Evgeni Nabokov made 34 saves for his sixth shutout of the season, and the San Jose Sharks edged the Anaheim Ducks, 1-0, to clinch a playoff spot in the tightly knit Western Conference.

At 100 points in 68 games played, the Sharks become the second team in the league to clinch a spot in the postseason. The Red Wings accomplished the feat earlier Sunday after shutting out Columbus, 4-0, to give them 101 points.

Travis Moen scored the game’s only goal, as the Sharks won for the third time in four games. Nabokov improved to 34-8-7 on the season with his 46th career shutout.

“(Anaheim) came out pretty hard right away, so it took a little while to find our legs,” Nabakov said. “But our effort was there, so we killed the penalties pretty well. It wasn’t an easy game, but it was a good road win.”

Corey Perry registered a game-high six shots but couldn’t find the back of the net for the Ducks, who have lost four of five. Jonas Hiller was the hard-luck loser, stopping 29-of-30 shots in the defeat.

“It’s frustrating, but we got to keep our head up and keep going,” Hiller said. “Everything’s possible.”

After a scoreless first period, the Sharks scored the game’s first goal late in the second frame. Jamie McGinn sent a pass out in front, and Moen tipped it up in the air. The puck took an awkward deflection off a defenseman and found its way past Giguere with 1:02 remaining for a San Jose lead.

A power play in the final four minutes didn’t work out for Anaheim, and the Ducks failed with an extra attacker in the final moments, as San Jose skated away with the victory.

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Nabokov blanks Ducks as Sharks clinch playoff spot

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The Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Rangers 6-3 with the help of Andrei Markov and Robert Lang.

NEW YORK (AP) — Andrei Markov and Robert Lang scored power-play goals 2:08 apart to break open a tight game in the third period and lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

There had been only one penalty called before New York’s Aaron Voros went off for hooking 2:29 into the third. Tomas Plekanec won the ensuing faceoff over to Markov, who whistled in his sixth goal.

The Rangers — tied in points with Philadelphia atop the Atlantic Division — took the next two penalties as well, setting up a 5-on-3 advantage that Lang converted into a 4-2 Canadiens lead at 4:40 with the first of his three goals.

Michal Rozsival got the Rangers back within a goal 2 minutes later, but New York lost for the fifth time in seven games (2-4-1). Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan scored tying goals earlier.

Two-time former Rangers star Alex Kovalev and Guillaume Latendresse staked Montreal to a pair of one-goal leads in front of goalie Jaroslav Halak, who subbed for injured All-Star starter Carey Price for the third straight game. Halak made 36 saves and was helped by his teammates, who weren’t short-handed until there was 3:42 left.

Lang made it 5-3 with 4:31 remaining during 4-on-4 play and finished his second NHL hat trick with an empty-netter. Montreal, on a 7-1-1 spurt, jumped one point ahead of the Rangers into fourth in the Eastern Conference.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 19 shots, but couldn’t build off a shutout of Pittsburgh on Monday.

The Rangers managed to tie it for a second time in the middle period, despite chasing the speedy Canadiens for large chunks of the frame. Montreal controlled play over the final 9 minutes after Rozsival went off for hooking — the game’s first penalty.

Callahan, however, made it 2-all at 9:25 when he took a feed from Scott Gomez, who found him for a one-timer past Halak for his 12th goal.

New York outshot Montreal 12-8 in the second period, after each team recorded nine shots in the first.

Lundqvist, who after posting his first shutout of the season in a 4-0 victory Monday lamented his propensity to allow early goals, did it again 3:05 in. The Rangers goalie, never known for fine puck-handling skills, backhanded a pass behind his net but it was intercepted by Canadiens rookie Max Pacioretty in the corner.

Pacioretty, playing in his third NHL game, threaded a pass in front between defenders Brandon Dubinsky and Marc Staal and onto the stick of Kovalev, who flipped in his 10th while cutting from right to left.

Drury created the first tie when he followed up his drive from the right circle and swept the puck in front off a few bodies and past Halak with 2:38 left in the first.

Lundqvist’s second gaffe helped hand the lead back to Montreal. Roman Hamrlik fired the puck from his side of center ice, and Lundqvist left a big rebound that Latendresse put in with 1:07 remaining.

Notes:@ The Canadiens were again without C Saku Koivu (leg), LW Christopher Higgins (shoulder), LW Alex Tanguay (shoulder), RW Mathieu Dandenault (arm) and RW Georges Laraque (groin), all on the injured list. … Pacioretty, from nearby New Canaan, Conn., has points in two of his first three games. He scored a goal in his NHL debut Friday at New Jersey. … Francis Bouillon took the first Montreal penalty when he was called for roughing along with New York’s Nikolai Zherdev. Hamrlik went off for hooking moments later. … The Rangers had beaten Montreal four straight times at home.

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Lang’s hat trick leads Canadiens past Rangers

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Now that the season is over Brian Urlacher speaks out against the unfair criticism he took during the course of the season for the Chicago Bear’s Woes.

Any time he missed a tackle or got pushed to the ground by a 300-pound lineman, Brian Urlacher became an easy target for those figuring he had lost a step.

