The blow of losing to the Capitals in DC was quickly softened by news of a 2-1 defeat for Buffalo in Philadelphia, eliminating the Sabres and sending the Panthers into the post-season.

They still have a shot at winning the Southeast Division title for the first time in franchise history, needing either a point or more against Carolina on Saturday, or a defeat for Washington against the New York Rangers.

Thursday's win, fuelled by early goals from Jay Beagle, Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich, also sent the Capitals into the play-offs.

Buffalo could not keep their own bid alive as Matt Read scored with 4:21 left in the game to lift the Flyers to a 2-1 win.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will have home ice advantage in the post-season after beating the Rangers 5-2.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 35 saves for his 226th victory, tying Tom Barrasso's all-time franchise record.

The Rangers have already secured the top seed for the post-season.

The Nashville Predators regained control of their own play-off destiny as they topped the Dallas Stars 2-0 with the help of 28 saves from Pekka Rinne, who recorded a fifth shut-out of the season.

San Jose also into play-offs

San Jose earned a play-off place before even taking to the ice as a 5-2 Colorado defeat at the hands of the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets eliminated the Avalanche.

Cam Atkinson scored a hat-trick while Steve Mason saved 35 shots to lift Columbus.

San Jose reacted to the news of their playoff place by beating the Los Angeles Kings 6-5 following a shoot-out.

Detroit suffered a blow in their pursuit of home ice advantage as they were edged out 2-1 by the New Jersey Devils, with Petr Sykora scoring the winner.

Anton Khudobin saved 44 shots on debut as his new team Boston beat the Ottawa Senators 3-1.

Two third-period goals from Michael Cammalleri helped the Calgary Flames come from behind to top the Vancouver Canucks 3-2, while Dion Phaneuf's overtime goal lifted the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

A shootout goal from Eric Staal lifted the Carolina Panthers to a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, while a late goal from Michael Grabner - coming with only 46.8 seconds left - gave the New York Islanders a 5-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets.

Devin Setoguchi scored in the shootout to give the Minnesota Wild a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, while an overtime goal from Ryan Getzlaf saw the Anaheim Ducks top the Edmonton Oilers 3-2.