CHICAGO: The Vancouver Canucks pushed defending Stanley Cup champions Chicago to the brink of elimination from the NHL playoffs Sunday with a 3-2 victory in Game Three of their first-round series. The win handed the Canucks a 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven series, and Vancouver will look to complete the clean sweep in Game Four Tuesday. Mikael Samuelsson scored the game-winner at 6:48 in the third period, while goaltender Roberto Luongo finished with 30 saves, as the Western Conference top seeds took a 3-0 lead in the series. “It wasn't a perfect game, it wasn't pretty, but sometimes on the road in the playoffs you need to win the ugly ones,” Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa told reporters. “The main thing is we were resilient.” The Blackhawks only scraped through to the playoffs on the final day of the regular season but they are in danger of making an early exit.After being shut out in the opener Wednesday, Chicago have suffered consecutive one-goal defeats despite getting off to a promising start Sunday. Rangers 3, Capitals 2: In New York, Brandon Dubinsky scored the winning goal with 1:39 left as New York beat Washington to cut into the Capitals' lead in the Eastern Conference series. After the Rangers managed only one goal in two losses at Washington, they got three Sunday against young Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth. Vinny Prospal and Erik Christensen also scored for New York. New York got 35 shots through on Neuvirth after a combined 47 in the opening two games. Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist, and Mike Knuble also scored for Washington, which leads the series 2-1. Predators 4, Ducks 3: At Nashville, Tennessee, Mike Fisher scored the go-ahead goal at 10:21 of the third period as Nashville took advantage of Bobby Ryan's suspension by beating Anaheim to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference series. The NHL suspended Ryan for two games for stomping on Predators defenseman Jonathon Blum's foot late in the Ducks' 5-3 victory Friday night. Ryan also will miss Game 4 on Wednesday in Nashville. Martin Erat had a power-play goal and an assist, and David Legwand and Jordin Tootoo also scored for Nashville. Teemu Selanne scored twice and Matt Beleskey added a goal for Anaheim.
