Chicago is moving on in the postseason for the first time since the championship run in 2010, and will face either San Jose or Detroit if the Red Wings get past Anaheim.

“We knew we hadn’t done it in two years,” Hossa said. “Minnesota, they still have a great team and are missing some players. We found a way. Now we get ready for the next round.”

The way the Blackhawks have dominated, anything less than a trip to the Stanley Cup finals would be a disappointment for them.

They got off to a record start and captured the Presidents’ Trophy for finishing with more points than any other team.

Now, they’re eyeing the biggest prize of all. And after bowing out in the first round the past two years, they sure are looking good.

Hossa scored off a feed from Jonathan Toews late in the first period. Marcus Kruger made it 2-0 with a wraparound early in the second, and Hossa chased the Wild’s Josh Harding when he knocked in a rebound minutes later.

Then, after Torrey Mitchell scored for Minnesota, Chicago’s Andrew Shaw scored against Darcy Kuemper. Patrick Sharp added his fifth goal of the series early in the third period, and that was more than enough for Crawford.

Coming off his second career playoff shutout, he saved 21 shots, and the Blackhawks became the third team to advance in this postseason, along with San Jose and Ottawa. They also bucked a recent trend of early exits for Presidents’ Trophy winners.

The team with the most regular-season points had been eliminated in the first round in three of the previous four years. The Wild were hoping to replicate what the Los Angeles Kings did last year and win the Stanley Cup as the eighth seed, but the Blackhawks simply had too much skill, speed and depth.

The Wild were also short-handed after losing one of their top scorers in Dany Heatley to season-ending left shoulder surgery late in the season. They also had to get by without goalie Niklas Backstrom after he suffered a leg injury in warm-ups before Game 1.

That forced the Wild to go with Harding, who played in just five games during the regular season after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last summer. And he also got banged up in this series. He left Game 4 after a collision with Toews in which his legs got straddled around the left goal post, and he wasn’t sharp in this one, allowing three goals on 18 shots even though he was deemed well enough to start.

Coach Mike Yeo turned to Kuemper after Hossa’s second goal. He also insisted the injury in Game 4 wasn’t a factor in Harding’s performance in this one.

“It wasn’t,” Yeo said. “I don’t want to pin this loss on Josh, either. Credit them and their team.”

There was also a question about Yeo’s job security after this loss. The Wild were widely considered Stanley Cup contenders after they gave free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter identical 13-year, $98 million contracts last summer. But they never quite lived up to expectations.

“I can’t answer that,” Yeo said. “All I can say is if you want to look at it objectively, statistically, if you really want to look at it properly, then there’ve been a lot of improvements in our organization and our team. I feel that we’re going in the right direction.”

For a moment, the Wild looked like they might get back into this one.

Moments after Minnesota’s Jared Spurgeon hit the right post, Mitchell ripped a one-timer past Crawford midway through the second period. But Shaw answered 35 seconds later with his first career playoff goal when he swept the puck in from a bad angle just to the right of the net, making it 4-1.

Crawford, meanwhile, continued to erase doubts about his ability to perform in the postseason. That was a big question coming into this series after he let in several soft goals in last year’s first-round loss to Phoenix. He’s been nothing but solid in this series.

“He’s making saves that he needs to make and he’s making saves that he shouldn’t be making,” Sharp said. “When he does that, it breeds confidence throughout the lineup and it filters through everybody.”

He even had the fans chanting his name at several points. For example, when Crawford stopped a routine shot by Jason Pominville from the wing and scrambled back toward the middle of the net for a neat pad save against Mikko Koivu on the rebound. That foiled another power play by the Wild after they went 0-for-15 in the first four games.

The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Hossa took a feed from Toews in the left circle and fired the puck between Harding’s glove and the post. The assist gave Toews his first point of the playoffs.

Kruger made it 2-0 when his wraparound deflected off Harding’s pad and into the net for his first career playoff goal.

