Sharks clinch division title

CALGARY, Alberta -- Evgeni Nabokov made 38 saves to give the San Jose Sharks their third straight division title with a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. The Sharks also stayed two points ahead of Chicago for best record in the Western Conference. The Flames, on the other hand, missedthe playoffs for the first time since 2003, after Colorado beat Vancouver later Tuesday night. Rob Blake and Jamie McGinn scored for San Jose, 6-1-1 since a six-game winless streak dropped them to second in the Pacific Division behind Phoenix. Rene Bourque scored for Calgary, the second-lowest scoring team in the NHL, ahead of only the Boston Bruins. The Flames have been either shut out or held to one goal 25 times. Trailing 2-0 entering the third period, Calgary got on the scoreboard at 4:20 on the power play. Jay Bouwmeester corralled a loose puck, spun and zipped a pass through a crowd that landed right on the stick of Bourque at the side of the net. Bourque easily slid his 26th goal into the open net. Calgary desperately pressed for the tying goal in the late going but could not beat Nabokov a second time, despite outshooting San Jose 17-2 in the third period. Leading 1-0 after the first period, San Jose surged ahead 2-0 at 5:47 of the second when Miikka Kiprusoff made a stop off Logan Couture but unintentionally cleared the rebound off of McGinn's legs, and the Sharks forward easily slid the puck into the open side. San Jose opened the scoring at 10:15 of the first period, converting its only power play of the first 40 minutes. With Couture screening Kiprusoff, Blake ripped a slap shot from the blue line past the Flames goaltender. Notes: San Jose finished with a road record of 24-14-3, second best in the league behind Washington. ... Calgary RW Jarome Iginla hasn't scored in his last nine games. ... The Sharks have won the Pacific Division five of the last eight seasons. Elsewhere around the NHL, Alex Ovechkin scored twice to tie Sidney Crosby for the NHL lead with 48 goals and the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals swept the season series from the Pittsburgh Penguins, winning 6-3 on Tuesday night. Crosby had a goal and two assists to give the Penguins captain his fourth 100-point season in five seasons -- he missed only when he sat out two months of 2007-08 with a high ankle sprain -- but Pittsburgh still lost its fourth in a row to Washington. Ovechkin had four goals in 18 games before scoring on a power play early in the third period, then added an empty-net goal with a second remaining. Nicklas Backstrom set up both during a three-assist game, giving him 67 assists. Pittsburgh played without star forward Evgeni Malkin, who missed his eighth game in his last 10 -- this time with an undisclosed illness that caused him to leave the ice a few minutes into the pregame warmup. Devils 3, Thrashers 0 ATLANTA (AP) -- Martin Brodeur got his 600th career win with his second straight shutout. Ilya Kovalchuk, the former Thrashers captain who was traded to the Devils two months ago, didn't score but returned to see the Thrashers eliminated from playoff contention for the ninth time in their 10-year history. Dean McAmmond, Zach Parise and Travis Zajac scored and Brodeur stopped 19 shots. The shutout was Brodeur's league-leading ninth of the season and the 110th of his career. Brodeur and the Devils beat Carolina 4-0 on Saturday. Sabres 5, Rangers 2 BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Ryan Miller made 30 saves, including a brilliant blocker stop on Marian Gaborik, in helping the Buffalo Sabres clinch the Northeast Division title. Rookie Tyler Ennis had a goal and two assists while Drew Stafford had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, which won its sixth division title and first since 2007. Jochen Hecht, with the go-ahead goal, Derek Roy and Toni Lydman also scored for the Sabres, who chased Rangers starter Henrik Lundqvist and delivered a blow to the Blueshirts' playoff hopes in the final week of the season. Miller (40-18-8) matched the single-season franchise record for wins he set in 2006-07, and improved to 10-4-1 since leading the United States to a silver medal at the Vancouver Games. Avalanche 4, Canucks 3, SO VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- Rookie Matt Duchene used a strong deke to the forehand to score the only goal of a shootout and put Colorado in the playoffs with a win over Vancouver. Craig Anderson stopped 28 shots through overtime and all three in the shootout as the Avalanche secured a postseason spot. Darcy Tucker, T.J. Galiardi and Paul Stastny scored for Colorado, which had lost a season high four straight, including a key one to ninth-place Calgary, before rallying to beat San Jose in overtime Sunday. The Avalanche then ended a four-game road skid by handing the Canucks their ninth home loss and eliminating the Calgary Flames. Sharks 2, Flames 1 CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- Evgeni Nabokov made 38 saves to give San Jose its third straight division title with a win over Calgary. The Sharks also stayed two points ahead of Chicago for best record in the Western Conference. The Flames, on the other hand, missed the playoffs for the first time since 2003, after Colorado beat Vancouver later Tuesday night. Rob Blake and Jamie McGinn scored for San Jose. Rene Bourque scored for Calgary. Kings 5, Ducks 4, SO ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Michal Handzus tied it with 1:09 left in regulation to cap the Kings' rally from a three-goal deficit, and Anze Kopitar scored the decisive shootout goal in Los Angeles' victory over Anaheim. Justin Williams had a goal and an assist in the third period for the playoff-bound Kings, who trailed 4-1 late in the second period before rallying for their fourth win in six games against Anaheim in the annual Freeway Faceoff. Teemu Selanne scored two goals for the Ducks, who weren't officially out of the playoff race until moments before the shootout began. That's when the Colorado Avalanche won their own shootout against Vancouver to eliminate Anaheim. After Williams trimmed the Ducks' lead to 4-3 with 12:04 to play, Los Angeles evened it with its first rush after goalie Erik Ersberg left the net. Williams chipped a pass from the wall and past Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer to Handzus, who poked it home for his 19th goal. Blackhawks 5, Stars 2 DALLAS (AP) -- Marian Hossa scored 36 seconds after the opening faceoff, Colin Fraser had the first of his two goals in the final minute of the first period, and Chicago stretched its winning streak to four games. Chicago's Antti Niemi made 26 saves in his sixth straight start, and Jonathan Toews added a short-handed goal for the Blackhawks. Patrick Kane also scored for Chicago. Steve Ott connected on the power play to reach the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career, and James Neal added his 27th goal for Dallas. Hurricanes 8, Lightning 5 TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Rod Brind'Amour, Drayson Bowman and Eric Staal scored two goals apiece and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 8-5.