NHL Regular Season Ends, Playoffs Start Wednesday

The National Hockey League’s regular season ended on Saturday with a bang, as teams clinched division titles, teams clinched playoffs spots and teams were knocked out of postseason play.

Both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators were able to win their way into the postseason on Saturday. Both the Calgary Flames and New York Islanders lost on Saturday and gave home-ice advantage to their opponents in the first round of the playoffs.

Ottawa was able to cap of an incredible run with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers that clinched a playoff berth. The Senators over their last 31 games were 23-4-4. They clinched the second Eastern Conference wildcard and will face the Montreal Canadians to open the postseason.

Montreal won a 4-3 shootout to become the Atlantic Division Champions.

Pittsburgh won its way into the postseason as the second wild card after beating the Buffalo Sabres by the score of 2-0. The win by the Penguins completed the field in the Eastern Conference and eliminated the Boston Bruins.

Pittsburgh will open up against the New York Rangers, who were the Metropolitan Division winners and the winners of the Presidents’ Trophy.

The top seed out West was clinched by Anaheim with its 2-1 victory over Arizona. The Ducks will face the Winnipeg Jets a wildcard qualifier.

The St. Louis Blues finished with the Western Conference’s second seed. The Blues will open their playoffs schedule against the Minnesota Wild. On Saturday, St. Louis was victorious over the same Wild 4-2.

Minnesota’s loss assured that Chicago Blackhawks would end the season third in their Central Division. The Blackhawks will open the playoffs against the Nashville Predators.

Tampa Bay ended the season in second place in the Atlantic division. The Lightning will open the playoffs against Detroit, which clinched the third place seed with a win over Carolina.

With its loss on Saturday to Winnipeg, the Calgary Flames finished the season as the third place team in the Pacific Division. The Flames will play Vancouver the second seed out in the West.

The New York Islanders were beaten on Saturday by the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Islanders squandered an opportunity to clinch second places in its division and home ice advantage in the first round. Instead, their playoffs start at Washington against the Capitals who took second even though they lost 4-2 against the Rangers.

 

Here are the matchups for the 2014 first round of the Playoffs:

EASTERN CONFERENCE

New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins

Washington Capitals at New York Islanders

Montreal Canadians at Ottawa Senators

Tampa Bay Lightning at Detroit Red Wings

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Anaheim Ducks at Winnipeg Jets

Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames

St. Louis Blues at Minnesota Wild

Nashville Predators at Chicago Blackhawks