Game notes

Blackhawks C Dave Bolland and G Ray Emery remain sidelined by lower body injuries, although coach Joel Quenneville said they’re “real close.” Bolland said it’s 50-50 he would have been able to play if “it was do-or-die” for the Blackhawks, but he expects to be ready in the next round. … Quenneville moved ahead of Mike Keenan and took sole possession of second place on the Blackhawks’ playoff wins list with 34. Billy Reay is the club record-holder with 57 from 1963-77.

The post Blackhawks blow out Wild, advance in playoffs for first time since 2010 appeared first on IdealCapper.

Better to let them learn how to survive playoff pressure on their own, Babcock thought.

With help from an ill-timed penalty by Anaheim’s Sheldon Souray, the Red Wings figured it out and evened the series.

Gustav Nyquist scored a power-play goal at 1:21 of overtime, giving Detroit a 5-4 victory in Game 2 on Thursday night.

Johan Franzen scored two goals, and Damien Brunner had his first Stanley Cup playoff goal and two assists for the Red Wings, who survived their third-period collapse with a timely goal from Nyquist.

“We knew we had to get back to playing hard in the overtime, and we did,” Nyquist said. “We knew the playoffs were on the line.”

Game 3 is Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Bobby Ryan scored the tying goal with 2:22 left in regulation for the Ducks, who also got goals from captain Ryan Getzlaf and Kyle Palmieri while erasing Detroit’s 4-1 lead with a phenomenal surge in the final minutes.

But Souray took a slashing penalty in front of his net with 38 seconds left in regulation after an exchange with Justin Abdelkader, and Nyquist was left unchecked in the left faceoff circle for his goal with just 2 seconds remaining on the power play. The 23-year-old Swede from the University of Maine was in his sixth career playoff game.

“I think it’s a great learning experience,” Babcock said. “You’ve got the win, and you stop playing. … You’re not settling them down, you’re putting gas on the fire. What are you going to do about it? You’re hoping your big guys are going to go out there and make a play.”

Ducks fans loudly booed the call against Souray, who joined Anaheim this season after a well-traveled career. He has been among the Ducks’ best defensemen with his booming slap shot and physical two-way play.

“I didn’t really see anything,” Souray said of the final penalty. “It was a tough call. Tough way to end it. We battled back hard. We didn’t start the game and periods as hard as they did, and they capitalized on that.”

Jimmy Howard made 28 saves for Detroit, which silenced the Anaheim crowd with two goals in the first 4:20 of the Red Wings’ third victory in four appearances at Honda Center this season. Abdelkader scored in the opening minute, and Pavel Datsyuk had two assists.

But the Red Wings also lost rookie defenseman Danny DeKeyser for the season with a broken thumb.

“He’s done,” Babcock said of DeKeyser, who played a standout game before apparently getting hurt in the third period.

Jonas Hiller stopped 27 shots and Saku Koivu scored for the second-seeded Ducks, who struggled through the first two periods before rallying in the hair-raising third. Ryan and Palmieri each had a goal and an assist in the third, and Koivu added an assist.

“When you do come back to tie it, and (then) lose it, (it’s) a little more disappointing,” Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I was hoping it would get done before overtime, because I knew they would gain their composure again, because the last 10 minutes (of regulation), they lost it. They were fortunate starting (overtime) on the power play, and that was it.”

Until the final period, Detroit had bounced back impressively from the Ducks’ 3-1 series-opening victory. Babcock put veteran Todd Bertuzzi in his lineup for the first time since Feb. 7, replacing Jordin Tootoo, but otherwise kept the same lineup — and the Wings responded with all the poise expected from a team with 22 straight playoff appearances.

While the Wings executed, the Ducks struggled until their electric third-period rally. Game 1 hero Teemu Selanne made an egregious turnover leading to Brunner’s goal, and Getzlaf passed up a breakaway shot in the third period for an ill-advised pass on a play that exemplified the Ducks’ struggles.

But the Ducks rallied when Getzlaf scored on a shot with his back to the net with 12:10 to play. Palmieri then scored his first career playoff goal moments after a power play ended, firing a short shot that Howard missed with his glove with 7:29 left.

Ryan nearly scored with 5 1/2 minutes to play, but his deflection in front just caught the outside post. He didn’t miss on his next chance when Cam Fowler found him driving to the net with a perfect pass for a quick shot past Howard, setting off a deafening celebration.

