The Dallas Stars clinched the top seed in the Western Conference and first place in the Central Division by virtue of the St. Louis Blues' loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

The Stars earned a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators minutes after the Capitals defeated the Blues 5-1 to give Dallas home-ice advantage for the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It's the first division title for the Stars since 2005-06.

Dallas finished the regular season with 109 points, while St. Louis ended their 82-game schedule with 107 points and second place in the Central.

The Stars will face the Minnesota Wild in the first round, and the Blues will meet the Chicago Blackhawks.

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The Philadelphia Flyers clinched the second wild-card - and final playoff - spot in the Eastern Conference with a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.

The win eliminates the Boston Bruins from playoff contention who earlier in the day missed their chance of clinching a spot with a 6-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

For the Flyers, the win gives them their second playoff appearance in the last four seasons.

The win also sets up the club's first-round matchup, an intra-division clash with the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals.

It will mark the first time the teams have faced one another in the postseason since 2008, when the Flyers edged the Capitals 4-3 in the conference quarterfinals.

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The streak is alive.

Despite a loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday, the Detroit Red Wings have clinched a playoff spot for the 25th consecutive year, thanks to a concurrent Boston Bruins loss.

Ticket punched to the 2016 #StanleyCup Playoffs. See you April 13, @DetroitRedWings. pic.twitter.com/Ug3eN53MgD

— NHL (@NHL) April 9, 2016

Their run matches the third-longest string of consecutive appearances in NHL history.

• 29 years - Boston Bruins (1967-68 to 1995-96)
• 28 years - Chicago Blackhawks (1969-70 to 1996-97)
• 25 years - St. Louis Blues (1979-80 to 2003-04)

The Red Wings have won four Stanley Cups since the streak began in 1991, with only the cancelled postseason of 2005 keeping the city of Detroit from enjoying hockey past the 82 regular season games.

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The Boston Bruins should not expect the Ottawa Senators to lie down and let them walk into the playoffs.

So says forward Zack Smith, who's intent on playing the role of spoiler on the final Saturday of the NHL's regular season.

"We're not handing anything to them," Smith said Friday, according to Ken Warren of the Ottawa Sun. "We've had enough battles with them. There is a little bit of a rivalry there, too. We don't owe anything to them, we have to go in there and win the game.

"Everyone has to find motivation from somewhere, whether it’s personal goals or just wanting to prove some things to different people that we're not giving up, that we do have something to play for."

Winger Mike Hoffman, sitting on 29 goals for the season, sees it as an opportunity for a positive end to a disappointing year for the team.

"It's great, it's the last game of the year and there's going to be a great atmosphere in the building," Hoffman said. "Why not finish the season on a high and go in there and kind of spoil the party there?

"We're professionals, we're trying to prove a point and play right to the last game. It's going to be a tough game. They're fighting for their lives. It's a good challenge for a lot of guys in here."

The Senators finished three points ahead of the Bruins last season, snagging a wild-card spot on the strength of an incredible run to end the season. This season, Ottawa has posted a record of 2-1-0 against Boston, but with the Bruins holding a 9-8 scoring advantage.

The puck drops at 12:30 pm EST.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota Wild left wing Thomas Vanek will miss the start of the team's first-round playoff series with an upper-body injury he recently aggravated. Interim coach John Torchetti said after practice Friday that Vanek will be ...

Everything's coming up Red Wings.

Detroit, in a win-and-you're-in situation Saturday against New York, will face a Rangers team missing a number of regulars - including Henrik Lundqvist. Backup Antti Raanta gets the start, head coach Alain Vigneault announced.

The Rangers will also be without forwards Mats Zuccarello and Viktor Stalberg, who are dealing with lower-body injuries. Both should be fine for the playoffs, Vigneault said, according to the New York Daily News' Justin Tasch.

Defenseman Dan Girardi, day to day with what's believed to be a concussion, will not play Saturday, but Vigneault expects him to be ready for Game 1 of the playoffs, too. He missed Thursday's game after being hurt Tuesday.

Captain Ryan McDonagh was already ruled out for the regular-season finale. He remains day to day with a hand injury, and his status for Game 1 is up in the air.

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The New York Islanders topped their cross-town rival Rangers for the fourth time this season Thursday night, swapping places in the standings and putting pressure on the Blueshirts, who fell to a wild-card position.

The loss slots the Rangers to play the Atlantic Division champion Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs, a move some people think is New York's version of tanking to avoid a matchup with the white-hot Pittsburgh Penguins.

