The Rangers are the No. 7 seed and have a first-round matchup with Southeast Division champion Washington.
New York already knew its seed and matchup, and gamely tried to send the Flyers packing for Pittsburgh. Avery tied it at 3 on a slap shot past Martin Biron early in the third, with the goal announcement drowned out by boos and derogatory chants aimed at the instigator.
Only minutes later, Betts took the loose puck and scored his sixth goal midway through the period for a 4-3 lead. The Flyers pressured Henrik Lundqvist the rest of the way. They couldn't get that crucial tying goal and the angry crowd booed as the Flyers skated off the ice.
Jeff Carter capped a career season with his 46 goals, second only to Washington's Alex Ovechkin's 56 in the NHL. He enters the postseason on a sizzling hot streak with five goals and eight points in his last six games and a point in 10 of his last 14 games.
He won a four-player fight for the puck along the boards, skated into the circle and whizzed the puck past Lundqvist for a 2-1 lead in the second period.
Carter should be happy to see the Penguins on the playoff bracket: He has three goals and eight points against them this season.
Brandon Dubinsky scored two goals for the Rangers and spoiled Philadelphia's season-long streak of not allowing a short-handed goal. His second goal of the season was short-handed, wrecking Philadelphia's shot of becoming the first team in NHL history to play an entire season without allowing one. The Flyers' streak of 103 straight games without surrendering a short-handed goal was the longest since Montreal went 122 games from March 1975 to November 1976.
Danny Briere had an assist on Claude Giroux's ninth goal of the season in the first period, and scored one of his own off a deflection in the second to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.
Dubinsky's first goal of the game came off on a fortuitous bounce. Derek Morris' shot from the blue line appeared to deflect off the skate of Flyers defenseman Matt Carle and scoot through Biron's legs and tie it 1-1.
Stop that shot and maybe the Flyers are looking at overtime. Now they're looking at a trip to Pittsburgh.
Notes: The Flyers last allowed a short-handed goal on Feb. 19, 2008. ... Briere has a point in 10 of his last 13 games. ... The Flyers outscored the Rangers 10-2 in the second period this season.
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