NEW ORLEANS—Jimmy Butler scored 39 points and the Bulls sustained their playoff push with a 117-110 victory over the recently resurgent New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.Butler made 14 of 26 shots, including all three of his 3-point shots, to help the Bulls win for the fifth time in six games.The Bulls took over the 7th seed since Miami and Indiana both lost.Butler’s final points came on a step-back jumper with 20 seconds left stem a late Pelicans run.Bobby Portis scored 21 points and Joffrey Lauvergne 15 for the Bulls, while Rajon Rondo added 10 points, nine assists, nine rebounds and three steals.Anthony Davis had 30 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, while DeMarcus Cousins added 26 points and 18 rebounds.

Backup goalie Anton Khudobin made 41 saves and the Boston Bruins held off the Blackhawks 3-2 on Sunday for their fifth straight victory.Ryan Spooner, Patrice Bergeron and Kevan Miller scored for the Bruins, who jumped over idle Toronto and Ottawa into second place in the Atlantic Division. Boston began the day in wild-card position, four points ahead of Tampa Bay for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.Artemi Panarin extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with his 29th. Jordin Tootoo also scored for the Blackhawks, who got 26 saves from Corey Crawford in their final regular-season home game.The Blackhawks clinched first place in the Central Division and Western Conference on Saturday when Minnesota lost at Nashville. The Hawks are assured of home-ice advantage through the first three playoff rounds.Khudobin was sharp as the Bruins rested No. 1 goalie Tuukka Rask in their final regular-season road game.Boston led 2-0 after the first period despite being outshot 16-11.Spooner opened the scoring 6:34 in by deflecting Zdeno Chara’s bouncing shot from the left point for his 12th goal.The Blackhawks turned up the pressure later in the period, but Khudobin made a series of close-in saves – including dandies on Marian Hossa and Panarin – to keep the Hawks off the board.Bergeron fired in his 21st goal on a power play from beyond the top of the right circle to make it 2-0. He beat Crawford high to the stick side after taking a pass from Brad Marchand, who had stolen the puck at center ice.Panarin cut it to 2-1 with 1:48 left in the second on the Blackhawks’ 25th shot to cap a fluky play that withstood a video review.Brent Seabrook fired from the right point, but the drive went wide and bounded of the back boards. At the same time, Blackhawks forward Richard Panik slid into the net behind Khudobin, who had ranged out for Seabrook’s shot.Panarin fired the loose puck from just left of the net, but the shot struck Panik – who was curled up in the net – and bounced out. Panarin then popped in the rebound before Khudobin could recover, with Panik still in the net.Panik was awarded an assist on the play.Miller extended Boston’s lead to 3-1 at 9:15 of the third on a nice move and quick shot from the left circle that sailed past Crawford’s glove.Tootoo trimmed it to 3-2 just 25 seconds later when he was left alone in the crease and slid John Hayden’s centering pass between Khudobin’s pads.Khudobin was tested in the final 1:33 with Crawford on the bench for an extra attacker.

NOTES—Artem Anisimov missed his 10th game (leg injury), but coach Joel Quenneville said he expected the 22-goal scorer to resume skating on Monday. … Spooner’s goal was his first since March 4, a span that saw him miss three games with a concussion. . Boston forward Frank Vatrano missed his third game with an upper-body injury and forward Jimmy Hayes sat out after sustaining a lower-body injury Saturday against Florida. . Sean Kuraly was recalled from Providence of the AHL to take Hayes’ spot. . The Blackhawks have a chance to break their franchise record of 112 points, set in 2009-10 when they went on to win the first of three Stanley Cup titles in six seasons…..The Hawks are at Colorado on Tuesday night to start a three-game trip that wraps up the regular season. The Hawks have 24 road wins, matching the team record.

Jimmy Butler scored 33 points and hit two free throws with 2.1 seconds left to lift the Bulls to a 106-104 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.Butler scored the Bulls’ final nine points. His free throws gave the Bulls a two-point lead and capped a 15-4 run.Tim Hardaway Jr. then missed a 3-pointer for Atlanta as time expired, giving the Bulls their third straight win. That put them in a tie with Miami and Indiana for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The sixth-place Hawks, who had won two straight after dropping seven in a row, trail Milwaukee by a game.Rajon Rondo had a season-high 25 points and added 11 rebounds. Denzel Valentine scored 13 points as the Bulls stopped a seven-game losing streak to Atlanta.Dennis Schroder led the Hawks with 29 points while Hardaway scored 20.Atlanta was leading 100-91 with less than five minutes to go when the Bulls went on their big run.Valentine hit a pair of 3-pointers to start it, and Butler took over from there. He tied it at 102-all when he connected from long range with 1:59 left.Schroder pulled up for the go-ahead jumper after Butler’s baseline shot hit the front of the rim to give the Hawks a 104-102 lead with 35 seconds left. Butler immediately answered with a driving layup to tie it again.After a timeout, Schroder lost his dribble out of bounds with 25 seconds left. Butler then got fouled by Kent Bazemore as he attempted a jumper with 2.1 seconds remaining and hit both free throws as the crowd chanted ”MVP! MVP!” Hardaway’s 3 after a timeout then hit the back of the rim as time expired.

