The first round of the 2015 NHL playoffs is almost completed. This past weekend, five more teams punched their tickets to the conference semifinals. Chicago, Minnesota, Calgary, Montreal and the Rangers all won their respective first round match ups. This leaves just two first round series left to be decided.
New York Does it Again
Thanks to a Carl Hagelin overtime goal, the New York Rangers disposed of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Friday night's overtime win ended the first round match up after just five games. The Rangers used a smothering defense, great goaltending and timely scoring to advance.
This marked the second straight season in which Pittsburgh was eliminated by New York. Last year the Penguins blew a three to one series lead in the conference semifinals to the Broadway Blueshirts.
New York will face the winner of the Islanders and Capitals.
Calgary Storms Back
The first twenty minutes of game 6 between the Canucks and Flames couldn't have gone any better for Vancouver. Down three games to two, the Canucks scored three first period goals as the tried to send the series back home for a game seven.
Calgary would have none of that. The Flames scored twice in the second and four times in the third to eliminate Vancouver on Saturday night. The Flames would not go away as they rallied from 3-0 and 4-3 deficits before exploding in the final twenty minutes.
The Flames will now turn their attention to the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks swept the Jets earlier in the week.
Running Wild in Minnesota
The Minnesota are moving on following their game six victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. The Wild have been the best team in the NHL since mid January. With the exception of game four. Minnesota was the better team the entire series.
This marks the third straight year in which the Blues have been eliminated in the first round. Ken Hitchcock and company have put together some remarkable regular seasons lately but have not been able to deliver when it counted.
Here Come the Hawks
The Chicago Blackhawks will face the Minnesota Wild in the second round after defeating the Nashville Predators in game six on Saturday. The Blackhawks rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to claim on 4-3 victory and advance.
Nashville chased starter Scott Darling mid way through the opening period but Corey Crawford stood tall allowing Chicago to claim the victory. Crawford stopped all 13 shots he faced over the final two and a half periods. Duncan Keith once again scored the winning goal.
Hart of Montreal
Carey Price bounced back from a shaky game five performance to post a 43 save shutout as Montreal eliminated the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night. The 2-0 game six victory marked the only time in the series in which Montreal scored first.
The Canadiens await the winner of the Tampa Bay and Detroit series.
Game 7
Tonight we get to experience perhaps the most electrifying 60 minutes in sportsas the washington Capitals host the New York Islanders in game seven. The two teams have been at each others throats since the opening faceoff of game one.
This series has been physical and yet skillful. Game seven should be no different. A victory tonight just means a date with the President's Trophy winning New York Rangers in the second round.
Red Wings can close it out
By two of three games in Tampa Bay so far, the Detroit Red wings can close out their series tonight at home in game six. After blowing a 2-0 lead at home in game four, the Red Wings went to south Florida and shutout the Bolts 4-0 in game five.
The winner of this series will face the daunting task of playing the Montreal Canadiens next.
Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074
