Blackhawks clinch division with SO win over Wings

CHICAGO: Brandon Saad scored in the fifth round of the shootout after Jonathan Toews tied the game late in regulation, and the Chicago Blackhawks clinched the Central Division title with a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night.
With St. Louis losing to Columbus earlier Friday, the Blackhawks wrapped up the Central race for the first time since 2010 when they won the Stanley Cup.
Chicago also increased its lead over Anaheim for the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs to six points.
The shootout was tied 1-1 when Saad beat Jimmy Howard with a backhand shot. Corey Crawford then stopped Johan Franzen, sealing the win and giving the Blackhawks a four-game season sweep over Detroit.
Senators 2, Devils 0: Craig Anderson turned aside all 33 shots he faced and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored his first career goal as visiting Ottawa won its second straight following a season-high five-game losing skid.
Milan Michalek also tallied for the Senators, who completed a three-game season sweep of reeling New Jersey and moved within one point of provincial-rival Toronto for fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
Martin Brodeur finished with nine saves for the Devils, who saw their winless stretch extend to nine games (0-5-4) and remained four points behind the eighth-place New York Rangers.
New Jersey’s winless streak is one shy of a franchise high, which was set in 1983.
Stars 5, Predators 2: Rookie Alex Chiasson recorded his second two-goal performance in three contests as visiting Dallas extended its winning streak to four games.
Ray Whitney recorded a power-play goal and an assist, Erik Cole and Tom Wandell also scored and Richard Bachman made 26 saves for the Stars, who climbed within one point of Detroit for eighth place in the Western Conference. The Red Wings play the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
Taylor Beck and Bobby Butler tallied while Chris Mason stopped 13 shots for Nashville, which suffered its fifth straight loss. Blue Jackets 4, Blues 1: Cam Atkinson had a goal and an assist and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves as host Columbus ended St. Louis’ six-game winning streak.
Artem Anisimov, Ryan Johansen and Marian Gaborik also scored for the Blue Jackets.
Flames 3, Coyotes 2 (OT): Defenseman Mark Giordano scored at 4:36 of overtime as host Calgary stalled Phoenix’s push for the playoffs.
After Coyotes blue-liner Keith Yandle forged a tie with a one-timer from the right faceoff circle with 5:04 remaining in the third period, Giordano unleashed a shot from above the slot that beat a screened Mike Smith. Jiri Hudler and Lee Stempniak scored in regulation, Giordano added an assist and Joey MacDonald made 29 saves for the Flames, who won for just the second time in eight games.