Canucks’ burst ousts defending champions

The Vancouver Canucks sent St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington to the bench early with three scores in a span of 6:03 in the second period, eliminating the defending champion Blues with a 6-2 victory in Game 6 of their first round series Friday night at Edmonton.

Blues coach Craig Berube put Binnington, the rookie star of last season’s out-of-nowhere run to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, back in the net after winning two of the last three with Jake Allen. Binnington gave up four goals on 18 shots and was pulled for Allen at the 8:06 mark of the second period after Brock Boeser’s power play goal gave the Canucks a commanding 4-0 lead.

Brent Sutter had three assists, Elias Pettersson had two assists and Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves for the Canucks, the only one of the seven Canadian clubs among the final eight teams still alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vancouver will face the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round.

Philadelphia 3, Montreal 2: Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes and Michael Raffl scored to lead the Philadelphia Flyers into the second round for the first time in eight years with a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6 on Friday night at Toronto.

The Flyers won the series 4-2 and are on to the second round in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2012. The Flyers, who will face the New York Islanders, have not played in the Stanley Cup Final since 2010 or won the title since 1975.

Carter Hart stopped 31 shots in goal for the topseeded Flyers.