Around the NHL: The Conference Finals are Set

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

On Monday morning, only one of the NHL’s final four teams were known with the Nashville Predators advancing to the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history.

In the three nights since, the final three teams joining Nashville took their place in the final four.

Here’s an update on the end of the second round and how the other three teams advanced.

Ottawa Senators-New York Rangers

The Senators rallied for a 5-4 overtime win on Saturday afternoon, putting them ahead in the series with the New York Rangers, 3-2. That set up Game 6 on Tuesday night, and the Senators didn’t waste time in getting an early start.

Mike Hoffman and Mark Stone scored in the first period to open up the scoring, giving the Senators a 2-0 lead after one period. It was the first time in the series the Senators had scored the first goal of the game and had a two-goal lead.

The Rangers cut the lead to one with 6:28 left in the second on a goal by Mika Zibanejad, but Erik Karlsson restored the two-goal lead just over two minutes later.

The Rangers got within one again just 53 seconds into the third period on a goal by Chris Kreider. The Senators clung to the one-goal lead from there, having to kill off a too-many-men penalty and Craig Anderson turning aside 14 of 15 Rangers shots in the period.

With seconds left in the game, Ottawa iced it for good, as J.G. Pageau hit an empty net with six seconds remaining to seal the win and series. The Senators advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2007.

Pittsburgh Penguins-Washington Capitals

After scoring another win in Game 4, without Sidney Crosby no less, the Penguins had a 3-1 series and all the momentum. It appeared the Capitals were headed for another second-round exit.

But the truth of the matter was that despite the scoreboard results, Washington had been playing better than Pittsburgh for most of the series and just wasn’t getting the luck or bounces to go their way. That changed starting in Game 5 when the Capitals got a 4-2 win to force Game 6 in Pittsburgh.

The Capitals scored the first goal of the game at 12:41 on a power-play goal by T.J. Oshie. Andre Burakovsky added the second Washington goal at 6:36 of the second, giving the Capitals a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes separating them from a Game 7. Three straight goals by Washington in the third put them ahead 5-0 and set the stage for Game 7, though the Penguins added two late third-period goals in the 5-2 final.

But in Game 7, the urgency the Capitals used to force the decisive game was gone. The Penguins got superb goaltending again from Marc-Andre Fleury and goals from Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist to advance to the Eastern Conference Final again with a 2-0 win.

Anaheim Ducks-Edmonton Oilers

If Games 5 and 6 were any indication, Game 7 between the Oilers and Ducks was going to be a classic. The Oilers had watched a 3-0 lead vanish in three minutes in Game 5 before losing in double overtime only to come back and completely dominate the Ducks in a 7-1 win in Game 6.

The Oilers got off to the quick start in Game 7, scoring the first goal of the game at 3:31 with Drake Caggiula picking up the tally.

But the Ducks controlled the second period and got the game tied with a goal by Andrew Cogliano. They pounced on a chance at 3:21 of the third, with Nick Ritchie getting the goal, to take a 2-1 lead.

From there, defense took over for Anaheim. The Ducks stifled the speed of the Oilers, holding off any final chances to advance to the Western Conference Final.

The Western Conference Final opens with Game 1 from Anaheim on Friday night. The Eastern Conference Final begins on Saturday night from Pittsburgh.

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