The defending Stanley Cup champions are heading to the postseason for the eighth consecutive year, as the Chicago Blackhawks clinched a playoff berth Sunday with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. It will mark their 61st postseason appearance in franchise history.
#HAWKSWIN and we're headed back to the #StanleyCup Playoffs!#ONEGOAL pic.twitter.com/9ZBwLc6gfg
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 28, 2016
The Blackhawks needed just one point to book their ticket to the playoffs, but they picked up two thanks to Andrew Ladd, who scored the game-winning goal with under three minutes remaining. The trade-deadline acquisition now has three goals and four points in his past two games.
Tomas Fleischmann and Teuvo Teravainen also scored for the Blackhawks, while defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk finished the game with two assists.
With Corey Crawford sidelined for the sixth game in a row due to an upper-body injury, Scott Darling filled in and picked up his second win in as many days with a 26-save performance.
The win places Chicago four points ahead of the Nashville Predators for third in the Central, and four points behind the co-division leaders: the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues.
Back to back wins for the Blackhawks for first time since 2/28 and 3/2
— Judd Sirott (@Judd_Sirott) March 28, 2016
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Edmonton Oilers forward Nail Yakupov has long been the subject of trade rumors, as he has struggled to live up to the billing as a No. 1 overall draft selection.
It appears not only hockey fans feel a change of scenery would be best for the 22-year-old, as Igor Eronko of Russian news outlet Sport-Express tweeted Sunday that Yakupov requested a trade before the Feb. 29 deadline and garnered significant interest from around the league, but "something went wrong."
Nail Yakupov: 'I asked a trade and #Oilers gave a permission to speak to other teams, about 8 of them were interested, but smth went wrong'
— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) March 27, 2016
The quote was translated from a Russian interview with Igor Rabiner, also of Sport-Express. Within the interview, it "seems plain" Yakupov has no interest in returning to the KHL, notes Jonathan Willis of the Edmonton Journal.
New Jersey & Carolina were both specifically mentioned in that Russian Yakupov article. Exactly the kind of teams that should roll the dice.
— Jonathan Willis (@JonathanWillis) March 27, 2016
After recording 10 points in 12 games in October, Yakupov has just nine points in 44 games since.
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After knocking the opposing teams' captains out of Saturday's game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Arizona Coyotes, Radko Gudas and Martin Hanzal will both avoid discipline from the league and not have hearings for their hits, a source told Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Coyotes captain Shane Doan left the game after Gudas knocked him to the ice and sandwiched him into the boards. No update has been given on Doan's condition, but it appeared he may have suffered a head injury.
Hanzal, meanwhile, forced Claude Giroux from the game after hitting him into the boards from behind. The Flyers have announced their captain is "fine" and will be available for Monday's game against the Jets.
The Coyotes forward was not penalized for the hit on Giroux, but did receive a misconduct for boarding Wayne Simmonds in an ensuing scrum.
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The Minnesota Wild signed forward Mario Lucia to a two-year, entry-level contract beginning next season, the club announced Sunday.
The 22-year-old wrapped up his career at Notre Dame on Friday with a 3-2 overtime loss to Michigan at the NCAA Tournament. In four seasons with the Fighting Irish, Lucia recorded 61 goals and 49 assists in 110 games.
Selected in the second round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft (60th overall), he will report to the Wild's AHL affiliate in Iowa on an amateur tryout for the remainder of this season.
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If the Colorado Avalanche are going to climb back into a playoff spot, they'll have to press on without two of their best players.
Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon, both of whom are dealing with knee injuries, have been ruled out of at least the next two games, the team announced Sunday.
Duchene has missed the past six games, while MacKinnon has sat out five. The pair has combined for 108 points this season.
Colorado is scheduled to visit Nashville on Monday with a game the next night in St. Louis. At that point, the Avalanche will have five games remaining on the schedule, but it may already be too late to make up the gap between them and Minnesota for the final wild-card spot.
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