Hughes scores winner in 3rd period, Wild eliminate Stars in Western 1st Round

“I think we could have played better (in the first), but it was only 1-0 and I think we played better in the second, got some momentum. You got to give credit to them. They didn’t give us a lot of chances, especially in front of the net.” Taking advantage of a crazy carom off the end boards, Bourque got the puck at the right post and moved it into the slot before putting it past Wallstedt’s back side with a wrist shot. He collected a return pass from Marcus Foligno, drifted through the slot and fired a wrist shot top shelf over the glove of Oettinger. “We played hard, but it felt like every time we made a mistake, it ended up in our net, and I think it wasn’t for a lack of trying to score, it’s just that we didn’t get the bounces that we needed,” Dallas forward Matt Duchene said. Wyatt Johnston and Mavrik Bourque each scored, and Oettinger made 16 saves for the Stars, the No. 2 seed in the Central Division.

Canadiens aim to carry momentum into Game 1 of East Final

“It wasn’t everyone’s best game, that’s for sure, but that’s what a team’s all about. Parker Kelly scored a goal and had an assist, and Necas and Brent Burns each had two assists for the Avalanche, the No. 1 seed from the Central Division and the Western Conference. Just keep an eye on both those teams and see how that series goes.” Minnesota blew a three-goal, first-period lead. That’s a good team over there, so for us to play the way we did and get the job done (is great). The player I am, I’m not the guy everyone’s looking down the bench like, ‘Alright, get out there and go win it for us,’” Kulak said.

Colorado forward Joel Kiviranta dug the puck out of a scrum in the left corner and fed it up the boards to Kulak, who sent it point to dbbet point to Burns for the shot. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit, that’s a really fast-paced team.”​ They’re a really good team at coming in waves. You can’t really hide or dance around the fact that they outplayed us, but like I said, that’s where the frustration comes in.” Because when we are at our absolute best, I think we can beat this team.

Canadiens top line delivers at even strength in Game 1 of Eastern Final

• They’re a really good team at coming in waves.
• Video review determined McCarron played the puck with his hand and the goal was overturned.
• … He’s been making us miserable to play against,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “He defends hard, and tonight he was in the right spot at the right time.”
• “If we get a couple bounces our way at key moments, we maybe pull out a win or two. I don’t know how many posts we hit the last couple games. We had our chances. We didn’t capitalize when we needed it.”

“I think we played a good series. This is a new team. We write our own story. Every team has their own ups and downs. We knew we were the better team, we just had to go prove it, and that’s what we did. “We knew they were going to push hard (in the first period). It’s their home rink and they want to end the series,” Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen said. The Wild’s last series triumph came against the St. Louis Blues in the 2015 Western Conference First Round, when they clinched the series in six games. ST. PAUL, Minn. — Quinn Hughes had two goals and an assist, and the Minnesota Wild eliminated the Dallas Stars with a 5-2 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at Grand Casino Arena on Thursday.

… The Avalanche became the seventh team in NHL Stanley Cup Playoff history to have 17 different players score a goal through the team’s first nine games. Check out all of the playoff goals from Wednesday night Watch all playoff goals from Thursday’s Eastern Conference Final opener “We came out on our toes, ready to play, had great commitment the last two games with the shot blocking … and we had contributions throughout the lineup. It was fun to coach.” Carolina has won five straight overtime playoff games, dating to Game 5 of the 2025 Eastern Conference First Round.

“It’s on to round two now. You flush this. It doesn’t matter anymore. We’ve got another series to win.” “We did what we had to do,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber, who had the primary assist on Hughes’ go-ahead goal, said. Mikko Rantanen’s pass from below the goal line found Johnston in the slot, who put a snap shot past the right pad of Wallstedt. Defenseman has 2 goals, 3 points in Game 6 victory, Minnesota advances for 1st time since 2015 The Flyers were swept in a best-of-7 series for the first time since losing to the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The only other teams to win their first eight were the 1969 St. Louis Blues, the 1960 Montreal Canadiens, and the 1952 Detroit Red Wings.

… MacKinnon has scored a goal in 46.2 percent of his career playoff games (48 of 104 games), which ties Craig Simpson (31 of 67 games; 46.2 percent) for the third-highest rate in NHL history. Check out all of the playoff goals scored on Monday night “That’s a heck of a team and they played really well. I thought tonight was a pretty even game. I mean, they had the first period, we had the second, the third was a toss-up and they just got the last bounce off a skate … it kind of summed up the series.” Foerster was the 16th Flyers player to score during the playoffs, matching 1987 for the most through Philadelphia’s first 10 games of a postseason. Andersen is the fourth goalie in NHL history to allow two goals or fewer in each of his first eight starts of the playoffs, and the first since Jacques Plante with the St. Louis Blues in 1969. … The Avalanche became the fifth team in NHL history to earn a series-clinching win after facing a multigoal deficit in the final five minutes of regulation.

Blake broke the puck out of the Flyers zone and slid it to Hall, who hit a streaking Stankoven for the wrist shot. “In the first intermission, we knew that wasn’t the greatest first period for us,” Hall said. “I think it was tighter than a 4-0 series,” Flyers captain Sean Couturier said. Tyson Foerster and Alex Bump each scored, and Vladar made 37 saves for Philadelphia, the No. 3 seed out of the Metropolitan. Carolina will advance to the Eastern Conference Final and is the fifth team in NHL history to have an 8-0 start to the postseason.

“I mean, they’re such a pleasure to coach. The way they went through the series, I think just learning lessons, and trying to get better and stronger. Tonight was another example of that. In the past 30 years the only team League-wide with more are the 2025 Panthers (17). “‘Bumper,’ he makes the mistake on the second goal, then he gets the tying goal,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. Travis Konecny’s hard forecheck knocked Hurricanes defenseman K’Andre Miller off the puck behind the Carolina net.