NEW YORK, April 7 (UPI) -- Ondrej Pavelec made 25 saves Thursday in carrying the Atlanta Thrashers to a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers.
The Rangers missed a chance to dramatically improve their playoff chances and will go into the final two days of the regular season having a fight on their hands to cement a post-season berth.
New York is in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Buffalo and two in front of Carolina. Those three teams are battling for the final two playoff positions.
The Rangers conclude their season Saturday by hosting New Jersey. Buffalo will entertain Philadelphia Friday and visit Columbus Saturday. Carolina will travel to Atlanta Friday and host Tampa Bay Saturday.
Pavelec recorded his fourth shutout of the season and his sixth in two full seasons as Atlanta's goaltender.
After a scoreless first period, Rob Schremp and Andrew Ladd produced goals 15 seconds apart in the second. Eric Boulton added a third-period goal for Atlanta, which will miss the playoffs for the 10th time in the franchise's 11-year history.
Henrik Lundqvist took the loss, stopping 22-of-25 shots.
