With a thorough 4-1 victory Sunday, the Broadway Blueshirts took care of both.

Ryan Callahan scored a goal in the opening minute and another in the third period, and Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves as the Rangers eliminated the Devils from the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Callahan provided the lead 34 seconds in, Derek Stepan added a goal in the first period, and Taylor Pyatt snapped a long drought in the second for the eighth-place Rangers, who are inching closer to a playoff berth.

“It’s always nice to beat them,” said Brad Richards, who had two assists. “It was a big win for us. They’re out now, but that’s not why we were playing. We were playing because we need to stay alive. Now we’re down to nine teams, so the odds are better.”

Of the teams behind the Rangers, only Winnipeg can catch them. New York is even in points with seventh-place Ottawa, but the Senators have four games remaining — one more than the Rangers. Winnipeg is three points behind with three games left.

New York has won three straight and is 8-2-1 in its last 11. The Rangers aren’t looking too far ahead. After a trip to Florida and Carolina, they will wrap up their season at home Saturday against the Devils.

“We’re playing our best hockey we’ve played all year,” Callahan said. “Now is the time to do that. We’ve been playing playoff-style hockey the last couple of games. These are must-wins for us. It gives us a dress rehearsal for the playoffs.”

Callahan made it 4-0 at 5:13 of the third with a power-play goal, flipping a shot over sprawled-out goalie Martin Brodeur, who tried to poke away the puck. Brodeur heard derisive chants of “Mar-ty, Mar-ty” throughout and finished with 18 saves.

“It’s difficult to take,” Brodeur said of the elimination. “We’ve competed real hard all year.”

Lundqvist was solid in his 12th straight start, allowing only Andrei Loktionov’s goal with 6:30 remaining. The Rangers had more space between games recently. The extra rest has helped Lundqvist stay sharp.

He told coach John Tortorella he won’t ever ask out of the lineup.

“It’s like the playoffs have been going on for a couple of weeks,” Lundqvist said. “It’s fun to be out there. I don’t want to sit on the bench.”

The Devils won’t get a chance to defend their conference title. New Jersey had won two straight — including 6-2 on Saturday against Florida — following a 10-game skid (0-6-4).

“We pride ourselves on being there every year,” forward Stephen Gionta said. “Unfortunately, we’re not. It definitely hurts. The organization prides itself on winning and being in the playoffs every year. Anything less is a disappointment.”

Madison Square Garden fans serenaded the Devils with chants of “Season’s over” as time ticked down in the third.

“It hasn’t sunk in,” said Devils coach Pete DeBoer, who was ejected in the closing seconds for unsportsmanlike conduct. “You don’t want to think about it until it’s actually a reality. No other word but disappointment.”

The Devils had already been called for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, one that cost them a power-play goal, before DeBoer was ushered out.

“A little frustration on my part,” he said. “Two of our players were given unsportsmanlike conducts in an elimination game. The sensitivity of some of the officials is beyond me.”

With a 3-0 lead heading into the third period, the Rangers had all but sealed New Jersey’s fate. New York is 85-0-6 when leading after two periods, dating to Feb. 4, 2010.

The Rangers came out quickly, seemingly motivated to put the Devils away early. New Jersey knocked out New York in last year’s conference finals.

New York connected right away, scoring while Brodeur was looking the opposite way from where the puck was. Carl Hagelin worked to get free from defenders behind the net, and flung the puck in front to Callahan, who was near the left post.

While Brodeur had his head turned away from him, trying to find the puck he thought was behind the net, Callahan nudged it forward off of Brodeur’s skate and into the net for his 13th goal.

“They were waiting for us. We played yesterday,” Brodeur said. “They were able to score the first goal, and that made a big difference in the momentum.”

Game notes

Pyatt played in his 800th NHL game. … Rangers C Brian Boyle missed his third straight game because of a right leg injury. … Volchenkov returned after serving a four-game suspension for elbowing.

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The Rangers announced Wednesday that Nash, who is suffering from an undisclosed injury, will not join the club on its trip to Ottawa.

Nash has not been ruled out to rejoin the team in Montreal, however. The Rangers visit the Canadiens on Saturday at Montreal’s Bell Centre in a rematch of Tuesday’s 3-1 loss.

Nash was somewhat of a surprising scratch on Tuesday, if only because he played Sunday against the Washington Capitals. The 28-year-old Nash, who was acquired by the Rangers in a heralded trade this past summer, was questionable leading up to that game against Washington.

Nash missed a team event on Friday due to illness and missed practice the next day — the team characterized it as a maintenance day — but took warm-ups Sunday and played. He also practiced Monday but sat out with the mystery ailment on Tuesday.

Nash did not practice with the team on Wednesday.

