The three-game sweep starts in New York where the Rangers were hosting the blisteringly hot Columbus Blue Jackets, winners of nine straight.
Derek Stepan scored twice to get the Rangers one of two wins needed to secure the President’s Trophy.
“It’s really cool; it’s special,” Stepan said. “You work hard all season long, you want to 
be the best. But at the same time there’s a lot on our agenda that comes after the Presidents’ Trophy that is more on guys’ minds. We’re trying to get ourselves better to play playoff hockey.”
This was not easy, as expected. The Rangers and Jackets traded leads until Stepan tied it at three all with less than 30 seconds left in regulation.
“Obviously we never give up,” Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said. “You try to just get something down toward the net and take it into overtime, and let [Stepan] do the rest.”
But it was Stepan’s second of the night that sent the Madison Square Garden crowd crazy as he scored with less than a minute left in extra time to snap the Jackets nine-game streak.
Rangers’ Chris Kreider figured in both Stepan goals including an assist on the first and a screening move on the second deep in the slot that gave Stepan time and space to beat Sergei Bobrovsky.
“Chris makes an excellent play,” Stepan said. “He gets the puck in the throat or the chest and he was able settle it down. To have the sense to know that I’m there is a big time hockey IQ play.”
The loss was a letdown for Columbus.
“I don’t know if it’s because we won nine in a row or how we lost this game with a lead in New York, I’m not sure, but whenever you lose it’s disappointing and you could tell it still means a lot to the guys in the room,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. “We had our chances to win and it was disappointing. We had some good looks and their goalie made the saves.”
Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves for the win.
“I think the timing is right there and this game was a good test for me because they have really good quality in their forwards,” said Lundqvist, who has won four straight starts. “They move the puck really well. They’re able to create some big chances, but over 60 minutes I thought we were the better team. We really earned this one.”
In Dallas, the Starts and San Jose Sharks knew they were eliminated from the race in the West when the Winnipeg Jets won over the Minnesota Wild Monday night.
As a result the Sharks went in the tank in a 5-1 loss and the Stars played for the home fans.
“We just weren’t good enough throughout the season, collectively as a group and individually,” Sharks center Logan Couture said. “Just not good enough throughout the year. That’s basically what it was. We had stretches, but too many bad stretches where we just weren’t good enough consistently.
“It stinks. There’s nothing else you can really say. As hockey players, you want to give yourself an opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup. We’re not going to have that chance this year. Especially with the way last year ended, it’s very, very disappointing.”
Jamie Benn scored twice for Dallas.
“There’s really not much to celebrate anymore,” Benn said. “We didn’t do our job this year, and that’s pretty much it. It’s tough thinking how many leads we blew in the third period. We thought we could outscore teams, but we didn’t play the way we should have. It’s defense first and that’s where we let down. We didn’t play defense.”
There were all sorts of excuses for the playoff miss this season but certainly the dreadful home record for the Sharks was the biggest.
“Well, that’s the reason why we’re not going to play in the playoffs,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “That’s a very frustrating thing. This building for years and years, it was a pretty sacred place to play in as a home team, and we just didn’t have that this year in our own building.
“Even tonight as we’re going out for the beginning of the game, both teams are aware what the score is in Minnesota and what the ramifications are of that. We win a draw on the opening faceoff, and we end up playing in our end and it’s in our net the first shift, so that doesn’t help at all.”
The Stars were almost as terrible on home ice as well.
“We’ve had some tough losses on some big mistakes, but we have been playing good hockey for a long stretch now,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “We came out sharp. We’ve faced a lot of adversity, and that should help us moving forward. Those though losses are lessons.”
In Buffalo, Anders Lindback made 49 saves to lift the Sabres past the Carolina Hurricanes who staged a furious comeback from a 4-0 deficit to get close in a 4-3 loss.
Tyler Ennis’ 20th goal of the season was the game-winner.
“[It’s] kind of one of those benchmarks you want to get to,” Ennis said. “Even when things aren’t going your way or things are frustrating, you always want to kind of play well individually and achieve some goals and continue to play with good habits.”
But the night was Lindback’s with the work effort and frenzy at the end to hold off the Canes.
“It’s an emotionally tough game to play when you’re out of the playoffs, but the players have to challenge themselves,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan said. “You can’t forget about the fact that you’re fighting for a job next year and all those clichés, but the bottom line is you just want to make sure you’re competing and playing an honest game.”
With both teams long eliminated from contention, the Canes and Sabres had pride and jobs on the line.
“I think guys are playing for jobs,” Ennis said. “I can’t speak on other teams, I can only speak for guys I play with, but it’s a quality group of guys. We get along well, it’s a great group, a hardworking group. They want to stick around, and I think Larsson’s a great example, Lindback’s a great example. Lindback’s been playing incredible; it just kind of shows you what kind of guy you are when things aren’t going your way and you’re still competing and working as hard as you can.”
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