The New Jersey Devils‘ 2-1 defeat (and goal by Jamie Langenbrunner (19) with three seconds left) of the Buffalo Sabres assured them of 2nd place in the East, while the Sabres will get the third seed. The Sabres needed a regulation victory to leapfrog the Devils in the standings. The Devils face the Philadelphia Flyers in round one.

Despite a 4-3 overtime victory against the Washington Capitals, the Boston Bruins were mathematically unable to move up and consequently were locked-in at the 6th spot in the East. Boston will play Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres in round one.

The final game of the season resulted in a 6-5 overtime victory for the Pittsburgh Penguins over the New York Islanders, with Sidney Crosby (51) scoring twice, to tie Steven Stamkos (51) who also scored yesterday, for the league lead in goals scored. The fourth-seeded Penguins will play the Ottawa Senators.

With the Flyers shootout win against the Rangers, they have jumped over the Montreal Canadiens for seventh place; the eighth-seeded Habs will play the Washington Capitals.

Battle for first in the Atlantic:

The New Jersey Devils absolutely erupted for a 7-1 shellacking against the New York Islanders. Patrik Elias (19) had two goals; Dainius Zubrus (10), Zach Parise (38), Dean McAmmond (8), Brian Rolston (20), Ilya Kovalchuk (41) all had one each. Travis Zajac (43) had four assists.

Although the Atlanta Thrashers can’t sneak into the playoffs anymore, they can still play spoiler, which they did against the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning 1-0 on a goal from Bryan Little (13).

Even with a Pittsburgh win and a New Jersey loss, the Devils hold the wins tiebreaker and have cemented first place in the Atlantic and either second or third in the East (depending on the outcome of their Sabres game today).

Battle for the last few playoff spots:

On the strength of three shorthanded goals (Daniel Paille (10), Blake Wheeler (18), Steve Begin (5) in 64 seconds, the Boston Bruins were able to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-2. Milan Lucic recorded the empty net goal.

Boston has officially clinched a playoff spot.

Dion Phaneuf’s (12) goal in overtime capped off a comeback effort for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as they beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3. Christian Hanson (2) scored twice and Viktor Stalberg (9) tied the game up in the third period with a short-handed goal.

Despite earning just one point, the Canadiens have officially earned a playoff spot.

One of the games the Rangers were certainly watching was the Boston Bruins versus the Buffalo Sabres, since the Rangers have a chance to catch them by the end of the season, as long as they won out. The Bruins beat the Sabres, 3-1, to help cement their playoff chances. Miroslav Satan (9), Dennis Wideman (6), and Mark Recchi (18) had goals for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask made 31 saves, earning his 21st victory of the season. The Bruins (6th place) now have 87 points, with two games left to play, and 37 victories. (Rangers also have 37 wins, but just 84 points).

The Carolina Hurricanes helped the Rangers somewhat by defeating the Montreal Canadiens 5-2. Eric Staal (29,41) had a hat trick and two assists, while Chad LaRose (11,16) had two goals and two assists. The Canadiens (7th place)  have 87 points, one game left to play, and 39 wins on the year.

The Rangers best chance at getting into the playoffs is by beating the Flyers twice (at least once in regulation).

Here’s the rest of the scenarios, stated succinctly by Andrew Gross:

- The Bruins need just two points in their final two games – Saturday against the Hurricanes and Sunday at Washington.
- The Canadiens need one point in their season-finale hosting the Maple Leafs on Saturday
- The Flyers need two points in two games against the Rangers.

The New York Islanders defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 in a shootout, with Sean Bergenheim (10,13) scoring and assisting twice. The Canadiens have not totally clinched a playoff spot yet, though they are in the best shape out of the teams who haven’t yet locked up a spot. Canadiens Current Situation: 87 points, 6th place, 2 games left (@Carolina, Toronto).

The Philadelphia Flyers shutout the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-0, with goals from Claude Giroux (16) and Mike Richards (29). Flyers Current Situation: 86 points, 7th place, 2 games left (@Rangers, Rangers).

The New Jersey Devils also shutout the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-0, courtesy of goals from Dean McAmmond (7), Zach Parise (37), and Travis Zajac (24), officially eliminating the Trhashers from playoff contention.

And finally, with both of these team’s the top in the East, there’s no battling for last minute playoff hopes, but the Washington Capitals beat up on the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-3. Alex Ovechkin (48) had two goals, while Sidney Crosby (48,52) had a goal and two assists in the loss. The Devils are now two points ahead of the Penguins for the top spot int he Atlantic. Both teams have three games remaining.

On the strength of three second period goals, the New York Islanders were able to pull off the decisive win against the Ottawa Senators, 4-1. John Tavares (22), Dylan Reese (2), Jack Hillen (3), and Sean Bergenheim (9) scored for the Isles. Martin Biron earned his eighth win of the season, on 28 saves. Matt Cullen (16) was the only Senator to get one by Biron, and it was with less than seven minutes remaining in the game. The game had a total of 62 penalty minutes; the Islanders also won the takeaway game 19-6.

Martin Brodeur set aside 26 shots last night, to earn his 42nd victory — and eighth shutout — of the season, in a 4-0 New Jersey Devils victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Besides the outstanding goaltending by Brodeur, the Devils goals were scored by: Dainius Zubrus (9) on the power-play, Patrik Elias (16), Zach Parise (36), and David Clarkson (10). This game featured 70 hits between the two teams.

The Philadelphia Flyers have now lost nine of their last 11 games; the latest coming at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0. Tomas Plekanec (24) scored the goal for the Habs, off of assists from Andrei Kostitsyn (17) and Marc-Andre Bergeron (20). Jaroslav Halak earned his 25th victory of the season and fourth shutout, on 35 saves. The Canadiens now have sole possession of sixth place in the East; the Flyers are now in eigth, two points ahead of the Rangers.

On the rare occasion that it’s okay to root for the New Jersey Devils, the rivals from the Garden State did no favors for the Rangers last night, as they lost to the Boston Bruins 1-0 in overtime. Patrice Bergeron (18) scored with 19 seconds remaining, off of feeds from Mark Recchi (24) and Mark Stuart (5). Tukka Rask earned his fifth shutout of the season, stopping 21 shots in the win – his 19th of the year. Martin Brodeur was excellent in net, despite allowing the one goal, as he made 33 saves. The Bruins play Florida on Thursday.