Although the Rangers have repeatedly declined to reveal what is ailing Nash — coach John Tortorella’s most colorful response on the matter was, “None of your business” — or how serious the injury may be, it is believed that whatever is holding Nash out of the lineup is linked to a nasty hit he took last week in Boston.

Nash’s head rattled against the glass when he was slammed into the boards by Bruins forward Milan Lucic, who was not penalized on the play.

Without Nash, Marian Gaborik has moved up to the right wing position on the team’s first line, where he is playing with left wing Carl Hagelin and center Derek Stepan.

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While no one was willing to talk about what is ailing the top forward, whatever it is didn’t seem to slow him down Sunday night.

Nash assisted on surging linemate Carl Hagelin’s tying goal in the second period and registered a game-high eight shots on goalie Braden Holtby in New York’s come-from-behind 2-1 victory.

Nash has been limited to three goals and nine assists in his first 14 games with the Rangers, following a blockbuster offseason trade. But his mere presence is opening up lots of space for those on the ice with him.

“They’re not going in, but I’m getting the chances,” Nash said. “A couple of posts and point-blanks. I thought they were going in for sure. The exciting thing is Carl is putting them in.”

The Rangers (8-5-1) tied it when Hagelin scored at 7:39 of the second. Ryan McDonagh fired a drive from the middle of the ice, just inside the blue line, that was tipped into the net on New York’s 30th shot.

Hagelin has scored five of his six goals in the past four games — netting at least one in each. That led coach John Tortorella to call him “probably our best forward” recently.

“He is one of the few guys who can beat his guy one-on-one most of the time,” Hagelin said of Nash. “That’s why you can hide a bit on the ice and try to disappear. When he makes that move, the D who is supposed to be on me goes over to him, and I am wide open.

“When you feel good, you continue playing well, and goals are going to come.”

One on the power play finally did for New York when Derek Stepan scored the winner early in the third period.

It was the only time the Rangers’ power-play unit connected in five chances, but it came at the right moment and helped snap the Capitals’ season-high winning streak at three.

Washington (5-9-1), which lost to New York in the second round of last year’s playoffs, had been 11-5-2 in its last 18 regular-season games against the Rangers.

“We could have played better,” Capitals coach Adam Oates said. “We took too many penalties. We spent so much energy killing penalties. It took away from the rest of our game.”

Defenseman John Carlson put Washington ahead in the first, despite the Capitals being outshot 20-8.

Washington went 2-1 on its trip and will play its next three at home.

“They played better than us,” Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom said. “They had better chances. It’s tough, one-goal games coming down to the wire.”

New York improved to 5-1-1 in its past seven, despite entering the game with an NHL-worst power play that connected on only 10 percent of its chances.

The deciding advantage lasted only 7 seconds before clicking 4:25 into the third.

Brad Richards, benched for all but one shift in the third period of the Rangers’ shootout loss to the Islanders on Thursday, won a faceoff and then made a pass to Michael Del Zotto in the right circle. Del Zotto quickly found Stepan with a diagonal pass to the left post, where Stepan scored while down on a knee.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 shots for his seventh win. Holtby made 38 saves to earn third star of the game honors.

“I thought we were a lot better than them in the first period, but they had the lead,” Lundqvist said. “The key for us was to stay patient, and we did.”

The Capitals’ power play, which has been surging recently, was held in check on four chances. Its final opportunity came with under 7 minutes left when Nash was called for tripping. Washington had scored a power-play goal in each of its previous six games, connecting on 8 of 15 opportunities.

The Capitals put instant pressure on the Rangers and Lundqvist and nearly scored even before Carlson’s second goal of the season at 1:19. Mike Ribeiro got the puck to Carlson for a hard drive from the right circle that got past Lundqvist.

The Rangers dominated in shots in the first period, but had nothing to show for it despite three power plays that generated five shots. New York registered a season-high 20, but was denied each time by Holtby.

Marian Gaborik had perhaps the Rangers’ best scoring chance during Washington’s lone power play of the period, but he was stuffed twice in front.

Frustration swirled throughout Madison Square Garden as the Rangers consistently passed the puck all around the offensive zone during the multiple man-advantages without producing many quality scoring opportunities.

“Shooting the puck is something that we’ve tried to focus on — just getting pucks and bodies to the net,” Stepan said. “If we play that way and we have shots like that and chances like that, eventually they’re going to go in.”

Game notes

Capitals D Mike Green missed his first game of the season because of an undisclosed lower-body injury. … The Rangers’ previous season-high for shots in a period was 17 in the third on Jan. 26 when they scored four goals against Toronto. … Ribeiro, the Capitals’ leading scorer with 18 points this season, earned his 400th NHL assist on Carlson’s goal. … Rangers C Darroll Powe was helped off the ice by teammates Arron Asham and Stepan after a center-ice collision with Washington’s Matt Hendricks in the second period. Powe was woozy after flipping over and striking his head on the ice. He didn’t return.

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