Roman Josi scored twice, Pekka Rinne had 30 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday night to complete a surprising sweep of the Western Conference’s top seed.
Colton Sissons also scored and Viktor Arvidsson added an empty-net goal as Nashville completed the franchise’s first playoff sweep. Led by Rinne’s shutouts in the first two games, the Predators limited the high-scoring Blackhawks to just three goals in 13 periods.
Nashville will face the winner of the St. Louis-Minnesota series in the second round. The Blues have a 3-1 lead heading into Game 5 on Saturday in Minnesota.
Chicago became the first No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round since the Los Angeles Kings knocked off the Vancouver Canucks on their way to the Stanley Cup title in 2012. Chicago’s second straight first-round exit followed a regular season in which the Blackhawks went 50-23-9 and recorded 109 points, the second-highest total in franchise history.
Penguins 5, Blue Jackets 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby and Scott Wilson scored 51 seconds apart in the third period, helping the Penguins eliminate the Blue Jackets in Game 5 of their first-round series.
Bryan Rust scored twice for Pittsburgh, Phil Kessel added his second of the playoffs and Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 49 saves. The defending Stanley Cup champions will face the winner of the Toronto-Washington series in the conference semifinals starting next week.
Rangers 3, Habs 2 (OT)
MONTREAL (AP) — Mika Zibanejad scored at 14:22 of overtime, lifting the Rangers to a big win in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Chris Kreider’s shot on a rush went off Alexei Emelin’s stick right to Zibanejad for a shot into an open side.
The Rangers grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. They can advance with a win in Game 6 on Saturday.
Oilers 4, Sharks 3 (OT)
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — After struggling through the first part of the series, David Desharnais scored in OT to lift the Edmonton Oilers.
Desharnais’ goal with less than two minutes to go in the first overtime helped the Oilers beat the Sharks 4-3 on Thursday night and push San Jose to the brink of elimination in the NHL playoffs.
The Oilers lead the Western Conference quarterfinal series 3-2, with Game 6 Saturday night in San Jose.
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