Who Gets the Final Two Spots In the NHL's Eastern Conference? New York Rangers players celebrate a win over the New York Islanders on April 13. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA1NzY4NzExMDQ5NTg2NTU5/usatsi_23015965_168400847_lowres.jpg] New York Rangers players celebrate a win over the New York Islanders on April 13. It took until their final game of the season, but the New York Rangers have clinched the Presidents' Trophy. The Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0 [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/game-day/new-york-rangers-defeat-senators-4-0-clinch-metropolitan-division-presidents-trophy] on Monday evening, bringing their point total to 114 with a 55-23-4 record and putting them on top of the NHL standings. As such, they also clinched the Eastern Conference and the Metropolitan Division by putting themselves out of reach of the Carolina Hurricanes, which have their last game on Tuesday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blueshirts needed the fewest points to clinch the Presidents' Trophy in an 82-game season since 2014-15, which the Rangers also won with 113 points. They also set a new franchise record for most points in a season by beating that 2014-15 total. It's their fourth Presidents' Trophy in franchise history. Their first two wins came in 1991-92 and 1993-94, when they won their last Stanley Cup championship. The trophy was first awarded in 1985-86, but the team also finished first in the NHL in the 1941-42 regular season. Peter Laviolette also becomes the eighth coach to win the Presidents' Trophy in their first season with a new team. Fans in Madison Square Garden brought the energy on Monday, giving a standing ovation to end the game and chanting "We want 50" as winger Artemi Panarin attempted to reach the goals milestone. He scored No. 49 in the third period, and he had a chance late in the third period to get his 50th, but he'll have to settle one goal short. He finishes the regular season with a career-high 119 points, which is currently good for fourth in the NHL. On March 25, seven teams were within a point of each other in the race for first overall in the NHL [https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-presidents-trophy-the-cursed-prize-that-seven-teams-are-neck-and-neck-to-win]. The Rangers were first at the time, and they held on, going 8-3-0 since then. They'll now have to wait to find out which team they'll face in the first round of the playoffs. The Washington Capitals currently hold the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, with 89 points and one game remaining. But three other teams are still in the mix with one game left as well: the Detroit Red Wings with 89 points, Pittsburgh Penguins with 88 and Philadelphia Flyers with 87. Washington and Philadelphia face off on Tuesday in a do-or-die finale. The simplest scenario [https://x.com/frank_seravalli/status/1780057637062692926] is that the Capitals can clinch with a win, but they open it up for another team to pass them if they don't get it done. The Red Wings can clinch if they beat the Montreal Canadiens and the Capitals lose, or if they get one point and the Capitals (in regulation) and Penguins lose. The Penguins can clinch if they beat the Islanders and the Capitals and Red Wings lose in any fashion or if they earn one point and the other two teams lose in regulation. And the Flyers can clinch if they beat the Capitals in regulation and the Penguins and Red Wings lose in regulation. The Rangers clinching the top seed means the Hurricanes will take on the Islanders in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes/latest-news/hurricanes-to-face-islanders-in-first-round-of-2024-playoffs]. Elsewhere, the Jets and Avalanche will play each other with home ice yet to be determined. With the regular season ending on Thursday, there's still so much to decide. But the Rangers settled the No. 1 spot as they now prepare for the post-season.
