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Game 6
P.K. Subban is out with a sore knee after being banged up last game. We were hoping he could be ready for tonight but the doctor says no. Taking his place will be David Rundblad. Rundblad will move onto the third pairing with Cumiskey, while Tanev moves up to play with Hamhuis on the first pair and Bieksa will take second pairing minutes alongside Jake Muzzin. Colorado's Ryan Wilson will miss his second straight game, and goalie Semyon Varlamov, who was injured in game one, continues to nurse an upper body injury. Backup Mike Condon has played admirably so far and the team is confident with him in net.
Canucks 5 @ Avalanche 3
(Series tied 3-3)
Unlikely contributors led the way for Vancouver early in the first, with Jake Muzzin opening the scoring on the powerplay from Henrik and Rundblad. Todd Bertuzzi chipped in a goal from the fourth line, also assisted by Rundblad. Colorado got one back on a goal from Morgan Rielly, but the Canucks took a one goal lead into the first intermission. The Avalanche upped their pressure in the second, picking up the tying goal early on from David Jones. Paul Stastny tried to fire up the hometown crowd in a fight with Dale Weise, and overall the Canucks were outplayed and outshot 13-7 in the middle frame. Vancouver came out motivated in the third, and facing elimination if they lost this game. Damien Brunner notched a shorthanded goal to give them the lead back and Grabner added some insurance on a great individual effort. T.J. Galiardi brought Colorado back to within a goal with just a minute to play, but Marchessault sealed it with an empty netter for Vancouver. Tyler Bozak had a solid game, in his typical under the radar fashion, getting an assist, two shot attempts, a block, four hits and going 5 of 8 in the circle.
Blues 4 @ Predators 1
(St. Louis wins series 4-2)
Chris Stewart scored twice in the first to give the Blues control and they never really relinquished it. In the third Sergei Kostitsyn lit the lamp for the Preds but twenty seconds later T.J. Oshie regained the two goal cushion for St. Louis with his fourth of the series. Polak added an empty netter. Nashville acquitted themselves well in this game and in the series, considering how massively they were underdogs, but St. Louis ultimately showed their quality and will move on.
Kings 4 @ Stars 2
(Series tied 3-3)
Facing elimination, the Kings came out strong and ready. They notched the first two goals of the game (Kopitar, Will O'Neill), but Dallas came storming back to even it up going into the second off of goals by Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson. In the second Dustin Brown re-established the Los Angeles lead with his fourth of the series and Kopitar added his second of the game for insurance in the third. LA outshot Dallas 45-33.
Blackhawks 4 @ Sharks 1
(Chicago wins series 4-2)
San Jose put up a valiant effort this series, but with Jonathan Toews returning the Hawks turned in a defensive masterpiece, allowing only twenty shots on goal. Pirri scored at the end of the first for Chicago, then Hayes and Morin extended the lead in the second. After Hayes netted his second of the game on the powerplay, Patric Hornqvist broke the shutout but it was too little too late for the Sharks. Toews had two assists, a hit, two takeaways and won 12 of 16 faceoffs in his return to the lineup.
Penguins 3 @ Senators 4
(Ottawa wins series 4-2)
Wow! What an upset. The President's Trophy winners finished the regular season with 113 points. Ottawa squeaked into the postseason with 81. Neal scored first for Pittsburgh and played like a man possessed all night. In the second period Zibanejad scored two goals and Zack Smith got one as well, giving Ottawa a 3-1 lead before Pittsburgh fought back on goals from Kunitz (assisted by Neal and Brewer) and Neal. Heading into the third it was all knotted up and the shots were 29-18 in favour of the Penguins. Ottawa came out hungry and controlled the play for the first time since early in the second, and it was eventually Patrick Wiercioch who scored the go ahead goal midway through the period. Ottawa hung on, with Ben Bishop making 33 saves in the victory. Nikita Filatov had two assists for the Sens, and Jason Spezza had a very strong game, with one assist, five shot attempts, two hits, a takeaway and 13 faceoff wins (out of 20).
Red Wings 4 @ Capitals 1
(Detroit wins series 4-2)
Datsyuk is day to day with a lower body injury. Not much of a fight put up by the Capitals in this game. After Wideman's goal to open the scoring they looked pretty unengaged and lackadaisical. Detroit outshot them 35-18 and got goals from Cleary, Nedomiel, Porter (SH) and Nyquist in the series clinching win. Cory Emmerton had two assists for Detroit. The 25 year old center, who had 3 goals and 11 assists all season, has 2 goals and 6 assists so far this postseason.
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