With Washington defeating Florida 4-2 and Philadelphia edging Buffalo 2-1 Thursday, all eight playoff spots in the Eastern Conference have been determined.
Washington's victory, coupled with Buffalo's loss, clinched spots for the Capitals and Panthers and eliminated the Sabres.
In last place in the East in February, Buffalo made a good run, but the deficit proved too much too overcame.
While all the playoff teams are known, the playoff matchups have not yet been determined because the standings can still change.
The Rangers and Boston are assured of the top two seeds while Pittsburgh clinched the No. 4 seed and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 5-2 win over New York.
Philadelphia is locked into the No. 5 spot and will take on Pittsburgh in the only opening series that is known so far. New Jersey will be the No. 6 seed and will face either Florida or Washington.
Florida, which has lost five in a row, needs one point on Saturday against Carolina to finally put away the Southeast Division, but the Panthers (92 points) can still drop to eighth.
If Washington (90 points) beats the Rangers on Saturday and Florida loses to Carolina, the Capitals will win the division based on more non-shootout wins and get the No. 3 seed.
If Florida gets at least a point against the Hurricanes, the Capitals can climb over Ottawa (92 points) into seven with a win Saturday and an Ottawa loss to New Jersey on Saturday. In that case, the Senators will fall to eighth.
The final day of the season will determine the Nos. 3, 7 and 8 seeds. The Rangers will open the playoffs against either Florida, Ottawa or Washington.
All the playoff teams in the West also have been determined as Dallas' 2-0 loss to Nashville clinched postseason berths for Phoenix and San Jose.
https://twitter.com/#!/Hockeynightinct
- 3
- Keeper
- RSS
- Add a comment
- Hide all comments
Loading comments...
SportsHigh5
-
Nicholas Kitonyi High5'd - Grass Tune-ups http://...
Nicholas Kitonyi
MVP
0
high 5
| 23 Fans
-
Sportsideo Team High5'd - Red Herring, Bluff or H...
Sportsideo Team
All Sports
MVP
0
high 5
| 57 Fans
-
Sportsideo Team High5'd - Cornell’s Tretter mak...
Sportsideo Team
All Sports
MVP
0
high 5
| 57 Fans
-
http://tinyurl.com/lnp4ezn.
Robert Berisha
Basketball
MVP
0
high 5
| 15 Fans
-
http://tinyurl.com/m7klr3s
Anthony Griffo
Hockey - Ice
MVP
0
high 5
| 11 Fans
SportsNews
-
Cornell’s Tretter makes jump from Ithaca to the ...
Tucker Maggio-Hucek
Posted: Jun 20
MVP
1
high 5
| 1 Fans
-
Red Herring, Bluff or Huge Dissapointment
Anthony Griffo
Posted: Jun 20
Hockey - Ice
MVP
1
high 5
| 11 Fans
-
Grass Tune-ups
Kristy Eldredge
Posted: Jun 19
Tennis
MVP
2
high 5
| 19 Fans
-
Sitting on The Bench Waiting Your Turn
Vincent stanley
Posted: Jun 19
Ice Hockey
MVP
1
high 5
| 108 Fans
-
Hack-A-Draft Part III: Picks 11-20
John Lloyd
Posted: Jun 19
Ice Hockey
MVP
1
high 5
| 2 Fans
