PHILADELPHIA (AP) Claude Giroux capped the best season of his career in spectacular fashion.Giroux earned his first career hat trick in the regular season and the Philadelphia Flyers clinched a playoff berth in their final regular-season game with a 5-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday.Giroux finished with 34 goals and 102 points. He extended his career highs in points and goals while becoming the sixth player in franchise history to reach 100 points in a season.”He was dialed in http://www.officialcanucks.com/authenti … vat-jersey ,” coach Dave Hakstol said.Giroux said a key to his performance in such a crucial game was keeping his emotions in check.”When you wake up, you try to be not jacked up,” he said. ”You learn while you go through seasons. You don’t want to try to do too much.”Michael Raffl and Ivan Provorov also scored for the Flyers, who needed at least one point to make the playoffs and eliminate the Florida Panthers from postseason contention.”We had a lot of good performances tonight and that’s what it takes,” Hakstol said.The Flyers (42-26-14) are returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, and will be vying for their third Stanley Cup. The club won back-to-back titles in 1973-74 and 1974-75.”We have to turn the page and get excited again,” Giroux said.The Flyers’ captain scored his first two goals during Philadelphia’s dominating second period in which it outscored the Rangers 3-0 thanks in part to an 18-5 shots advantage.Giroux put the Flyers ahead 2-0 with 7:36 left in the second when his shot from the left circle got through Henrik Lundqvist’s legs after a screen by Nolan Patrick.Raffl made it a three-goal lead when he took the rebound of Radko Gudas‘ shot from the point with a turnaround shot that got past Lundqvist’s right pad with 2:07 left in the period.And Philadelphia set a club record for the quickest two goals when Giroux fired past Lundqvist’s glove side with a wrist shot from the slot just 6 seconds after Raffl’s tally to make it 4-0. Raffl set up the play by intercepting a Rangers pass at the blue line and dropping a pass to Giroux.The fans unleashed a thunderous ”M-V-P!” `’M-V-P!” chant for Giroux when he was shown on the video board after his second tally.And Giroux had the sold-out crowd of 20,028 in a frenzy when he scored his third on a breakaway with 9:49 left in the third period. Hundreds of hats littered the ice, causing a seven-minute delay, and Giroux smiled on the video board and waved to the crowd, which gave him a standing ovation.”(Giroux) has worked hard,” Hakstol said. ”He earned that and he’s very deserving of that moment.”The Rangers (34-39-9) Youth Brandon Sutter Jersey , who are out of the postseason for the first time since 2009-10, ended their regular season with their ninth loss in the last 11.Lundqvist said New York needs to hit the reset button this offseason.”It’s about winning games and getting back to the playoffs,” he said. ”We need to set that goal right away. If you’re here, you’re here to make a difference. I think we can turn this around real quick.”Brian Elliott made 17 saves in his second game in goal after returning in Thursday’s 4-3 win over Carolina following a 25-game absence because of core muscle surgery on Feb. 13.Elliott was shaky in the win over the Hurricanes, allowing a pair of soft goals while making 19 saves. He didn’t have much action against the Rangers.Provorov got the Flyers on the board 6 1/2 minutes into the game when he scored on a 6-on-5 advantage as a result of a delayed penalty. Sean Couturier sent the puck toward the crease from the left of the goal, and the puck caromed off Provorov’s right shoulder and past Lundqvist. The goal stood after an officials’ review.NOTES: D Brady Skjei is the only Rangers player to appear in every game this season. Four Flyers: Couturier, Provorov, Giroux and Jakub Voracek, accomplished the feat for Philadelphia. … Eric Lindros was the previous Flyers player to reach 100 points, with 115 in the 1995-96 season. Giroux’s other hat trick came in Game 2 of the first round of the 2012 playoffs against the Penguins. … LW Matt Beleskey, acquired in the trade that sent Rick Nash to the Bruins on Feb. 25, made his Rangers debut and C Steven Fogarty made his NHL debut for New York.UP NEXTRangers: End of regular seasonFlyers: First-round playoff series.— TAMPA Brendan Leipsic Jersey Kids , Fla. (AP) Captain Steven Stamkos and high-scoring Nikita Kucherov garner lots of attention. However, the Tampa Bay Lightning are hardly a two-man show.The top seed in the Eastern Conference got early goals from four players – none of them named Stamkos or Kucherov – before holding off the New Jersey Devils for a 5-2 victory Thursday night in Game 1 of the first-round series.Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde scored, helping the Lightning build a 3-0 lead that New Jersey trimmed to one goal before Alex Killorn and Kucherov, who added an empty-netter with 1:12 remaining, finished off the win before a crowd of 19,092.”Not the outcome we wanted,” Devils goalie Keith Kinkaid said ”That’s why it’s a series and not a game.”Taylor Hall scored an unassisted goal off a turnover in the second period, then assisted on Travis Zajac’s power-play goal that trimmed the Devils’ deficit to 3-2 midway through third against Andrei Vasilevskiy, who had 29 saves for Tampa Bay, which held off Boston in the final week of the season for the best record in the East.For the Devils, a shaky opening period was too much to overcome.”I don’t know what happened. That’s the way hockey goes sometimes. Starting on time is a big part of hockey http://www.officialcanucks.com/authenti … ser-jersey , and especially playoff hockey,” Hall said. ”We have to be a team that’s ready to battle right off the bat and just be aware that they have more than one line; more than Stamkos and Kucherov. They have a lot of dangerous guys and we have to be aware.”The line of Palat, Johnson and Brayden Point, matched up against New Jersey’s top line, produced a pair of first-period goals and finished with six points.Killorn’s shot over Kincaid’s glove restored a two-goal lead before Kucherov, who led the Lightning with 100 points this season, ensured there would be no comeback.”I thought we played really well. I thought we played within our structure,” said Johnson, who also had an assist on Palat’s goal. ”You’ve got to give Jersey credit. They pushed in that second period. That third period, I thought we took it back over. `If we continue to play like that, I like our chances this series.”Game 2 is Saturday at Amalie Arena.Tampa Bay beat the Devils for the first time this year. The Devils won all three meetings between the teams during the regular season, with each game decided by one goal.Kinkaid entered his first career playoff game as one of the hottest goalies in the league Christopher Tanev Jersey , going 7-0-1 over his last eight starts to help New Jersey grab its first playoff berth since the Devils reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012.The Lightning, on the other hand, have been driven all season by failing to make the playoffs last spring after making deep runs previous two years.With Kucherov and Stamkos leading the way, Tampa Bay paced the NHL in scoring and Vasilevskiy set a franchise record and tied for the league lead with 44 victories in his first season as a No. 1 goaltender.But after reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 2015 and coming within one victory of a return trip two years ago, this season ultimately will be judged on whether the Lightning can put together another strong bid to win it all.”Last year was the first year that I missed the playoffs in any league. I’ve never had a long summer like that and that summer felt like forever,” said Johnson, who has 22 goals in 48 career playoff games.”So I’m glad where we’re at right now. I’m excited to be back at this time,” Johnson added. ”It’s the best hockey. It’s the most fun you can play in.”While the Devils did a nice job of containing the high-scoring Kucherov and Stamkos, Palat, Johnson, Killorn and Gourde, who set a Lightning rookie record with 25 goals this season Authentic Daniel Sedin Jersey , showed why it’s so difficult to totally shut down Tampa Bay’s offense.The momentum shifted on New Jersey’s first power-play opportunity. Even though the Devils didn’t score, they got off five shots against Vasilevskiy, who weathered the barrage before Hall broke through after Palat turned the puck over in the Lightning zone.”We looked a little bit tentative, a little bit unsure, but I thought we settled into the game, particularly in the second period,” Devils coach John Hynes said. ”I thought the second half of the game was a little more of how we wanted to play. We’ll regroup and we’ll be a better team Saturday.”Notes: Stamkos returned to Tampa Bay’s lineup after missing the final three games of the regular season with a lower body injury. … It’s the third time the Devils and Lightning have met in the playoffs. New Jersey won both previous series, advancing in the 2003 Eastern Conference semifinals in five games and ending a 2007 quarterfinal matchup in six. … Zajac and captain Andy Greene are the only players remaining on New Jersey’s roster from the Devils’ 2012 postseason run.—