Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Calgary Flames 4-1 on Sunday, moments after clinching their first division title since winning the Norris Division in 1992-1993.
The Blackhawks secured the Central Division crown minutes before the puck was dropped against the Flames when the Detroit Red Wings lost 4-3 at Philadelphia.
Antti Niemi made 25 saves for Chicago, and Tomas Kopecky, Troy Brouwer and Dustin Byfuglien had the other goals.
The Blackhawks won their 49th game to equal the team record set in 1970-1971 and matched in 1990-1991. It was their third consecutive win, their eighth straight regular-season victory over the Flames, and they improved to 105 points while closing within one of first-place San Jose in the Western Conference.
Ian White scored for the Flames, whose three-game winning streak ended. Their playoff hopes also took a blow, because they have just three games remaining and are level with the Colorado Avalanche for eighth place in the Western Conference.
CANUCKS 4, WILD 3, OT
At Vancouver, Sami Salo scored on a power play at 2:15 in overtime as the Vancouver Canucks bounced back from blowing a two-goal lead in the final minute to beat the Minnesota Wild.
Most of the crowd headed for the exits after Alex Edler scored into an empty net with 55 seconds left to make it 3-1.
But Cody Almond went hard to the net unchecked to deflect in his first goal on Casey Wellman’s centering pass with 41.5 seconds left.
And Antti Miettinen tied it with 18.8 seconds left, parking at the side of the net alone to snap Andrew Brunette’s pass from behind the goal past Roberto Luongo from a sharp angle.
The dramatic comeback ended after Greg Zanon took a high-sticking penalty in overtime and Salo one-timed a pass from Henrik Sedin as the Canucks clinched the Northwest Division title.
AVALANCHE 5, SHARKS 4, OT
At Denver, John-Michael Liles redirected Ryan Wilson’s shot at 2:59 of overtime as Colorado gained ground in the race for the final Western Conference playoff spot.
The win snapped the Avalanche’s four-game losing streak and gave them a two-point lead over ninth-place Calgary.
The Sharks remained the top seed in the West, but the loss allowed Washington to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular-season record.
Kyle Quincey and Paul Statsny also scored for Colorado.
San Jose tied at 4 on Patrick Marleau’s 43rd goal of the season with 11:47 left. Joe Pavelski, Douglas Murray and Jamie McGuinn also scored.
FLYERS 4, RED WINGS 3
At Philadelphia, Claude Giroux and Arron Asham scored second-period goals to power Philadelphia to the victory.
Kimmo Timonen added a goal and an assist and Daniel Carcillo also scored for the Flyers.
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