Avalanche 1st to advance to 2nd round
Pens chase Shesterkin again, topple Rangers for 3-1 advantage
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 10, (AP): Valeri Nichushkin scored the tiebreaking goal with 7:58 left, and the Colorado Avalanche became the first team to advance to the second round Monday night by finishing a sweep of the Nashville Predators 5-3 Monday night.
The Avalanche now are in the Western Conference semifinals for a fourth straight season and second consecutive after sweeping their first-round opponent. They improved to 6-0 since the franchise relocated to Denver in bestof-seven series after winning the first three games with their fourth sweep in that span.
They now get to wait for either St. Louis or Minnesota after what Avs defenseman Cale Makar called step one.
Andre Burakovsky and Cale Makar each had a goal and two assists for Colorado, and Devon Toews added a goal. Nathan MacKinnon sealed the victory with an empty-net goal on the man advantage with 55.9 seconds remaining.
Yakov Trenin scored twice for Nashville, which was swept for the first time in franchise history in its 15th playoff appearance. Filip Forsberg scored his first of the series giving Nashville its first lead this series at 3:58 of the third. Colton Sissons had two assists.
Colorado wound up scoring on its first shot attempt of the game for the second time this series, even if replay was needed to call it a goal.
Penguins 7, Rangers 2
In Pittsburgh, Igor Shesterkin toyed with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the regular season. The New York Rangers’ goaltender even waved Sidney Crosby and company off the ice following a shutout victory in early April.
Fast forward a month and Shesterkin’s swagger is suddenly gone. So, seemingly, is the Vezina Trophy favorite’s confidence. Getting pulled twice in three days while the opposing crowd chants your name as puck after puck makes its way behind you into the net will do that.
ICE HOCKEY
And now the only thing Shesterkin and the Rangers are threatening to wave goodbye to is their once-promising season.
Crosby had a goal and three assists to become just the sixth player in NHL history to reach 200 career playoff points and the Penguins chased Shesterkin off the PPG Paints Arena ice once again in a dominant 7-2 victory on Monday night to take a 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Flames 4, Stars 1
In Dallas, Rasmus Andersson scored Calgary’s first power-play goal since early in the playoff opener, Jacob Markstrom had 34 saves and the Flames beat the Dallas Stars 4-1 in Game 4 to even their first-round series.
Johnny Gaudreau converted a penalty shot with 12:13 left in the game to make it 2-0 Calgary, and later assisted on Elias Lindholm’s third goal of the series as the Pacific Division champions regained home-ice advantage over the wild-card Stars. Mikael Backlund added an emptynetter in the final minute.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Calgary, where the teams traded shutouts in the first two games while combining for only three total goals - one of those an empty-netter at the end of the Stars’ 2-0 win in Game 2. The series returns to Dallas on Friday night for the sixth game in the best-of-seven series.
Panthers 3, Capitals 2 OT
In Washington, The “Comeback Cats” are back - in playoff form.
Known for their propensity to play from behind and win on the way to the NHL’s best regular season, the Florida Panthers finally delivered a little of that magic in the postseason, and not a minute too late. Sam Reinhart tied it late in regulation, Carter Verhaeghe scored the overtime winner and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 in Game 4 to tie the first-round series.