The Bulls hit 12 3-pointers, their sixth straight game with at least 10….The Bulls visit New Orleans on Sunday.

Corey Crawford and Artemi Panarin helped the battle-tested Blackhawks win a matchup against another of the NHL’s top teams.Crawford made 32 saves, Panarin had two goals and the Blackhawks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Friday night to reach the cusp of clinching the Central Division.Panarin scored in the opening minute, then added an empty-netter with 44 seconds left for his 28th goal of the season. Marian Hossa also scored in the first period for the Hawks, and Patrick Kane assisted on all three goals as the Hawks extended their division lead to nine points over idle Minnesota.The Wild have five games remaining and the Blackhawks have four.The Blackhawks, with 107 points, also leap-frogged over Columbus, with 106, and into second place overall in the league standings behind Washington in the Presidents’ Trophy race.

”It was a good challenge against a team like that, one of the better teams in the league,” Crawford said. ”It was another solid game against a top team.”

The Blackhawks and Crawford played a smart, tidy game to deny the Blue Jackets a chance to gain ground on Washington in the Metropolitan Division.Kane, who reached 750 career points, likes the way his team is tooling up for the playoffs on the heels of an impressive 5-1 win at Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

”Another good team we were facing tonight from the East, so it’s nice to have that measuring stick, see where you stand against that conference,” Kane said.

The Blackhawks also reached 50 wins for just the second time in 90 seasons and have a shot at their team record for points (112) set in 2009-2010 when they went on to win their first of three Stanley Cups in six years.Nick Foligno scored his 25th goal to end an eight-game drought and Sergei Bobrovksy made 21 saves, but the Blue Jackets lost for the second time in two nights. The Blue Jackets have just seven goals in their last five games.

”We didn’t get the result, but as I told you before at this time of the year, I just want just to play the right way,” coach John Tortorella said. ”We played the right way tonight. I don’t have any complaints about our hockey club.”

Bobrovsky got his first regulation loss since Feb. 19 against Nashville. He had been 10-0-2 during the run and entered leading the NHL in wins, goals-against average and save percentage.Coming off a 2-1 overtime loss at Carolina on Thursday night – with backup Joonas Korpisalo in net – the Blue Jackets didn’t arrive at the their hotel in Chicago until about 1:30 p.m. on Friday.The team left Raleigh-Durham International Airport on a chartered jet shortly after Thursday’s game, but the plane was forced to turn back about 30 minutes into the flight because of a faulty generator. The Blue Jackets returned to the hotel they stayed at on Wednesday, then flew to Chicago on Friday.The Hawks took advantage by striking fast.Panarin got a power-play goal 32 seconds in and four seconds after Columbus’ Brandon Dubinsky was sent off for cross-checking Niklas Hjalmarsson.After Jonathan Toews won a faceoff in the Blue Jackets’ zone, Kane slipped the puck to Panarin in the slot.The teams exchanged goals 22 seconds apart during a 4-on-4 late in the first period.Foligno tied it 1-all with 2:45 left, and Hossa’s 26th goal put the Hawks back in front 2-1 moments later. The 38-year-old faked Bobrovsky to the ice, cut across the crease and scored on a slick backhander.

NOTES: Columbus C Lukas Sedlak left in the second period with an upper-body injury and didn’t return. … Blackhawks C Artem Anisimov missed his ninth game (lower body), but coach Joel Quenneville said he hoped the 22-goal scorer would return for the playoffs. … C Vinnie Hinostroza, recalled from Rockford of the AHL on Thursday, was among Hawk scratches. … Tortorella said the team’s flight turnaround was ”very nerve-wracking,” but otherwise joked about the incident before Friday’s game and hoped it might rally his team. ”When you hear the announcement: `It’s an emergency, but we’re OK,’ where do you go with that?” Tortorella said…..The Blackhawks host Boston on Sunday in their final regular-season home game. They closes out the schedule with three road contests.