“I think we finally settled into a pretty good rhythm there,” Ryan said. “We didn’t do enough, though. … We gave them second and third chances to come up with the puck, and they’re a team that capitalizes.”

The Ducks attracted another large, towel-waving crowd to Honda Center after the festive atmosphere in their opener. But many fans weren’t yet in their seats when Abdelkader found space near the blue line and beat Hiller with a deceptive wrist shot just 48 seconds into the game.

Game notes

The 38-year-old Bertuzzi missed nearly three months with back pain and nerve problems affecting his right leg, even forcing him to walk with a cane at times. … The Ducks have won the series all nine times in club history after winning the first game. … Babcock considered putting veteran Mikael Samuelsson back into the lineup but held off. The member of the “Triple Gold Club” — an Olympic gold medal, a world championship and a Stanley Cup title — missed 41 games this season with injuries but is healthy again.

The post Wings survive late collapse to win in OT, even series vs. Ducks appeared first on IdealCapper.

Cam Atkinson scored two goals and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves and the Blue Jackets stayed alive in the Western Conference playoff race with a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

Mark Letestu snapped a 1-1 tie in the third period for the game-winner.

Before the game ended, the Stars were eliminated from playoff contention when Detroit defeated Nashville 5-2, moving past Minnesota into seventh in the Western Conference.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, I don’t think,” said goaltender Kari Lehtonen, who made 32 saves in a losing effort. “It feels bad right now and I’m sure it feels even worse tomorrow.”

The Blue Jackets are even in points with the Wild, who hold eighth place due to the non-shootout wins tiebreaker.

Columbus needs to beat the Predators on Saturday, and have the Stars beat the Red Wings in regulation on Saturday, or have the Wild earn no more than one point in their two remaining games, to earn just the second postseason berth in franchise history and first since 2009.

“Our players have earned this opportunity,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. “Granted, we still need some help, but it’s going to make for a great environment on Saturday in our building.”

Making the playoffs would cap off a remarkable turnaround for Columbus, which started the season 5-12-2 and was last overall in the NHL in late February, before reeling off an 18-5-5 run since to make an improbable bid for a postseason berth.

“It feels great. You can only control what you can control and that’s what we’re doing,” said Atkinson, who had a game-high seven shots on goal. “We’re doing our job and that’s all we can do. I felt like I probably should have had six or seven tonight but I scored when it counted. It’s exciting to score but it’s even better to win games.”

The Blue Jackets, which concluded a six-game road trip with a 5-1-0 record, got two third-period goals from its league-worst power play to secure the triumph.

“We came in here, did our job and we won our game,” said center Brandon Dubinsky, who added two assists. “We’re going to have to do it again on Saturday. Hell of a job by these guys, six-game road trip, 5-1 against some damn good teams, really proud of these guys. The job’s not done, but we gave ourselves an opportunity.”

Jamie Benn scored for the Stars, who have lost four straight (0-3-1) to miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season, the longest drought in franchise history.

“We were in every single game and the guys battled so hard for that last stretch,” winger Eric Nystrom said. “We just came up a little short and got zero help — it was just the combination of everything going against us. We got so many good, young guys coming up, so much character, that we’re going in the right direction.”

The Stars knew their fate by the time the third period started and that’s when Columbus seized control of the game.

“To be honest, we knew after the second period and I think most of our players did too,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said. “However, at the moment, the loss stings. You’re focused on this game. And we were a little flat in the third, maybe for a reason though.”

Letestu’s 13th goal of the season snapped a 1-1 tie at 7:56 of the third, just three seconds after Stephane Robidas entered the penalty box for an interference penalty. Dubinsky won the faceoff, pulling the puck back to Letestu at the right point for a slap shot that appeared to nick off Nystrom’s stick and sailed over Lehtonen’s glove.

“If they win the draw, it’s 30 seconds off the kill. So he makes a good draw and I just try to get it on there as quick as possible,” Letestu said of Dubinsky. “We try to make an effort to get a lot of pucks on the net on the power play and it just happened to hit Nystrom’s stick on the way through and changed direction.”

The goal snapped a 1-for-22 power play drought for Columbus.

