The Capitals were last in the Southeast as late as Dec. 30, but their steady climb had already begun. With nearly every game in March and April a must-win, they ended the regular season by winning 11 of 12 and 14 of 18 and became the first NHL team to make the playoffs after sitting at 14th in the conference at the halfway mark.

The Capitals got to the playoffs by beating a team to whom they already owed a huge thank-you note. The Panthers prevented Carolina from clinching the Southeast by defeating the Hurricanes 4-3 on Friday night, Florida’s first win in Raleigh since 2002.

Without that Panthers win, the Capitals still would have qualified for the playoffs with a victory over Florida, but with a much lower seeding. As it is, they’ll be seeded third in the Eastern Conference and will enjoy home-ice advantage in the first round, while the Hurricanes will be home for the postseason.

Washington had a 1-0 lead after the first period with a falling-down goal from Fleischmann, who got off his shot while being tripped by goaltender Craig Anderson. The Panthers tied it in the second period with a second-effort shot from Kamil Kreps.

The Capitals retook the lead late in the second with a backhanded, pinpoint cross-ice pass from Semin that set up a breakaway for Fedorov. Semin made it 3-1 in the third.

“When you look at their hockey club, they play a strong physical game,” Florida coach Jacques Martin said. “You’ve got to really play hard to beat them.”

The division title is the fourth in Capitals history and first since 2000-01, and it helps vindicate the fire-sale-and-build-from-scratch philosophy dictated by Leonsis just before the 2004-05 lockout. The rebuilding began with the draft of Ovechkin as the No. 1 overall pick just before the shutdown.

“We’ve been telling people, ’Be patient and we’ll wake up one morning and have a good team,”’ general manager George McPhee said. “And I think that morning is tomorrow morning.”

Notes: Capitals D Jeff Schultz left in the second period with an undisclosed injury and didn’t return. ... Washington has allowed just 37 goals in its last 20 games ... The Panthers finished with 38 wins, their most since a club-record 43 in 1999-2000, the last time they reached the playoffs. ... Huet’s winning streak is the longest for a Capitals goaltender since Pete Peeters also won nine in a row from Jan. 28 to March 3, 1987.

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