Claude Giroux capped the best season of his career in spectacular fashion.

Giroux earned his first career hat trick in the regular season and the Philadelphia Flyers clinched a playoff berth in their final regular-season game with a 5-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Giroux finished with 34 goals and 102 points. He extended his career highs in points and goals while becoming the sixth player in franchise history to reach 100 points in a season.

”He was dialed in http://www.cardinalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-christian-kirk-je... ,” coach Dave Hakstol said.

Giroux said a key to his performance in such a crucial game was keeping his emotions in check.

”When you wake up, you try to be not jacked up,” he said. ”You learn while you go through seasons. You don’t want to try to do too much.”

Michael Raffl and Ivan Provorov also scored for the Flyers, who needed at least one point to make the playoffs and eliminate the Florida Panthers from postseason contention.

”We had a lot of good performances tonight and that’s what it takes,” Hakstol said.

The Flyers (42-26-14) are returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2016, and will be vying for their third Stanley Cup. The club won back-to-back titles in 1973-74 and 1974-75.

”We have to turn the page and get excited again,” Giroux said.

The Flyers’ captain scored his first two goals during Philadelphia’s dominating second period in which it outscored the Rangers 3-0 thanks in part to an 18-5 shots advantage.

Giroux put the Flyers ahead 2-0 with 7:36 left in the second when his shot from the left circle got through Henrik Lundqvist’s legs after a screen by Nolan Patrick.

Raffl made it a three-goal lead when he took the rebound of Radko Gudas‘ shot from the point with a turnaround shot that got past Lundqvist’s right pad with 2:07 left in the period.

And Philadelphia set a club record for the quickest two goals when Giroux fired past Lundqvist’s glove side with a wrist shot from the slot just 6 seconds after Raffl’s tally to make it 4-0. Raffl set up the play by intercepting a Rangers pass at the blue line and dropping a pass to Giroux.

The fans unleashed a thunderous ”M-V-P!” `’M-V-P!” chant for Giroux when he was shown on the video board after his second tally.

And Giroux had the sold-out crowd of 20,028 in a frenzy when he scored his third on a breakaway with 9:49 left in the third period. Hundreds of hats littered the ice, causing a seven-minute delay, and Giroux smiled on the video board and waved to the crowd, which gave him a standing ovation.

”(Giroux) has worked hard,” Hakstol said. ”He earned that and he’s very deserving of that moment.”

The Rangers (34-39-9), who are out of the postseason for the first time since 2009-10 Preston Tucker Atlanta Braves Jersey , ended their regular season with their ninth loss in the last 11.

Lundqvist said New York needs to hit the reset button this offseason.

”It’s about winning games and getting back to the playoffs,” he said. ”We need to set that goal right away. If you’re here, you’re here to make a difference. I think we can turn this around real quick.”

Brian Elliott made 17 saves in his second game in goal after returning in Thursday’s 4-3 win over Carolina following a 25-game absence because of core muscle surgery on Feb. 13.

Elliott was shaky in the win over the Hurricanes, allowing a pair of soft goals while making 19 saves. He didn’t have much action against the Rangers.

Provorov got the Flyers on the board 6 1/2 minutes into the game when he scored on a 6-on-5 advantage as a result of a delayed penalty. Sean Couturier sent the puck toward the crease from the left of the goal, and the puck caromed off Provorov’s right shoulder and past Lundqvist. The goal stood after an officials’ review.

NOTES: D Brady Skjei is the only Rangers player to appear in every game this season. Four Flyers: Couturier, Provorov, Giroux and Jakub Voracek, accomplished the feat for Philadelphia. … Eric Lindros was the previous Flyers player to reach 100 points, with 115 in the 1995-96 season. Giroux’s other hat trick came in Game 2 of the first round of the 2012 playoffs against the Penguins. … LW Matt Beleskey, acquired in the trade that sent Rick Nash to the Bruins on Feb. 25, made his Rangers debut and C Steven Fogarty made his NHL debut for New York.

UP NEXT

Rangers: End of regular season

Flyers: First-round playoff series.

—

More NHL hockey: The elevator stopped at the 16th floor of the swanky hotel, and after a few nervous steps down the hallway a soon-to-be professional athlete was ready to face perhaps the most unpredictable part of the NBA draft process.

The interview.

Down in the lobby, Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka of the Los Angeles Lakers chatted with familiar faces and pretended not to notice random fans taking selfies with them in the background. Agents held court with other agents http://www.billsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-trent-murphy-jersey , Clippers coach Doc Rivers talked with some journalists and a couple dozen people were outside with their phones ready to snap pictures of whoever was walking in next.

But upstairs, high above the bustle and din of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, the real action was happening.

There were probably about 300 interviews conducted over two days in the Windy City during the draft combine. Those chats – more than perhaps the basketball that was played that week – give teams their best insight into a prospect and help decision-makers determine which players will merit multi-million-dollar investments at Thursday’s NBA draft. The Associated Press was granted access to one of the sessions.

The 25-minute meeting was held in a room that had its usual furniture – bed, television, dressers – cleared out for two couches and a table with eight chairs.

”Relax, man,” the coach said to the player, an early entry candidate, as he sat down. ”We’re just trying to get to know you.”

Water was offered, and the chat began.

A couple of people were taking handwritten notes, the focus clear by the fact that no one is checking their phones, and the interview was more of a conversation than an interrogation. There was an order to things, with five team staffers asking the bulk of the questions http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-mike-white-jersey , each getting roughly the same amount of time to play their respective role.

”What would your family tell us about you?”

”How many cellphones do you have?”

”Is this just about money?”

They asked the player what he thought of his teammates in college, how he deals with teammates that he doesn’t like, how he reacts to criticism. One of the interviewers has turned his chair around, another has his feet up on an unused chair and there were even a couple moments of laughter. Almost out of nowhere, there was a very specific question about a block-charge call the player was involved in during a game this past season, and how he reacted to a referee about the call not going his way.

The player slid down in his chair a little bit.

”How’d you even know about that?” he asked, sheepishly.

The time flies by, the interview wraps and the player was due in a few minutes one floor down for another of his seven meetings scheduled throughout the day. Everyone stands, handshakes happen all around, and just like that, it was over. The notebooks close, and the player is walked to the door by the coach who pats him on the back twice while saying ”you did great.”

The kid stepped into the hall, the door closed http://www.steelersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-chukwuma-okorafor-... , and that was it.

Every team does interviews differently, but for the most part the setup was the same – cleared-out hotel room, about 30 minutes per session, somewhere between five to 10 people in the room to greet the player. By nightfall and the end of the day’s meetings, everyone is exhausted. Michael Porter Jr., the Missouri player who will be a lottery pick, couldn’t even remember how many teams he met with on Day 1.

”It’s all on my phone,” he said, as he started running down the list.

There have been some famous, or infamous, stories of how draft combine interviews have gone in recent years.

Many NFL hopefuls have said they’ve been asked about their sexuality; Jeff Ireland, when he was the general manager of the Miami Dolphins, made headlines in 2010 for asking Dez Bryant if his mother was a prostitute. The Minnesota Timberwolves have been asking players for a couple of years if they speed up or slow down at yellow lights – it’s a question seeking insight not into their traffic habits Marshall Newhouse Color Rush Jersey , but their ability to make split-second decisions.

The Detroit Pistons brought a virtual reality setup into their interviews this year, much to the delight of players and something that will likely be copied for years to come given how much of a hit it was. The draft hopefuls were presented with about 12 scenarios when they had the VR headsets on, and were told to assess what to do in the various situations.

And the Portland Trail Blazers went deep into psyches, with a sports performance psychologist asking players a series of questions to determine their personality traits.

”So accurate,” said Brian Bowen, who eventually removed himself from draft consideration but will still seek a pro career since the NCAA isn’t granting the former Louisville recruit eligibility at South Carolina for the 2018-19 season. ”It was crazy.”

Kevin Huerter, who is leaving Maryland after two seasons and could get selected as early as the middle of the first round, said some teams – San Antonio and Golden State in particular – were more in-depth than some other clubs were with him during the combine interviews.

”Pick one moment in time that describes your personality,” Huerter said he was asked during the Warriors meeting. ”I thought that was a really good question.”

While one player said he was asked to participate in a staring contest, truly bizarre tales seemed nonexistent.

”I don’t let it get there,” Miami’s Bruce Brown Jr. said. ”That’s just my personality, to bring everybody.