The Phanatic Magazine
Sean Avery and Blair Betts scored in the third period to lift the New York Rangers over the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-3, in the season finale for both teams at Wachovia Center.
Brandon Dubinsky tallied twice for the Rangers (43-30-9), who ended the season with three straight wins and, as the seventh seed in the conference, begin the playoffs at Southeast champion Washington.
Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves for his 38th win of the season.
Danny Briere posted a goal and assist for the Flyers (44-27-11), who dropped three of their final five games and failed to lock up the fourth seed in the East.
Philadelphia needed just one point to move ahead of the Penguins, but instead will open the postseason on the road at Pittsburgh, which registered one more regular-season victory.
Jeff Carter and Claude Giroux also lit the lamp, but Martin Biron was denied his 30th win of the season and 200th career victory, taking the loss after allowing all four goals on 31 shots.
Carter finished the season with 46 goals, second in the NHL to Alex Ovechkin (56). He became the first Flyer since Tim Kerr in 1986-87 to finish second in the league in total scores. Kerr had 58 to Wayne Gretzky's 62.
Avery one-timed a Scott Gomez feed from the left wing 4:35 into the third for a 3-3 deadlock, then Betts knocked home his own rebound for a 4-3 Rangers lead at 9:02.
Arron Asham missed a wide-open net with just under six minutes left in regulation, and several other close calls for the home team went by the wayside.
Biron went to the bench for an extra attacker with 1:12 to play, but Lundqvist and the Rangers defense managed to shut down the Flyers the rest of the way.
Giroux took a cross-crease feed by Briere and slid the puck home from along the goal line at 5:26 of the first. The Rangers equalized via the power play, as a Derek Morris drive from the point hit Dubinsky's skate in front and trickled in at 8:07.
Carter used a laser-precision wrister inside the right post for a power-play goal and a 2-1 Flyers lead at 12:36, but Dubinsky netted a shorthanded goal a little more than two minutes later.
That score was the first short-handed tally the Flyers allowed all season, breaking a franchise-best 103 game streak not allowing a goal while on the power-play.
Briere put Philadelphia back on top by deflecting an Andrew Alberts floater from the point 2:19 into the second. Biron kept New York off the board with 10 stops in the frame.
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