Rangers, BLues and Oilers advance to 2nd round
The smallest player on the ice came up huge and the resilient New York Rangers are going to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Mats Zuccarello, who led the team with 59 points during the season, scored twice in the second period on Saturday night – one on the struggling power-play – to rally the Rangers to a 3-1 victory in Game 6 at Madison Square Garden and eliminated the Montreal Canadiens from the postseason.
It was the third straight win for the Blueshirts, who will next face either the Ottawa Senators or the Boston Bruins. The Senators lead the series 3-2 with Game 6 on Sunday night in Boston.
The Rangers had to protect a 2-1 lead in the third period. Chris Kreider’s high-sticking penalty at 9:07 raised the tension level in the stands, but the Rangers and Henrik Lundqvist (27 saves), who was very sharp, killed off the penalty. With 1:30 left, Lundqvist kicked out Tomas Plekanec’s close-in shot with his left pad, and Carey Price was pulled for an extra attacker with 1:17 left.
Derek Stepan’s lofted 180-foot shot into an empty net sealed the win.
Zuccarello, whose three goals were the most of any player in the tightly-contested series, skated on a line with Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller, who played their best game of the series as well.
After Zuccarello’s two second-period goals, the Rangers entered the third with a 2-1 lead.
Lundqvist had put the Rangers ahead in the series with 31 saves in a 2-0 win in Game 1 at Bell Centre. The Blueshirts were leading in Game 2 before Tomas Plekanec scored with 17.3 seconds left in regulation and Radulov won it in overtime.
Back in New York, the Canadiens beat a strangely lethargic Rangers squad, 3-1, to take a 2-1 series lead. In Game 4, the Blueshirts rebounded for a 2-1 win, and backed that up with the thrilling 3-2 win, thanks to Mika Zibanejad’s goal at 14:22 of overtime in Game 5 in Montreal. (Newsday/TNS)
Oilers 3, Sharks 1
A year that began with aspirations of returning to the Stanley Cup Final ended in heartbreaking fashion for San Jose, which was eliminated from the playoffs with a Game 6 loss to Edmonton.
Patrick Marleau, who, along with Joe Thornton, might have been playing his final game as a member of the Sharks at home, scored with 7:48 to go in the third period to cut the Oilers’ lead to one. But the Sharks could get no closer, even though a Joe Pavelski attempt from in close went off the cross bar and the post before it bounced out of harm’s way.
Trailing the best-of-seven series 3-2, the Sharks needed a win to send the series to a seventh and deciding game in Edmonton on Monday. The Oilers advance to face the Anaheim Ducks in the second round.
The Oilers struck twice just 56 seconds apart in the second period, with both goals coming on breakaways.
The Sharks did a lot of the things they set out to do before the start of the series.
Through five games, they held the Oilers to nine goals, with seven coming at even strength. Jones entered Saturday with a .939 save percentage.
Connor McDavid, who led the league this season with 100 points, did not have a point at even strength through the first five games.
But the Oilers were also doing an admirable job of slowing down the Sharks’ top scorers.
Brent Burns led the Sharks this season with 76 points, but was held without a point in four of the first five games. Pavelski had four points in the first five games, but three of them came in Game 4.
(Mercury News/TNS)
Blues 4, Wild 3 (OT)
An overtime goal by Magnus Paajarvi and another superlative performance by goaltender Jake Allen spurred St. Louis into the second round of the playoffs.
Paajarvi beat Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk with a wrist shot from the top of the crease at 9:42 of overtime for the Blues, who saw a 3-1 lead slip away in the late stages of the third period only to find a way to win in the extra session.
They know us. We know them,” said Allen, who stopped 174 of the 182 shots he faced. “They got the best of us two years ago, and we came out on top this year. I’m sure we’re going to have many future series.”
St. Louis will open the Western Conference semifinals at home versus the Nashville Predators.
“I think we should be proud, but not satisfied,” Paajarvi said, adding: “We’ve got to play a better game.”
Despite a clear edge in shots on goal and faceoff draws and a dominant penalty kill unit throughout the series, the Wild were left wondering what more they had to do to get more pucks past Allen.
“They weren’t the better team,” coach Bruce Boudreau said, “but they won four games and that’s all it takes.” (Reuters)