Now that the Bears’ season is over, the face of the team wanted to tackle his critics.

“I’m tired of criticism that is unwarranted,” he said. “People who say stuff about me, they don’t know our defense. They don’t know football.

“Yes, I wish I would have made a lot more big plays. Obviously, everyone could say that on our defense. I wish I was around the ball more, but I wasn’t. Just the way things worked out this season.”

The Bears rewarded Urlacher with a one-year contract extension before the season, an extension that included $6 million guaranteed and a base salary of $7.5 million in 2012. Based on the coaches’ review, Urlacher finished third on the team in tackles with 107, including 10 for losses. He also had two interceptions.

His tackles are far from the 171 for which the team credited him in 2005, when he was named the NFL’s defensive player of the year. In fact, the only other time in his career Urlacher had fewer than 148 tackles, according to coaches’ review, was in ’04, when he played in just nine games due to injury but still finished with 105 stops.

Some would say he disappeared in the season finale at Houston, particularly on rookie Steve Slaton’s 47-yard run.

“Yeah, that was my fault,” Urlacher said with sarcasm. “Every long touchdown we gave up this season, it was my fault. Every time a receiver caught a pass for a touchdown, it was my fault too. In Atlanta, when the guy caught that pass that allowed them to kick the field goal, that was my fault.”

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo didn’t seem to find much fault with Urlacher this season.

“The one person I do believe in, in terms of every day and who he is, is Brian Urlacher,” Angelo said. “I will never question his commitment, his passion, his love for football. He has too much character, too much pride to ever not be the best he can be.

“Is he the Brian Urlacher of old? I can’t say that. Could he still make a Pro Bowl? He still has enough to make a Pro Bowl. He’s still a very good football player. I have to go with what I see on tape.”

Urlacher went to six Pro Bowls his first six full years before missing out last season. He was named a third alternate this year.

“I have a lot of confidence in Brian,” Angelo said. “He has been a great player for the Chicago Bears. He has been a great leader for us. I respect him immensely. And you have to look at the total package when you evaluate a player.”

Bears coach Lovie Smith didn’t exactly gush in his assessment of Urlacher’s play.

“Brian, at times, played well this past year,” Smith said this week, “and other times, he needed to pick up a little bit.”

Urlacher, 30, said off-season neck surgery and an arthritic condition in his back had no effect on his performance.

“I sprained my thumb at some point. That was the worst it got for me,” he said. “I did my exercises for my back. (Strength and conditioning coordinator) Rusty Jones and (head athletic trainer) Tim Bream were great for me this season. And that’s how I was able to play.”

Asked if he could regain his Pro Bowl form, Urlacher responded, “I don’t think I’ve lost any of that.”

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Sports Highlights: Bears’ Brian Urlacher speaks out about his ‘unwarranted’ criticism

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This is the model woman for any sports fan.  Brings a tear to my eye everytime I see it.  Some people have all the fun.

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Sports, College, Woman

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Blue Jackets rookie Steve Mason stopped 47 shots, one shy of the franchise record, and helped Columbus win for the fifth straight time at home.

“Both goaltenders were good, and our guy was great,” said Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock, who celebrated his 57th birthday. “To beat teams like that, we’re going to need our goaltender to be our best player, and he was.”

San Jose (25-3-3) came in with 52 points, surpassing the 1929-30 Bruins [team stats] for the best start through 30 games in NHL history.

Devin Setoguchi had the lone goal for the Sharks in the third, and Michael Peca tied it.

San Jose’s five-game, road-winning streak was snapped. The Sharks, however, have earned at least one point in 15 straight games.

“It’s funny. When you win some games and you come in to play against teams, they expect you to absolutely run over people,” San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. “That’s not the case. It’s a hard league to win in and other teams are prepared for you.”

Devils 5, Sabres 3 - David Clarkson had a goal and an assist, and five New Jersey players scored in a victory over host Buffalo.

Travis Zajac, Zach Parise, Bryce Salvador and Brian Rolston added goals for the Devils, who snapped a two-game losing streak and won for the 10th time in 13 games (10-2-1). Scott Clemmensen made 23 saves and earned his ninth victory in 11 starts.

Patrik Elias had two assists to extend his point streak to eight games, and Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner also helped set up two goals.

Drew Stafford, Patrick Kaleta and Paul Gaustad scored for the Sabres. Ryan Miller finished with 25 saves.

Flames 3, Wild 2 - In St. Paul, Minn., Todd Bertuzzi scored 3:58 into overtime and Calgary spoiled Marian Gaborik’s return to the Minnesota lineup.

Miikka Kiprusoff continued his mastery of the Wild by making 25 saves and beating them for the 20th time in 29 career starts.

Daymond Langkow scored Calgary’s first goal and assisted on the winner as the Flames extended Minnesota’s losing streak to six games. Craig Conroy had the other goal for Calgary.

Gaborik had a goal and an assist in his return from a lower-body injury that cost him 27 games. Andrew Brunette also scored.

olina activated Frantisek Kaberle (leg) from IR and sent fellow defenseman Tim Conboy to the AHL. . . .

St. Louis defenseman Jay McKee (finger) is out indefinitely.

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Blue Jackets win against the Sharks in overtime

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