Capitals, Senators win and advance
Marcus Johansson stuffed his second goal of the game past Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen at 6:31 of overtime, lifting the Washington Capitals to a series-winning 2-1 victory over the host Maple Leafs on Sunday night in Game 6 of an Eastern Conference firstround matchup.
It was the fifth overtime game of the series, and the margin of victory in the game that ended in regulation was one goal.
“It was a tough series,” Johansson said. “I’ve said it before, but a lot of credit to them. They gave us everything they had, and we had to work hard for it, and we had to stick with it for a long time. I think that shows a lot of character in our group.”
Johansson pulled Washington even at 1-1 with less than eight minutes to go in the third period after Auston Matthews broke a scoreless tie five minutes earlier for Toronto, which missed the playoffs in the previous three seasons.
“The loss is tough for sure, but when we got in here and looked at one another, there's a lot of pride that can be taken,” Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. “We're going to continue to grow, continue to get better and see how far we can take it.”
The top-seeded Capitals will face the Penguins in the East semifinals. Senators 3, Bruins 2: Clarke MacArthur grabbed a puck that deflected off Boston goalie Tuukka Rask and beat him on the rebound for the series-winner 6:30 into overtime as visiting Ottawa won Game 6 of its East series to eliminate the Bruins.
“It was off his paddle and went right to me. I was just lucky enough to be in the right spot,” MacArthur said. “You get opportunities like that to put them away, you’ve got to put them away. It’s just awesome that we were able to.”
The Senators, who hadn’t won a postseason series since 2013, will play the Rangers in the second round.
The Bruins made the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, going 18-8 after Bruce Cassidy replaced Claude Julien behind the bench.
Cassidy, who served out the season as the interim coach, said he “absolutely, 100 percent” wants to be back. Kings pick coach: The Kings promoted associate head coach John Stevens to head coach.
Stevens, who spent parts of four seasons as coach of the Flyers (20062009), succeeds the fired Darryl Sutter.
Stevens was the Kings’ interim head coach for four games early in the 2011-12 season after Terry Murray was fired and before the hiring of Sutter.