NHL: Chicago 5, Nashville 3

CHICAGO, April 7 (UPI) -- Jonathan Toews' goal midway through the third period put Chicago ahead and the Blackhawks went on to clinch a playoff spot Sunday with a 5-3 win over Nashville.

Bryan Bickell, Andrew Shaw and Brandon Saad also scored for NHL-best Chicago, which improved to 29-5-4 (62 points) and became the first team in the league to qualify for the post-season.

Patrick Kane added an empty-netter for the Blackhawks and Ray Emery logged 19 saves.

David Legwand, Nick Spaling and Shea Weber tallied for the fading Predators, who dropped their sixth in seven.

Pekka Rinne made 35 saves for Nashville.