Teams resting up as playoffs approach

The final weekend of the regular season brings plenty of rest for playoff teams’ top players, even with seeding at stake. Avoiding injury takes precedence over setting up a favorable first-round matchup.

Being healthy in the playoffs is taking priority over seeding, with a few teams sitting their top players April 7 in the final game of the regular season.

MVP front-runner Taylor Hall was set to sit out the New Jersey Devils’ regular-season finale after the team clinched a playoff spot but can still move up the standings.

New Jersey rested Hall, fellow forwards Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, and defenseman Sami Vatanen in Game 82 at Washington, and it isn’t alone in taking precautions. The Columbus Blue Jackets benched stars Artemi Panarin, Seth Jones, Zach Werenski and two-time Vezina Trophywinning goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in their final regular-season game at Nashville.

Columbus coach John Tortorella told reporters he was “absolutely not” trying to avoid facing the two-time defending Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round. New Jersey coach John Hynes similarly answered that giving Hall a break is more important after a grueling push to clinch the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2012.

“We’re not looking to get in the playoffs and just be a Cinderella story,” Hynes said before his Devils faced the Metropolitan Division-champion Capitals on April 7. “We’re looking to get in the playoffs and win, and (Hall is) a big part of that.”

Hall, who is one goal short of reaching 40 for the first time in his career, said he’s cool with the decision to rest instead of taking a chance on the eve of the playoffs.

“It’s a good time to get some rest and recuperate a little bit,” said Hall, who has 93 points in 76 games and is expected to be a finalist for the Hart Trophy. “We’ve played a lot of hockey lately, and a lot of the stuff in the standings is out of our hands other than our game.”

No Eastern Conference first-round matchups have been determined going into the final weekend of the season.

The only series that’s set is the Winnipeg Jets facing the Minnesota Wild out West as the second- and third-place teams in the Central Division.

JAY LAPRETE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Penguins’ Bryan Rust, right, and the Blue Jackets’ Artemi Panarin chase the puck during the third period April 5 in Columbus.