Lundqvist at top of his game:
P.K. Subban had a goal and two assists and Vernon Fiddler scored with 5:05 left, sending the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 victory over the host St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday night.
The Predators lost Kevin Fiala to an ugly leg injury in the second period and blew a 3-1 lead before Fiddler poked a loose puck by Jake Allen in the third. It was the fifth career playoff goal for the 36-year-old Fiddler, who did not play in Nashville’s first-round sweep of Chicago.
Colin Wilson and Filip Forsberg also scored for Nashville, and Pekka Rinne made 27 saves.
Colton Parayko, Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Sobotka scored for St. Louis. Allen finished with 28 stops.
Game 2 is Friday night.
After struggling through a subpar season by his standards, Henrik Lundqvist was at his best when the New York Rangers needed him in the first round.
The goalie will again have to be at the top of his game against Ottawa for New York to reach the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth time in six years.
“Hank has been through this before,” coach Alain Vigneault said as the Rangers began preparing to face the Senators in the conference semifinals. Game 1 is tonight in Ottawa.
This season, Lundqvist had to deal with periods of inconsistency — highlighted by winning five straight starts Feb. 2-11 and then losing three of five from Feb. 26 to March 7 before a hip injury cost him nearly three weeks.
Lundqvist, 35, then won just once in six starts (1-32) after returning in late March and finished the season 31-20-4 with a 2.74 GAA and a .910 save percentage — career worsts for the latter two.
However, he has been sharp in the playoffs, getting his 10th career postseason shutout in the opener against Montreal and then finishing with a career-high 54 saves in an overtime loss in Game 2.
Lundqvist finished the first round with a 1.70 GAA and .947 save percentage.
Boston is bringing Bruce Cassidy back next season, dropping the interim
Bruins:
tag from his title as a reward for leading the Bruins to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.
Cassidy replaced the fired Claude Julien on Feb. 8 and led the team to an 18-8-1 record to finish out the season and earn a postseason berth.
Canucks:
Vancouver named Travis Green its new coach. Green, 46, spent the past four seasons coaching the Canucks’ top farm team, the Utica Comets of the AHL. He replaces Willie Desjardins, who was fired this month.
Toronto’s Mike Babcock, Edmonton’s Todd McLellan and Columbus’ John Tortorella are the finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL coach of the year. The winner will be announced June 21.
Noteworthy:
The Seattle Mariners put ace Felix Hernandez on the 10-day disabled list Wednesday with right shoulder inflammation after he lasted just two innings in his start at Detroit on Tuesday night.
Hernandez (2-2, 4.73 ERA) came out of the 19-9 loss to the Tigers after allowing four runs in two innings.
The Mariners also put outfielder Mitch Haniger on the DL with a strained right oblique.
Haniger (.338, four HRs, 16 RBIs) left the game in the third inning with his injury. Haniger figures to be out at least four weeks.
Infielder Gift Ngoepe was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, making him the first player from Africa to reach the majors, according to the team. Ngoepe, 27, was born in Pietersburg, South Africa, and attended high school in the suburbs of Johannesburg. Ngoepe signed with Pittsburgh in 2008 and was batting .241 in Triple-A when he was promoted.
All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve crashed into right fielder Teoscar Hernandez while the two were chasing a popup in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s win in Cleveland. Altuve walked off the field under his own power, but Hernandez was carted off the field with a bruised left leg and placed on the 10-day disabled. Hernandez had been called up from Triple-A Fresno earlier Tuesday to replace outfielder Jake Marisnick, who was placed on the seven-day concussion list.
Eric Thames, who leads the majors with 11 homers, appeared to be favoring his left hamstring late in Wednesday’s win over the Reds and was lifted. Thames said he’ll be back in the lineup Friday night against Atlanta.
■ Milwaukee has outscored the Reds 53-26 this season in winning six of seven games.
Pirates: Astros: Brewers: White Sox:
Jose Abreu left Wednesday’s win over the Royals with an injury after flubbing a slow ground ball in the fifth inning. The first baseman was moving to his right for the ball hit by Cheslor Cuthbert but dropped it and had to leave the game with a mild right hip flexor strain. Abreu, who hit two doubles for his fourth straight multihit game, will be re-evaluated in Detroit ahead of Friday’s game against the Tigers and is day to day.
Second baseman Dustin Pedroia sat out Wednesday’s game against the Yankees with a sore left knee, his third straight since the Orioles’ Manny Machado slid into the back of his leg. Manager John Farrell said Pedroia still has “lingering soreness” and he didn’t want to risk him losing his footing on the wet ground.
Adrian Beltre is unlikely to return to the lineup anytime soon after manager Jeff Banister said the third baseman isn’t seeing significant progress in his strained right calf. Beltre, who is 58 hits shy of 3,000, was slowed in spring training by calf strains in each leg and had to start the season on the 10-day disabled list. He felt a new strain April 8, the day before he was eligible for reinstatement. Joey Gallo has been playing in Beltre’s place and leads the AL with seven homers.
Red Sox: Rangers: