The Rangers and Penguins have been elbowing each other in the Metropolitan Division standings all season long. Now, they will meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

That was the outcome of the NHL’s slate of games on Friday night, which could have gone one of two ways for the Rangers. But when the Penguins beat the Blue Jackets to secure third place in the division and the Rangers defeated the Capitals 3-2 in their regular-season finale at the Garden, the highly anticipated series is now a reality. 

“I’m glad we won tonight because we lost our prior three games, which didn’t matter a whole lot, but I’m glad we finished on a strong note because we deserve that,” head coach Gerard Gallant said after the win, with which the Rangers finished the regular season 52-24-6. “We had a good year. The team played really well and to get 110 points is an accomplishment and they should be proud of that.” 

The Penguins needed just one point Friday to lock in a best-of-seven series with the Rangers next week, and they scored three goals in the first period on the way to a 5-3 victory over Columbus to set up that playoff date. 

So, it will be the budding-but-unseasoned Rangers against the veteran-but-abating Penguins. Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby versus New York star Artemi Panarin. The Rangers’ top-five power play against the Penguins’ top-five penalty kill. 

Oh, and the two teams already have played each other three times in the past two months. 

“If I think about it too early,” Mika Zibanejad said of playing Pittsburgh. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep.” 

The Capitals, with their loss and the Penguins’ victory, had to settle for fourth place in the Metro. If the Penguins had lost to the Blue Jackets and the Capitals had beaten the Rangers, Washington would’ve drawn the Blueshirts in Round 1. Instead, the Capitals will head south to face the Panthers. 

Washington was without Alex Ovechkin for a third straight game Friday night after he tripped over the stick of Maple Leafs goalie Erik Kallgren and slammed his left shoulder into the boards on Sunday. The Capitals also were missing Nicklas Backstrom, who was sidelined for maintenance purposes. 

The Rangers, who dressed all of their regulars except for the injured Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp, were able to pull out the win against a Capitals squad with some holes in its lineup. 

Rangers goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who turned aside 34 of the 36 shots he faced in his 15th win, probably was playing his last regular-season game in a Rangers jersey. The Rangers aren’t expected to qualify the pending restricted free agent this upcoming summer, which will allow Georgiev to sign elsewhere. 

With the game tied at one in the middle frame, following goals from the Rangers’ Filip Chytil and the Capitals’ Justin Schultz, Kevin Rooney gave the Capitals a power play after he was sent to the box for tripping. 

Washington defenseman John Carlson’s slapshot then beat Georgiev for the goal and 2-1 lead. Alexis Lafreniere later finished a pretty 2-on-1 rush with Ryan Strome to knot the score 2-2 before the second intermission. 

At 6:42 of the third period, Dryden Hunt broke the tie with a slick move around Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov. 

It wasn’t exactly the kind of performance Gallant was looking for from his team. The coach said it was sloppy, but noted that it has been tough to make these games seem meaningful when the Rangers clinched three weeks ago. 

“It’s been a grind,” Zibanejad said. “It’s been a couple long years, definitely worth the wait. To be back in the playoffs, looking at this group that we have, I’m super happy to be a part of that. To be part of the solution when everything happened. I’m just really, really excited to get this going.”