Rangers draw Senators in 1st round after Saturday'...

Rangers draw Senators in 1st round after Saturday'...

Andrew Theodorakis/New York Daily News

Henrik Lundqvist allows four goals in Rangers' 4-1 loss Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS 4, NY RANGERS 1

This is not the nations-capital playoff opponent the Rangers had in mind.

New York could have clinched their third-ever Presidents Trophy and a first-round matchup with the Capitals by winning their regular season finale, but Saturday nights 4-1 loss to Washington at the Garden means they will have drawn Canadas Ottawa Senators, a team that has given the Rangers fits.

Ot tawa held the seventh seed heading into Saturday night but lost to the Devils, 4-2, earlier in the afternoon. After Washington won, both teams had 92 points, and the Capitals moved up to seven by the tiebreaker of more non-shootout wins.

The Florida Panthers, who started Saturday as the three-seed, needed only one point to avoid the eighth spot and earned two in a 4-1 win over Carolina, capturing the Southeast Division title.

Strangely enough, this happened on the day that John Tortorella finally admitted in his pregame press conference that winning the Presidents Trophy was a team goal.

I want us to win that trophy, Tortorella said. I do. I think that's a part of our motivation today, Ill tell you that right now. You check off the division, you check off the conference. Theres two other checks that need to be done here one is this Presidents Trophy, and the next is the real deal. So were looking to get number three here tonight.

The Rangers (51-24-7, 109 points) own the tiebreaker with Vancouver, who also entered Saturday night 109 points but had a late start against the woeful Edmonton Oilers, needing just one point to win their second straight Presidents Trophy.

The Capitals (42-32-8, 92 points) are an inconsistent and beatable bunch and would have made for a more acceptable first-round opponent than the Senators. The Rangers are 1-2-1 against Ottawa this season and struggle against their speed and transition game that baits opponents into an open-ice race.

In Saturdays loss, Washington scored three times in the first period first off a faceoff twice and then twice off deflections. Henrik Lundqvist looked slow to react early in his return after sitting out Thursdays loss in Pittsburgh with a sore right forearm. On the other end, 22-year-old Caps goaltender Braden Holtby made 35 saves in his first-ever appearance at the Garden.

Brian Boyle scored the on ly goal for the Rangers.

TORTS MUM
Tortorella predictably avoided discussion of his $ 20,000 fine from the NHL for his rant against the Penguins and Brook Orpik, answering questions of whether hed like to say anything or feels he can say anything about that fine with the same response: Nothing.

CHRIS-TAL CLEAR
Rangers 2009 first-round draft pick Chris Kreider was set to conclude his junior season at Boston College on Saturday night, as his top-ranked Eagles took on Ferris. St. in the NCAA Final in Tampa. Kreider has been expected to sign with the Rangers once his college season ends. Once signed, he would be eligible to play for the Rangers in the playoffs.

Blueshirts management is crazy about Kreider, a 6-3, 225-pound left winger, but there is no guarantee he would contribute much, if at all, to a playoff run even if the Blueshirts added him. While he could receive an opportunity in the li neup, its more likely the hype generated by his previous decisions to remain at Boston College following his 2009 selection have built the excitement for his arrival to an unrealistic level.

Kreider definitely is an encouraging prospect, and his signing of an entry-level deal would be a huge step for the Rangers, but it likely would mean more for the long-term.