Calgary Flames’ Matt Stajan (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring a game winning goal against the Vancouver Canucks in Game Six of the Western Conference quarter-finals during the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (AFP)
Reuters/Vancouver
Calgary center Matt Stajan made the first playoff goal of his 12-year career count as the Flames secured a series-clinching 7-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League playoff on Saturday.
Stajan notched the winner at 15:43 of the third period and the Flames won the Western Conference playoff series 4-2 to set up a second round match-up against Anaheim.
After erasing a 3-0 first-period deficit, the Flames were down 4-3 in the third period when right winger Jiri Hudler tied it up and set the scene for a wild finish.
The Flames peppered Canucks goalie Ryan Miller before Stajan found a loose puck and fired home the winner. Calgary added two late empty-netters to pad the margin.
Blackhawks 4, Predators 3
Defenseman Duncan Keith scored the winning goal with a slap shot with just under four minutes left to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a series-clinching 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators.
Left winger Patrick Sharp, center Jonathan Toews and right winger Patrick Kane also scored for the Blackhawks, who won the series 4-2. They will meet either Minnesota or St. Louis in the Western Conference semi-finals.
Nashville scored the first two goals of the game courtesy of left winger James Neal, but the score was knotted 3-3 after the first period, when Chicago starting goalie Scott Darling was replaced by Corey Crawford, who stopped all 13 shots he faced for the win.
Islanders 3, Capitals 1
Left winger Nikolay Kulemin scored midway through the third period as the New York Islanders staved off elimination, and the closing of Nassau Coliseum, by beating the Washington Capitals in Game Six of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals.
With the series locked at 3-3, the winner of Game Seven in Washington on Monday will advance to face the New York Rangers in the conference semi-finals.
The Islanders have not won a playoff series since 1993 and will begin play in Brooklyn in the fall. But Kulemin’s go-ahead goal kept hope for the Islanders that they can end their drought and extend their stay on Long Island.
Right winger Cal Clutterbuck completed the scoring with an empty-netter with 52.6 seconds left.
Red Wings 4, Lightning 0
The Detroit Red Wings sent the Tampa Bay Lightning to the brink of elimination with an emphatic road victory in Game Five.
Detroit had goals from center Riley Sheahan, left wing Drew Miller and center Pavel Datsyuk, plus an empty-netter from defenseman Danny DeKeyser. Goalie Petr Mrazek posted his second shutout in the series, stopping all 28 Lightning shots.
With the Red Wings leading the series 3-2, the Lightning are in danger of an opening-round upset exit for the second year in a row, after getting swept by Montreal last season.
Tampa Bay lost just seven times at home in the regular season, but are 1-2 at home in the playoffs.
