Penguins, Predators reach second round
Guentzel pours in 4 for Pittsburgh; Nashville, Rinne blank Colorado
PHILADELPHIA — Jake Guentzel scored four straight goals to help send the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins into the next round with an 8-5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6 on Sunday.
The Penguins play the winner of the Washington-Columbus series in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Washington leads that series 3-2.
Sean Couturier also had a hat trick for the Flyers, who haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1975.
Guentzel, not Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel or the injured Evgeni Malkin (leg), won the game for the Penguins with goals off costly Flyers turnovers, leading them to their ninth straight playoff series win.
Guentzel tied the game at 4 with 54 seconds left in the second period off a Flyers turnover. He scored 30 seconds into the third for the lead off another giveaway, and sealed one more lopsided win over the Flyers with two goals 10 seconds apart late in the period.
“He has the ability to play his best when the stakes are the highest,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.. “We have a team that does that. They embrace adversity. They embrace the struggle. Our team doesn't get rattled. They embrace the challenge.”
Guentzel had the third four-goal playoff game in team history, joining Mario Lemieux in 1989 and Kevin Stevens in 1991.
“This is what you want to play in,” Guentzel said. “You grow up dreaming about this and this is definitely fun. When the bounces start going your way, you just try and run with it.”
It was 2-2 after one period, 4-4 after two, and nothing was decided in the fiercest game of the series between the longstanding rivals until Guentzel took control.
The Flyers lost all three games at home and not even a solid start could help them get out of the first round for the first time since 2012.
Couturier had been the Flyers' postseason savior, returning from a serious leg injury to score the Game 5 winner and then open Game 6 with his third goal of the series 2:15 into the game.
The Penguins, who won Games 3 and 4 in Philly, took aim on the road sweep with two straight goals. Crosby tied the game when he knocked in a rebound off Kris Letang's point shot for his sixth goal of the series.
His goal was being announced when Carl Hagelin made it 2-1 when he was left alone in front of the net for the easy goal.
Philly's defense was scant and the Flyers had no bodies on Crosby and especially Hagelin on the goals against Michal Neuvirth.
The Flyers’ Andrew MacDonald tied it at 2 on a sizzling shot. The defenseman briefly gave his team the spark needed to go toe-to-toe with the Penguins. Couturier scored his second of the game on a beautiful breakaway to open the second period and Scott Laughton scored on a long wrist shot. Matt Murray should have stopped the goal and the crowd derisively chanted his name.
PREDATORS 5 AVALANCHE 0
At Denver, Mattias Ekholm ignited the offense early with the first goal by a Nashville defenseman in the series, Pekka Rinne stopped 22 shots and the top-seeded Predators advanced to the second round with a victory over Colorado in Game 6.
Austin Watson , Filip Forsberg , Nick Bonino and Viktor Arvidsson also scored to help the Predators move on to face Winnipeg. They were 3-1-1 against the Jets in the regular season.
Nashville removed any sort of drama with two goals in the opening period and two more in the second to hush the capacity crowd. Rinne was on his game in notching his fourth career postseason shutout.
The Avalanche’s Andrew Hammond ran out of magic in net, allowing five goals.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, BRUINS 3
Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk scored 1:19 apart in the second period, and visiting Toronto killed off a 5-on-3 and three more power plays in a row to beat Boston in Game 5 on Saturday night and avoid playoff elimination.
Connor Brown and Andreas Johnsson each scored his first career playoff goal in the first period, and the Maple Leafs took a 4-1 lead to chase Tuukka Rask in the second.