The Lightning, who tied Los Angeles with an NHL-low 71 points, finished in last place to give them the best chance of winning the draft lottery this summer.
Atlanta, another lottery team, wasn't much better this season. The Thrashers, with 76 points, had the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference, finished 29th overall. St. Louis, a 3-0 winner today over Columbus, has 77 points with one game remaining.
Bobby Holik's 15th goal gave the Thrashers a 1-0 lead with a wrister from the left circle 5:48 into the first.
Mathieu Darche tied it with his seventh goal. Moving into the crease to block goaltender Kari Lehtonen's view on the power play, Darche redirected Filip Kuba's shot from the right circle 3:50 into the second.
Armstrong's 13th goal, coming on a wraparound that beat the glove side of goalie Mike Smith, made it 2-1.
Jim Slater and Bryan Little scored the empty-netters.
Lehtonen stopped 30 of 31 shots to improve to 17-22-5, while Smith dropped to 15-19-0.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/4/208735