Marc Staal

SEAN AVERY'S days with the New York Rangers appear over. The noted agitator cleared waivers yesterday and was assigned to the Connecticut Whale of the AHL. The move clears his $1.93 million from the team's salary cap. Avery was in the final season of the contract he originally signed with the Dallas Stars. He didn't play in New York's final two exhibition games in Europe, and it became inevitable he would be cut. Rangers coach John Tortorella said Tuesday the club had better players than Avery.

WASHINGTON - Mike Green, Alex Ovechkin, and Alexander Semin scored, and the Washington Capitals advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 3-1 win over the New York Rangers in Game 5 on Saturday. The top-seeded Capitals won the series, 4-1, the first time they have finished off a team in fewer than seven games since 1998. This was also the Capitals' first playoff series under Bruce Boudreau that didn't go the distance. He had led Washington through four seven-game series - winning only one - since becoming coach in 2007.

BORROWING OFF THE excitement the boys are sure to generate tomorrow, the Daily News is having some fun today. Flyers beat writer Frank Seravalli and sports writer Ed Barkowitz conducted a mock draft similar to how Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom will determine the All-Star teams for Sunday's game in Raleigh, N.C. They followed the NHL-mandated ground rules: Just as they will do in the real draft tomorrow, we kept the game's captains...

Maple Leafs still undefeated Clarke MacArthur scored for the fourth straight game and Phil Kessel netted the winner during an overtime power play as the undefeated Toronto Maple Leafs bounced back from a blown third-period lead and spoiled the New York Rangers ' home opener with a 4-3 victory Friday night. Just 20 seconds after Rangers defenseman Marc Staal went off for interference, Kessel scored his second goal of the game at 3 minutes, 8 seconds of overtime. Elsewhere: Carey Price made 22 saves and Alexandre Picard and Josh Gorges scored to help the Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres , 2-1. Patrick Sharp broke open a one-goal game with two second-period scores to lead the Chicago Blackhawks past the Columbus Blue Jackets , 5-2. A capacity crowd booed the Blue Jackets - opening their 10th season - in the third period when they failed to get off a shot on a power play.

During their roller-coaster ride of a season, the Flyers have never made it easy on themselves. So it shouldn't be too surprising that their playoff fate won't be decided until Sunday's season-finale. The Flyers, despite Mike Richards' first two-goal game since Feb. 1, missed a chance to clinch a playoff berth Friday night as they fell to the New York Rangers, 4-3, before an electric sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden. "We had an opportunity and let it slip away," Richards said.

Ten players had one point each and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 shots in the charging New York Rangers' 5-0 victory at the Tampa Bay Lightning last night. Brandon Prust, Marc Staal, Vaclav Prospal and Brandon Dubinsky scored goals in the first period in a span of 11 minutes, 46 seconds against the Lightning's starting goalie Mile Smith, who was replaced by Antero Niittymaki after the first period. Aaron Voros scored New York's fifth goal midway through the third period, as the Rangers improved to 4-0-1 in their last five games.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped only eight of 12 shots, but was let off the hook by his high-scoring teammates. Henrik Lundqvist made a career-best 50 saves and had only a hard-luck loss to show for it. Jordan Staal scored a power-play goal 3:42 into overtime on the 55th shot for the Penguins, who outlasted Lundqvist and the Rangers, 5-4, last night in New York. Staal also had a goal in the first period. "It felt good," Lundqvist said of his save total, "but I don't feel good letting in five goals.

In a game that seemed like a throwback to a bygone era, the Flyers continued making strides in their playoff quest last night with another shutout victory over the New York Rangers. James van Riemsdyk and Mike Richards scored goals, and Ray Emery notched his second shutout of the season as the Flyers blanked the Rangers, 2-0, in front of a sellout crowd at the Wachovia Center. The game included four fights and an eruption by Rangers coach John Tortorella after his leading scorer, Marian Gaborik, was decked by Dan Carcillo in a second-period bout.

THERE WAS blood. There were punches. There were pleasantries exchanged. There was Dan Carcillo "licking his chops" to fight Marian Gaborik. When all was said and done, though, there was a 2-0 Flyers shutout last night at the Wachovia Center, an all-important win over their bitter Atlantic Division rivals, the New York Rangers. Last night was the Flyers' second consecutive shutout over the Rangers. With the win, the Flyers not only cooled off a hot New York club but beat the team directly in front of them in the standings.

Rangers coach Tom Renney wouldn't reveal what wrinkle was added to his team's struggling power play. Whatever it was, captain Chris Drury made the most of it. Drury scored two of New York's three man-advantage goals and chipped in a shorthanded tally for his second NHL hat trick, lifting the Rangers to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning last night. "I have to give a lot of credit to [assistant coach] Perry Pearn. He made some adjustments," Drury said. "He makes sure we're always prepared.