Bobrovsky came up with a big pad save at 10:10 to preserve the Columbus advantage, denying Ray Whitney’s wrist shot from the slot.

A Nystrom interference penalty with 2:49 remaining put the Blue Jackets back on the power play and Atkinson capitalized on the opportunity with 1:40 to go.

After Lehtonen stopped Jack Johnson’s shot from the left point, the rebound came out to the left of the crease, right to Atkinson, who tucked it just inside the left post for his eighth goal of the season.

“It ended up being the difference in the game,” Richards said of the power play. “We got two and we had changed some things. And we had a good play there in the third period, shooting the puck, simple plays, getting the puck to the net.”

After falling behind on the game’s opening shift, the Stars tied it on the power play at 8:43 of the second period. Erik Cole’s pass into the slot from the right faceoff circle deflected off Atkinson’s stick and bounced right to Benn at the left post for an easy tap-in.

Benn’s 12th goal of the season — and fourth in the past six games — swung the momentum Dallas’ way and it continued to press throughout the period, but Bobrovsky shut the door.

The Blue Jackets jumped on top immediately, as Atkinson scored just 19 seconds into the opening period. Lehtonen stopped Blake Comeau’s wrist shot from the slot, but left a rebound next to him in the crease and Atkinson pounced on it, jamming it home for a 1-0 lead.

“Of course, that’s not what you want to do right on the first shift,” Lehtonen said. “I felt like I made a couple of good saves right before that, and then I just lost the puck.”

Game notes

Bobrovsky, considered a Vezina Trophy candidate as the NHL’s top goaltender, entered with a 16-5-3 record since March 1, with a 1.65 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage, as well as four shutouts. … The Stars honored former D Richard Matvichuk as part of their 20th anniversary all-time team. Matvichuk, who played in Dallas from 1993-2004 as part of a 14-year NHL career, was part of the franchise’s only Stanley Cup team in 1999.

The post Blue Jackets stay alive in West playoff race appeared first on IdealCapper.

Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski scored goals 30 seconds apart late in the third period to help the Sharks clinch the playoffs in their final home game of the season with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night.

“There’s a sense of relief, but it can’t be a sense of relaxation,” coach Todd McLellan said. “When we came in, we immediately looked at what happened tonight around the league, and there’s still a chance for home ice. It would be a nice thing to have.”

Raffi Torres also scored for the Sharks, who moved into a tie for fourth place in the West with Los Angeles with two games remaining in the race for home-ice advantage. The Sharks visit the Kings in the season finale Saturday after playing at Phoenix on Wednesday night.

It’s been quite a roller-coaster season for the Sharks, who won their first seven games and lost 17 of the next 23 before going on their current 12-3-1 stretch to save their season.

“It was a crazy year. It’s obviously not over yet,” Couture said. “Just the 48-game schedule, so many games back to back and inconsistency of the seven-game winning streak, the big losing streak and then the stretch we’ve gone on now. It’s been a weird year. Our main goal from day one was to get into the playoffs. We’ve done that now so I guess that’s all that matters going forward.”

Antoine Roussel and Loui Eriksson scored for the Stars, whose playoff hopes were dealt a serious blow. Dallas remains two points behind ninth-place Detroit and three behind eighth-place Columbus in the race for the final playoff spot. The Red Wings have a game in hand over both teams.

The Stars end the season with home games against Columbus and Detroit, and need to win both and get help to make the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

“It’s very disappointing,” defenseman Stephane Robidas said. “We battled hard all night. Since the deadline, everyone had written us off, and here we are. I think everyone has shown a lot of character. We needed a point tonight but couldn’t get it. It’s very disappointing.”

Dallas looked as though it would gain two points behind a strong night from Kari Lehtonen but it was all erased in a flash late in the third period.

First, Pavelski tipped Brad Stuart’s point shot in with 5:37 remaining to tie the game.

While the sellout crowd was still celebrating that goal, Justin Braun’s point shot went to Patrick Marleau, who slid the puck to an open Couture, who knocked in his 20th goal of the season.

“Basically a full game of frustration turned into happiness with the go-ahead one there,” Couture said.

