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.

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.

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