Hawks clinch playoff spot with win over Canucks

The Blackhawks won their second consecutive game and clinched a playoff spot Sunday night with a 3-2 victory over the Canucks. Andrew Ladd scored his third goal in two nights in the third period that proved to be the game winner. Ladd’s goal, which was set up by a drop pass from Jonathan Toews, was his third in two nights. He now has six goals since re-joining the Hawks.
Hawks center Artem Anisimov missed Sunday’s game because of a lower-body injury. He is considered day-to-day, the Hawks said. Teuvo Teravainen moved up to center Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin on the second line while Dennis Rasmussen drew into the lineup for the first time since March 9.
The Hawks had a strong 20 minutes, dominating possession and generating several quality chances across all their lines. The finally cracked the ice late in the first when a Tomas Fleischmann shot from right circle found the back of the net thanks to a screen from Dennis Rasmussen. It was Fleischmann’s fourth goal since joining the Hawks.
Canucks answer in second
The Hawks could not quite carry over their dominance from the first period to the start of the second. A lacklustre power play from the Hawks gave the Canucks some life and they eventually tied the score on a goal from Alexandre Burrows. Burrows got position in front of (Darling) and one-timed a shot after receiving a pass from behind the net from Linden Vey.

Penguins beat the Rangers in overtime 3-2
Sidney Crosby scored in overtime to lead the Penguins to a 3-2 win against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
Crosby deflected a shot by Kris Letang past goalie Henrik Lundqvist in a game that could be a preview of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Eric Staal scored twice for the Rangers in regulation before goal by Matt Cullen and Phil Kessel tied it. With one second left in regulation, the Penguins got their second power play of the night when Derick Brassard high-sticked Ben Lovejoy in the face.
But the power play was unable to convert _ a refrain heard a time or two of late.
The Penguins improved to 42-25-8 as the Rangers dropped to 43-25-8.
Staal one-armed a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury at 4:19 of the first period, getting behind the defense to take a feed from Kevin Hayes.
Cullen tied it at 15:49, poking a rebound past Lundqvist off a shot by Derrick Pouliot, who returned to the lineup for the first time since March 6.
Staal struck again in the second period, capitalizing on a loose puck the Penguins failed to clear from the zone.
He beat Marc-Andre Fleury high on the short-side from a tough angle to make it 2-1 at 2:07.
The Penguins second line tied it right back up when Kessel finished a rebound at 8:36.
Carl Hagelin legged down a poor clear attempt by Lundqvist, fired the puck back at the net, catching Lundqvist out of position when the rebound was backhanded in by Kessel.
The second line had a 12-point game on Saturday, with a goal and four assists credited to both Kessel and Nick Bonino, a pair of goals by Hagelin.
Fleury denied Staal a hat trick late in the second period, turning him away after he got the puck alone in the slot and shot from close range.
The Penguins had shifted their defensive pairs to deal with the loss of Brian Dumoulin (undisclosed injury). Trevor Daley and Letang skated together on the top pairing, Pouliot skated on a line with Ben Lovejoy, and Ian Cole-Justin Schultz stayed intact.