Lehtonen made 34 saves but had no chance on Couture’s game winner with 5:07 remaining.

“They had been pressing, and we had had good goaltending the whole game and we just couldn’t hold them at the end when we needed to,” coach Glen Gulutzan said. “We need help now. So we are going to have to bounce back, and we need help. We have to get two more wins.”

Antti Niemi made 24 saves in his 24th straight start for San Jose.

The teams traded goals in the first period with the Sharks striking first. Torres tipped in a centering pass from Scott Gomez for a power-play goal, and the Stars answered when Roussel beat Scott Hannan to a long rebound of a shot by Cody Eakin.

Dallas had chances to take the lead when Stuart was sent to the box for interference with 1:21 remaining on an elbowing penalty against Hannan. The best chance on that 5-on-3 came when San Jose’s Braun was stopped on a partial breakaway by Lehtonen.

Shortly after that two-man advantage ended, Marc-Edouard Vlasic was called for slashing at the end of the first period, giving Dallas 28 seconds more of 5-on-3 play to start the second.

The Stars didn’t squander that chance when Eriksson knocked in a rebound 17 seconds into the period to make it 2-1.

Lehtonen protected that lead the rest of the period, making tough stops on Vlasic, Dan Boyle and Andrew Desjardins to keep Dallas ahead heading into the third.

Game notes

Stars F Alex Chiasson, who scored three goals in two wins over San Jose earlier this month, sat out with a shoulder injury. … San Jose D Jason Demers missed his second straight game because of a lower-body injury. … The Sharks sold out every regular-season game for the third straight season.

The post Sharks rally past Stars to clinch playoff berth appeared first on IdealCapper.

Johansen scored the tiebreaking goal with 1:37 remaining after a turnover by Joe Pavelski, and the Blue Jackets overcame a blown two-goal lead in the third period to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Sunday night.

“It feels like a little bit of destiny with this team,” said forward R.J. Umberger, who assisted on the winning goal. “We’re just a very confident team. We feel like we are underdogs every night. We’re proving people wrong. This team believes a lot and it just feels like our destiny that we’re to make the playoffs. We want to make it more than anything.”

Mark Letestu scored twice and Vinny Prospal also scored for the Blue Jackets, who moved into a tie for seventh place with Minnesota in the Western Conference with 51 points — three points ahead of Detroit and Dallas for the final playoff spot. Columbus has played one more game than the Wild and Stars, and two more than the Red Wings.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves for the Blue Jackets, who won for the sixth time in seven games as they try for the second playoff berth in franchise history.

The game came down to that late turnover by Pavelski, who lost the puck trying to come out of his own zone, setting up Johansen’s second game-winner of the season.

“I was licking my chops,” Johansen said. “That was for sure. I just found a hole there. It was nice to be in the middle of the ice, it’s a great shooting area. I was just lucky to beat (Antti) Niemi on the shot. I felt like it was good scoring chance right away. This is the biggest goal I’ve scored in my career so far. It’s a great feeling.”

It was a wild swing of emotions in the third period, especially for Pavelski. The Sharks rallied from 3-1 down to tie the game on his power-play goal with 5:03 remaining only to miss a chance to clinch the playoffs when they lost in regulation at home for just the second time this season.

“It was right there for us obviously,” Pavelski said. “It’s tough. You never want to make a play like that at the end. You understand where you are in the game and you understand these things do happen once in a while. It’s tough when they do, but we have to move on and get better from this and I have to try to execute better next time.”

Martin Havlat and Andrew Desjardins also scored and Niemi made 18 saves in his 23rd straight start for the Sharks, who need one point to clinch their ninth straight playoff berth.

While San Jose still has three more games to clinch the playoffs, this loss dealt a blow to the team’s hopes to get home-ice advantage in the first round. The Sharks fell two points behind fourth-place Los Angeles in the standings, but remained one point ahead of sixth-place St Louis. San Jose would lose the tiebreaker to both teams based on fewer regulation and overtime wins.

“I wasn’t concerned with getting a point and putting an X by our name,” coach Todd McLellan said. “I was concerned about our game. It’s our game that will get us there or won’t get us there. Forget about the clinch part.”

