookie Eeli Tolvanen was a healthy scratch for the Predators after playing three games in a row.UP NEXTPredators: Return home after three-game road trip to face the Columbus Blue Jackets in each team’s season finale Saturday.Capitals: Host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in a potential playoff preview.— PHILADELPHIA (AP) Flyers fans spent the final minutes of another empty season doing what boorish fans do with elimination on deck. They chucked beer cans and threw trash and hats and whatever objects were within reach onto the ice. Flyers public address announcer Lou Nolan admonished fans – just as he had two years earlier when giveaway bracelets were hurled on the ice – but there was little anyone could do to stop them.This is how the season ends in Philly, not with a Stanley Cup hoisted in a championship celebration, but with a call for the cleaning crew to pick up the mess.The Eagles, Phillies and 76ers have all won championships – along with Villanova Adidas Paul Carey Jersey , the Arena Football League’s Soul, and Philly horse Smarty Jones – since the Flyers last won back-to-back Cups in 1974 and 1975.The only banners raised to the rafters are for retired numbers or a Hall of Fame entry.So it goes for the orange-and-black, trudging along without a Process or parade.The Flyers’ season ended with an 8-5 loss in Game 6 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Flyers haven’t reached the second round since 2012 and haven’t played in the Cup finals since 2010. Under third-year coach Dave Hakstol, this season’s berth was considered a mild surprise, especially when the team lost 10 straight games in November/December and all seemed lost.”We came into this playoff series and into (Game 6) very confident that we could not only take this series to a seven-game series, but also win the series,” Hakstol said. ”We didn’t do that so we came up short. There’s one season that ultimately is successful, and obviously we didn’t accomplish that this year. There are a lot of real positives that we’re going to be able to go back and evaluate.”The Flyers clearly aren’t in the class of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins. The Flyers and Penguins are often touted as one of the NHL’s fiercest rivalries. The truth is, the Flyers are nothing to the Penguins but a pesky gnat easily swatted away and quickly forgotten.There’s talent in Philly. But enough to win a championship? That’s for general manager Ron Hextall to assemble in the offseason and the years ahead.Here are more things to know as the Flyers head into a long offseason:HAKSTOL’S FUTUREHakstol, a shocking pick to coach the Flyers out of the college ranks, has led the Flyers to two playoff berths in three seasons but not much else. Angry Flyers fans chanted ”Fire Hakstol! Fire Hakstol!” in the playoffs and he’s aware the fans at least want him on the hot seat. But Hakstol and Hextall are tight – Hextall’s son, Brett, played for Hakstol at North Dakota. And there’s little reason to think the GM is going to acknowledge his biggest gamble was also his biggest bust of a move. Hakstol had a reputation from developing young players and there are enough on the roster to merit at least one more season.”It took a lot of young guys growing throughout the year to be able to put together the stretch run that we did have,” he said. ”At the end of the day Adidas Chris Tierney Jersey , we didn’t come into this playoff series to make steps though. We came in to win the series.”SUMMER SHAKEUPThe Flyers may have gone as far as they can with the core of Claude Giroux, who was a Hart Trophy candidate, Wayne Simmonds and Jake Voracek. Simmonds, a former All-Star, could be on the market if the Flyers are committed to a true youth movement.Giroux is the last player left from the `10 finals team and had just one goal and two assists in the playoffs.”We’re gonna keep building here and we’re going to come off strong next year,” Giroux said.The Flyers could look to Nolan Patrick, the No. 2 overall pick of the 2017 draft, to play a more pivotal role next season.WHO’S NO. 1Look no further than Philadelphia’s usual unsettled goaltending to understand why the franchise has gone 42 years without a championship. The Flyers signed former Calgary goalie Brian Elliott to a $5.5 million, two-year deal and he was a bust in the playoffs. Michal Neuvirth and mid-season pickup Petr Mrazek weren’t true No. 1s, either.The 28 goals scored by the Penguins set a new Flyers franchise record for goals against in a six-game series. It tied the franchise record for goals against in any length of series, joining the 1979 New York Rangers team that scored 28 in a five-game series win.Who’s next in net?—–