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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. Billige Air Max Online . The appointment of Boullier continues the behind-the-scenes restructuring at McLaren, who recently brought back former team principal Ron Dennis as its new chief executive. Air Max Norge Nettbutikk . -- Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que. http://www.airmaxnorge.com/.J. -- Kevin Gilbride retired Thursday as offensive co-ordinator for the New York Giants. Air Max Billig . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Air Max Norge . Its the games against the leagues struggling franchises that have proved to be an issue.MOOSE JAW, Sask. -- The Grenadiers de Chateauguay will play for gold after defeating the Toronto Young Nationals 6-1 on Saturday in the Telus Cup mens midget hockey championship semifinal. Danick Crete scored once and set up two more for the Grenadiers, who led 5-0 before Toronto got on the board in the third period. Pascal Laberge, Martin-Olivier Cardinal, Pierre-Luc Sanche, Justin Doucet and Samuel Levac added a goal apiece. Etienne Montpetit turned away 39-of-40 shots, including all 25 his way through the first 40 minutes, for the win. James Guest scored the lone goal for the Young Nataionals. Goaltender Izzy Benigno allowed six goals on 21 shots before being relieved by Oliver Jacobs, who stopped seven shots in 17 minutes of relief.dddddddddddd The Grenadiers will play the Prince Albert Mintos -- who beat the Okanagan Rockets 6-3 in the earlier semifinal -- for gold Sunday. Mintos Lance Yaremchuk scored a hat trick and added an assist, Matthew Parsons had a goal and an assist, and Teal Sobkowitz and Wyatt Grant also scored to lift Prince Albert over Okanagan. Tyson Jost and Tanner Campbell had a goal and an assist apiece for the Rockets, while Kristian Blumenschein scored the other Okanagan goal. Connor Ingram stopped 20 shots for the win, while Brendan Barry kicked aside 22 shots in the losing effort. The Rockets will face the Young Nationals in Sundays bronze medal match. ' ' '