McLellan was upset about his team’s sloppy, lackluster play for much of the night. San Jose had 17 giveaways in the game with a bad pass by Brad Stuart setting up Prospal’s goal that made it 2-0 and Pavelski’s turnover leading to Johansen’s game-winner.

“Our forecheck is a strength of ours,” Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. “If we are forechecking hard and we’re after pucks and using our speed and our size that’s playing to our strengths. Turnovers in this game whether it was them or us. Turnovers are huge.”

The Blue Jackets swept the three-game season series from San Jose, winning for just the third time in 22 games at the Shark Tank.

After falling behind 2-0 when Prospal scored on a breakaway following Stuart’s turnover, the Sharks got back into the game when Logan Couture fed Havlat in front for a tip-in midway through the second period.

But San Jose then allowed a rare power-play goal at home to fall back behind by two. With Matt Irwin in the box for interference, Letestu beat Niemi with a blast from the left point for his 12th goal of the season and first multigoal game since March 8, 2012, against Los Angeles.

Columbus had been 0-for-17 on the power play over the last eight games.

Game notes

San Jose had been 16-1-5 at home, with the only regulation loss coming to Chicago on Feb. 5. … The Sharks have allowed seven power-play goals at home this season. … Columbus C Artem Anisimov (concussion), F Matt Calvert (broken finger) and D Nikita Nikitin (lower body) sat out with injuries. … San Jose D Jason Demers, who was hurt in the third period on Thursday, missed the game and was replaced by Scott Hannan.

The post Blue Jackets score 2 in 3rd to top Sharks, move into 7th-place tie appeared first on IdealCapper.

“Thank you for all your prayers. Made (it) home, (feeling) better,” Anisimov posted on his Twitter account late Friday afternoon.

Anisimov checked out of Detroit Medical Center earlier in the day and flew home to Columbus along with assistant athletic trainer Nates Goto, team spokesman Todd Sharrock said.

“He will see our team doctors at some point but I don’t know if that will be today,” Sharrock said.

Anisimov was taken off the ice on a stretcher after being struck in the head by Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey. Anisimov’s head then hit the ice as Quincey fell on top of him.

He lay motionless on the ice for several minutes while anxious players on both teams watched from near the benches. After being evaluated by medical personnel, he was put in a neck brace and on a back board and transported off the ice and to the hospital.

Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said after his team’s 3-2 win that Anisimov was alert and stable at the hospital.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound native of Yaroslavl, Russia, has four goals and two assists in 15 games this season, his first with the Blue Jackets. He was part of the big trade last summer which sent Rick Nash to the New York Rangers.

The post Artem Anisimov out of hospital appeared first on IdealCapper.

Kiprusoff, who left Tuesday’s game after the second period, is listed as day to day.

“In the second period I felt some discomfort in the lower body area,” Kiprusoff said in a statement. “During the intermission, it was decided that I not return to play. I really believe that this is a short-term injury and over the next days, I’ll work toward being ready as soon as possible.”

Backup Leland Irving stopped all six shots he faced in the third period against the Red Wings. Calgary (2-3-2) is last in the Western Conference with six points entering Wednesday.

Kiprusoff, who has played in all seven games this season, has a .870 save percentage and 3.24 goals-against average. He has played in more than 70 games in each of the past seven seasons for the Flames.

Taylor’s deal is worth $525,000. He has spent the past two seasons with the American Hockey League’s Abbotsford Heat.

The post Flames sign goalie Danny Taylor appeared first on IdealCapper.

Datsyuk is one of a number of players who went to the Kontinental Hockey League during the NHL lockout. Now that players and owners have reached a tentative agreement to end the lockout, the KHL has needed to replace several selections to its All-Star Game. But a spokesman for the Russian league says Datsyuk and New Jersey Devils star Ilya Kovalchuk are still expected to participate.

NHL players have until Saturday to vote on the new labor deal that would end the four-month lockout. If a majority of players choose to accept the deal, training camps will open Sunday, and a 48-game regular season will begin Jan. 19.

The post Pavel Datsyuk to be KHL All-Star appeared first on IdealCapper.