The idle Rangers slipped to eighth place in the Eastern Conference last night as the Canadiens and Sabres won to surge ahead in the standings.
P.K. Subban scored a power-play goal at 1:19 of overtime and the Canadiens clinched a playoff spot with a 2-1 win over the Blackhawks in Montreal. Carey Price made 42 saves for Montreal, which is sixth in the Eastern Conference with 93 points.
Thomas Vanek scored three times to lead the Sabres to a 4-2 win over the Lightning in Buffalo, inching them within a point of clinching a playoff berth.
Jhonas Enroth made 23 saves to improve to 3-0-1 in filling for injured starter Ryan Miller. The Sabres (92 pts.) edged a point clear of the Rangers and five up on the ninth-place Hurricanes.