Rangers forward Rick Nash, however, isn't one of those people.

"I can understand why the question (about preferring the wild card) would be asked, but anyone who has ever been in a locker room environment would know that would never happen," Nash told Larry Brooks of the New York Post. "The answer to the question is 'no.' It is the furthest thing from our minds."

He added, "We're going to have to go through those teams sometime. We're going to face a really good team in the first round no matter what."

The Rangers are stumbling down the stretch, having lost of four of their last six. They're 9-7-3 since acquiring Eric Staal at the deadline.

"Our focus is on getting our game together and going into the playoffs with momentum and confidence," Nash said.

The winger, perhaps more than any other Rangers player, is being depended on to turn his individual struggles around in order to help the team.

With only 15 goals, Nash is set to finish with his lowest total since the 2013 lockout-shortened season when he scored 21, and lowest overall since tallying 17 as a rookie.

"I know I have to be better," he said. "I'm happy with my defensive game, but the offense isn't where I know it has to be.

"I know I have to score to help this team in the playoffs."

Ironically enough, Nash's difficulty finding the back of the net has been a theme during the Rangers' past few playoff runs. Perhaps the 31-year-old will reverse the trend by putting together a strong showing this postseason following the most modest offensive season of his pro career.

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No one's got a clue.

The NHL pointed out Friday that heading into the final weekend of the regular season - every team is in action Saturday - nothing has been decided. While 14 of 16 teams have clinched playoff spots, no team knows its first-round opponent, and there are only 18 games left to play.

From NHL, good look at where things stand going into the final weekend of the season. pic.twitter.com/0CKhW86B8P

— Shelly Anderson (@_ShellyAnderson) April 8, 2016

That's remarkable. It speaks to parity in the league, thanks especially to points awarded for shootout losses. It also means that eight very good hockey teams are going to be going home after the first round of the playoffs.

There's a lot to be decided Saturday:

What's #AtStake in #NHL on Saturday with all 30 teams in action for #StanleyCup Playoffs #MyBestTry pic.twitter.com/dP6kePqL2V

— Matt Sitkoff (@msitkoffNHL) April 8, 2016

It's true: The Stanley Cup's the hardest championship to win.

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The Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, and Philadelphia Flyers are alive. That's all that matters at this point. But one of them won't be come Monday morning.

Team	Points	ROW	GR
Detroit (3rd in Atlantic)	93	39	1
Boston (wild card No. 2)	93	38	1
Philadelphia	92	36	2

Here's how each team can get in:

Flyers

The Flyers' task is simple in theory: Win their final two games, and they're into the playoffs as a wild card. Problem is, they play a back-to-back, at home against Pittsburgh (winners of eight straight) on Saturday and in Brooklyn against the playoff-bound Islanders on Sunday.

Red Wings

Detroit's currently the third playoff team in the Atlantic with 93 points and 39 regulation and overtime wins (ROW). Thanks to the tiebreaker over Boston - one more ROW than the Bruins heading into game No. 82 for both teams - the Red Wings control their own fate. Win Saturday against the Rangers on the road (12:30 p.m. ET) and they're in, setting up a date with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bruins

If the Red Wings lose in any fashion, and the Bruins win in any fashion in Ottawa on Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET), the Bruins are the Atlantic's third-place team and into the playoffs. If the Red Wings win and the Bruins win Saturday afternoon, all eyes in Boston turn to the Flyers. Should the Bruins pick up a ROW, the only way they can be bumped by the Flyers is by Philadelphia winning its final two games.

It's a bit complicated, if we really get down to the specifics, and go into overtime and shootout losses and loser points. What you read above is what teams need to do to get in, period.

All in all, it could come down to the last game of the regular season on Sunday night, Flyers and Islanders, to finalize the playoff picture. Yes, please.

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LOS ANGELES - Milan Lucic and Kris Versteeg scored 93 seconds apart in the second period, and the Los Angeles Kings closed in on just their second division title in franchise history with a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night.

Jonathan Quick made 19 saves for the Kings, who opened a two-point lead on the Ducks atop the Pacific Division by snapping their three-game losing streak in the Freeway Faceoff rivalry series.

The three-time defending Pacific champion Ducks still have a game in hand, but the Kings would clinch their first division title since the 1990-91 Smythe Division crown with a home victory over Winnipeg on Saturday in their regular-season finale.

Ryan Kesler scored an early goal and John Gibson stopped 27 shots for the Ducks, who have lost three of four.

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