Henrik Sedin, Samuel Pahlsson and David Booth got the goals that lifted Vancouver to a 51-22-9 record.

Vancouver were handed their opening when Washington scored three early goals to top the New York Rangers 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.

New York had held the tiebreaker advantage over Vancouver. Braden Holtby made 35 saves to frustrate the Rangers and help his Capitals take the number seven seed in the Eastern Conference.

Power

However, they missed out on the Southeast crown as the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 behind early goals from Marcel Gol and John Madden to take it.

The Phoenix Coyotes clinched their first division championship in franchise history by beating the Minnesota Wild 4-1 in Minneapolis.

Taylor Pyatt scored twice and Mike Smith made 23 saves in the win.

Evgeni Malkin finished with his 50th goal of the season and an assist, helping the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers and securing his second NHL scoring title.

Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis also found the net for the Penguins.

Patrice Bergeron helped power the defending Stanley Cup champions Boston into the post-season with a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Bergeron had three assists and then scored the winner in the shoot-out.

The Chicago Blackhawks topped the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout but still had to accept the sixth seed in the Western Conference, while Detroit took the fifth.

That result was also enough to hand Nashville the fourth seed, something they celebrated by beating the Colorado Avalanche 6-1, although they lost back-up goaltender Anders Lindback - who had made 34 saves - to an injury in the final period.

The San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in overtime to take the seventh seed in the West.

Hat-trick

The Central Division-winning St Louis Blues wrapped up their regular-season with a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars as both Alex Steen and David Perron scored on the power-play.

The New Jersey Devils ended the regular-season with a sixth straight win as they topped the Ottawa Senators 4-2 to claim the number six seed in the East.

Teddy Purcell completed his hat-trick with an overtime winner as the Tampa Bay Lightning topped the Winnipeg Jets 4-3. Steve Stamkos also got his 60th goal in the win.

Akim Aliu's two goals lifted the Calgary flames to a 5-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks, while the Montreal Canadiens enjoyed a 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Cam Atkinson scored two goals to help the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 7-3 win over the New York Islanders.