Rangers Can’t Solve Thrashers

The Atlanta Thrashers’ mastery of the New York Rangers might be the main reason the New York Rangers miss the playoffs.

Yannick Tremblay scored a power-play goal at 2:40 of overtime Monday night to lift the Thrashers to a 4-3 victory at New York and further dim the Ranger playoff hopes.

With New York’s Eric Lindros in the penalty box for high sticking, Tremblay scored his seventh of the season with a shot from the slot that beat Mike Dunham. Atlanta swept the season series from the Rangers.

“Right at the end we were able to control the puck pretty good and move the puck around,” Tremblay said. “We wanted to play like we were battling for a playoff spot.”

Marc Savard scored a pair of goals and had an assist for Atlanta, and Dany Heatley assisted on three goals -- including the game-winner.

The Rangers trail the New York Islanders by three points with three games to play in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The teams play tonight on Long Island, and an Islander victory would eliminate the Rangers from playoff contention for the sixth year in a row.

“We were just trying to knock the Rangers off,” Savard said. “Tonight we did it.”

New York’s tie clinched a playoff berth for Boston.

Colorado 3, San Jose 1 -- Milan Hejduk had two goals and an assist, and Patrick Roy stopped 22 shots as the Avalanche extended its home unbeaten streak at Denver to 16 games.

Colorado’s Peter Forsberg had three assists to eclipse the 100-point mark for the second time in his career. He has 102 points, one behind Vancouver’s Markus Naslund for the NHL scoring lead.

Dallas 3, Buffalo 0 -- Marty Turco made 18 saves at Dallas for his sixth shutout of the season.

The Pacific Division-champion Stars have 107 points, one more than Detroit in the race for home-ice advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. Vancouver, the Northwest Division leader, also is in the running for best conference record with 103 points.

Minnesota 3, Calgary 0 -- Manny Fernandez earned his eighth career shutout and the Wild scored three power-play goals at St. Paul, Minn.

The Wild nudged ahead of the Ducks for the sixth playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Detroit 3, Nashville 0 -- Curtis Joseph earned his 41st shutout and Sergei Fedorov had a goal and an assist at Detroit as the Red Wings clinched their third consecutive Central Division title.

St. Louis 5, Edmonton 5 -- Ethan Moreau scored with 1:52 left in regulation, Edmonton’s third goal of the third period, as the Oilers rallied for a tie at St. Louis.

Philadelphia 6, Pittsburgh 1 -- Keith Primeau scored once and set up two goals in just over eight minutes of the second period at Pittsburgh.

The Flyers beat the Penguins for the fourth time in 17 days -- they outscored them 17-4 while doing so -- and have 101 points, two fewer than the Atlantic Division-leading Devils.

Tampa Bay 2, Boston 2 -- John Grahame held off the aggressive Bruins after they tied the game early in the third period at Boston. The Bruins outshot the Lightning, 19-4, in the third period and overtime.

Montreal 4, Carolina 0 -- Saku Koivu, Francis Bouillon and Richard Zednik scored first-period goals at Raleigh, N.C., as the Canadiens stopped a three-game losing streak.