WASHINGTON -- On the last day of the regular season, the Buffalo Sabres did just enough to slip into the NHL playoffs.
A 1-1 tie with the Washington Capitals on Sunday gave the defending Eastern Conference champions the eighth and final seed in the conference and eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes. The Capitals will have the No. 2 seed.Needing a win or a tie to clinch a playoff berth, Buffalo took the lead on Stu Barnes' goal 2:48 into the third period. Washington's Richard Zednik tied it with 14:24 to play.
Dominik Hasek made 17 saves for the Sabres, including a super glove save on Brendan Witt in the first period. Olaf Kolzig was also solid, making 24 saves for the Caps.
Washington will now renew a very familiar rivalry with the seventh-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs. The Caps and Pens met in the postseason in 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995 and 1996. The Penguins won four of the five series, even though Washington won the opening game each time.
Buffalo will oppose the Flyers.
FLYERS 4, RANGERS 1: At New York, The Flyers, playing down the stretch without their coach and captain, won the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers, with 105 points, won their first division title since the 1995-96 season. It is the Flyers' highest point total since 1985-86 when they had 110.
Mark Recchi and Daymond Langkow scored second-period goals and rookie Brian Boucher made 15 saves.
Boucher, in 35 games, finished with a 1.91 goals-against average, the first rookie goalie since the 1950-51 season to play at least 25 games and have an average under two goals. Al Rollins of Toronto (1.77 in 40 games) and Terry Sawchuk (1.99 in 70 games) were the last to do it.
ISLANDERS 3, PANTHERS 2: At Uniondale, N.Y., Mariusz Czerkawski's hat trick and Roberto Luongo's 29 saves helped the Islanders.
Pavel Bure just missed tying his career high of 60 goals by scoring twice for the Panthers, who finished the season in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. They will play New Jersey in the first round of the playoffs.
The win was only the 10th at home for the Islanders, tying for the fewest home wins in a season.
HURRICANES 2, THRASHERS 1: At Raleigh, N.C., Paul Coffey scored two goals and Arturs Irbe had a shutout until the final minute as the Hurricanes beat Atlanta, but missed the playoffs by one point.
The Hurricanes went into their regular-season finale needing to win and Buffalo to lose at Washington in order to slip into the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Carolina found out between the second and third periods that it failed to make the playoffs despite winning five of the final six games.
Irbe lost his shutout with 58 seconds left when Donald Audette scored with Damien Rhodes pulled from the Atlanta net.
BLACKHAWKS 3, BLUES 1: At Chicago, Josef Marha scored a go-ahead power play goal in the third period and the Blackhawks headed to vacation with a 3-1 victory over the NHL's best regular-season team.
Following a 28-year run in the playoffs, the Blackhawks current three-year drought is their longest since missing the postseason five straight times from 1954-58.
Marha took a nifty pass from Steve Sullivan, who was behind the net, and shoved it past Roman Turek at 7:32 of the final period for a 2-1 lead. Michael Nylander scored on a rebound with 55 seconds remaining.
The Blues rested several players, including stars Chris Pronger and Pierre Turgeon.
KINGS 4, DUCKS 3, OT: At Anaheim, Calif., Glen Murray tied a career high with his 29th goal on a power play at 1:06 of overtime. The Kings completed their most successful regular season in 10 years.
Marko Tuomainen, Bob Corkum and Rob Blake also scored for the Kings, who finished 39-31-12 for 93 points under rookie head coach Andy Murray -- 24 points more than they had last season under Larry Robinson. The team hasn't done this well since 1990-91, when it had 102 points in Wayne Gretzky's third season with the club.
Los Angeles placed fifth in the Western Conference and will play Detroit in the playoffs.
AVALANCHE 3, RED WINGS 2: At Denver, Usually one of the NHL's most spirited rivalries wound up in a rare penalty-free game, the first since 1980.
Colorado, which had lost four straight to Detroit, finished the season with an eight-game winning streak. The third-seeded Avalanche will open the playoffs against Phoenix.
Milan Hejduk scored his 36th goal. Alex Tanguay and Serge Aubin, a pair of rookies, added goals for Colorado as the Avalanche tuned up for the playoffs without star forward Peter Forsberg (separated shoulder), who is questionable for the opener against Phoenix.
Detroit was without regulars Chris Chelios (face lacerations), Steve Yzerman (knee) and Slava Kozlov (concussion).
COYOTES 2, STARS 2: At Dallas, Daniel Briere's first goal of the season midway through the second period capped Phoenix's comeback from a two-goal deficit.
Dallas, the Pacific Division champion and defending Stanley Cup winner, took a 2-0 second-period lead on goals by Mike Keane and Roman Lyashenko before Phoenix rallied.
Before the game the Stars honored right wing Brett Hull and his father, Bobby. The highest scoring father-son combination in league history.