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NEW YORK -- Rick Nash scored the winning goal with 1:42 left, on New Yorks third shot of the third period, and the Rangers clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 2-1 victory over the NHL-worst Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. New York secured second place in the Metropolitan Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season. Drew Stafford gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead in the second, and Benoit Pouliot tied in in the final minute of the frame. Nash fired a one-timer off a cross-zone feed from Martin St. Louis, and sent the puck past Hacketts glove to break the 1-1 tie for his 26th goal. The Rangers then killed a late penalty against Brian Boyle, the third Sabres power play of the third period. Drew Stafford gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead in the second, and Benoit Pouliot tied in in the final minute of the frame. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 23 shots in the win, New Yorks last home game of the season. The Rangers final game is at Montreal on Saturday. Hackett made 28 saves for the Sabres, 2-15-1 in their last 18 games. The Rangers dominated the Sabres 18-1 in shots in the second period, yet had only a 1-1 tie to show for it. Buffalo recorded the first five shots of the game, and New York didnt record its first until Pouliots partial breakaway 7:30 in. However, the Rangers had a 27-13 edge through 40 minutes. The Sabres made the most of their only second-period shot and grabbed a 1-0 lead on it with 10:54 left in the period. Buffalo defenceman Mike Weber drifted backward with the puck from the right circle toward the blue line, and flipped a shot toward the Rangers net. Stafford, stationed in front of Lundqvist, got enough of his stick on it to deflect it into the net for his 16th goal of the season. New York did nothing with its two power plays in the first period or its next two in the second after a two-goal performance with the man advantage Tuesday against Carolina. It took until there were only 30.4 seconds left in the middle frame to get even with the Sabres. Hackett had been tough up until then, including shaking off a hard one-timer off the stick of Brad Richards that struck him flush in the forehead portion of his mask with 2:11 remaining in the period. After being briefly attended to on the ice by medical personnel, Hackett got up off his knees and stayed in the game. Pouliot took a pass across the Sabres zone in the left circle and fired a drive past Hackett to tie it. It was Pouliots 15th goal of the season and third in five games. NOTES: Lundqvist had a run of 26 minutes, 32 seconds between saves -- spanning from the first period until the third. ... Stafford and Sabres D Henrik Tallinder both returned to the lineup after missing four games each due to injury. Stafford has six goals and nine points in his past 13 games. ... The Rangers didnt record their first shot in the third period until Carl Hagelins attempt with 6:20 left. ... New York didnt take a penalty until the third period. In Tuesdays win, the Rangers were unpenalized in a full game for the first time since Jan. 10, 2012, against Phoenix. Ivan Provorov Flyers Jersey .Y. -- The New York Islanders were seeking a positive finish to a frustrating season on home ice. Samuel Morin Jersey . Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone dismissed Tuesdays massive anti-government protest in Manama as "a lot of kids having a go at the police." "I dont think its anything serious at all," Ecclestone was quoted as saying in The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/bill-barber-jersey/ . With the union re-formed, negotiations with owners will resume Friday on the remaining issues that would be in the collective bargaining agreement, according to a person familiar with the plans. Oskar Lindblom Flyers Jersey . Viewers in the Jets region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 6:30pm ct/7:30pm et. The game is also avialable on TSN Radio 1290 in Winnipeg at 7pm ct. Jaromir Jagr Flyers Jersey . The time off didnt slow them down. Tyler Zeller scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds, Kyrie Irving added 14 points and the Cavaliers pushed their winning streak to five games Tuesday night with a 114-85 victory over the skidding Philadelphia 76ers.RENTON, Wash. - The run of stout defence started with slowing down Arizona, followed by the handcuffing of San Francisco on Thanksgiving night.But the best defensive performance of Pete Carrolls tenure came Sunday when Seattle ground Philadelphias high-speed act to a halt that kept the Seahawks in the thick of the NFC West race.Shutting down Philadelphia and holding the Eagles to 139 total yards was the cap to a three-week run of defence by Seattle the NFL has not seen since 2011.Its returned Seattle to the top of the NFL in total defence and has the Seahawks statically almost equal with last seasons Super Bowl winning unit.The Seahawks are giving up 274.5 yards per game this season. They allowed 273.6 per game last season.The fact Bobby (Wagner) has returned has been significant and also I think Kam (Chancellor) really rounding into full health is helping us too. Hes feeling great and playing like crazy, Carroll said on Monday. I think the camaraderie of those guys being back in there and feeling right has been resounding, you can really feel it.Seattle has allowed 507 total yards in the past three games. According to STATS, Inc., its the fourth-fewest yards allowed over a three-game span by any NFL team since 2006. The Seahawks held Arizona to 204 total yards, the 49ers to 164 and the Eagles to 139.What makes Seattles accomplishment more impressive is the quality of competition faced compared to the three teams that posted better total numbers.The New York Giants gave up 422 yards over three games in 2009, but did it against teams with a winning percentage of .111. The 2011 Houston Texans allowed 494 yards to opponents with a .421 winning percentage and the 2009 New York Jets gave up 497 yards against opponents with a .273.Seattle? They beat the Cardinals when they were 9-1, knocked off the 49ers at 7-4 and handled the 9-3 Eagles. The combined winning percentage of the three: .758.The Seahawks have a chance this week hosting San Francisco to be the first team since the 2011 Texans to have three straightt games holding opponents to under 200 total yards.ddddddddddddeve tackled really well, really well for some time now. In the last couple years that has been a real sign of our performance and stuff, but it has been really consistent and noticeable, Carroll said. I think thats all part of the intensity and the pursuit thing — it really pays off. You dont notice a guy miss one when the other guys hits.While the return of Wagner and Chancellor has been crucial, the Seahawks are also playing their top players more snaps. Seattle cut down on its defensive rotations beginning with the Arizona win.Defensive end Michael Bennett played 98 per cent of the defensive snaps against Arizona, 81 per cent against San Francisco and 93 per cent against the Eagles. Bruce Irvin played every snap against both Arizona and San Francisco before playing 30 of 46 against the Eagles.Cliff Avril and second-year defensive tackle Jordan Hill have both seen their snap counts increase, while Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith hasnt seen the field on defence in the past three games.Seattle has found the rotations that work and are not about to tinker with the roll the Seahawks are on.Even when people said we were playing bad, we were still ranked as the third-best defence and we stopped some of the best offences, Bennett said. We are getting guys back and hitting our stride. We are playing good football and we are winning and thats all that matters.NOTES: C Max Unger (ankle/knee) and TE Cooper Helfet (ankle) are both going to try and practice this week, Carroll said. Helfet has missed two games while Unger has been out the past three. Carroll said Helfet is ahead of Unger in his recovery. ... CB Tharold Simon suffered a dislocated finger against the Eagles, but Carroll said hes fine. ... Reserve DE Demarcus Dobbs suffered a legit ankle injury. Carroll had no prognosis on how long Dobbs might be out. Seattle could use FB Will Tukuafu on the defensive line if needed.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL ' ' '