The New York Islanders will open the playoffs at the Florida Panthers, and that means Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers will face Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins for the third consecutive postseason.
The Eastern Conference playoffs were settled Sunday following the Islanders’ 5-2 loss to Philadelphia. The Islanders are seeded seventh and will take on the Atlantic Division champion Panthers in the first round. The Rangers stayed in third in the Metropolitan Division, and will face the second-place Penguins.
In the Western Conference, the Anaheim Ducks vaulted ahead of Los Angeles to clinch their fourth consecutive Pacific Division title with a 2-0 win at Washington on Sunday.
The Ducks open the postseason against seventh-seeded Nashville. The Kings dropped to second in the Pacific and will face the third-place Sharks.
Washington
Andersen looked sharp in his return from a five-game absence because of a concussion. He faced little resistance from a Capitals team that rested star forwards Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom and defensemen John Carlson and Brooks Orpik.
The Capitals also sat goaltender Braden Holtby after he tied Martin Brodeur’s single-season wins record. Backup Philipp Grubauer stopped 19 of 21 shots.
New York
Evgeny Medvedev, Shayne Gostisbehere, Scott Laughton and R.J. Umberger also scored for the Flyers, who trailed 2-0 midway through the first period. Michal Neuvirth stopped 15 shots in the teams’ season finale that was a game rescheduled from Jan. 23 due to a blizzard.
Nikolay Kulemin and Matt Martin scored for the Islanders.