Blues eliminate Wild with blowout win in Game 6
Bruins rout Hurricanes to force Game 7 as home team remains perfect in series
Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 on Thursday night in Game 6 to advance to the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Ryan O'Reilly, Tyler Bozak and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in a dominant second period during which the Blues outshot the Wild 22-5 and took control of the game.
Nick Leddy also scored, Colton Parayko added an empty-netter and David Perron had two assists as St. Louis won its first series since defeating the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.
The Blues will travel to Colorado to face the Avalanche in Game 1 of the second round. The date and time had not yet been announced.
Matt Dumba scored in the third period for the Wild, who hit three posts in the game, including two in the third.
After losing Games 4 and 5 and facing a must-win, Wild coach Dean Evason started Cam Talbot over Marc-Andre Fleury in goal. Talbot, who finished the regular season on a 13-0-3 run, made 22 saves.
Leddy gave the Blues a 1-0 lead with 5:01 left in the first period. It was the first goal by a Blues defenseman in the series.
Binnington helped the Blues overcome a shaky start in the first by erasing several quality Wild chances coming off turnovers. He also got help from his post on Marcus Foligno's shot.
O'Reilly's power-play goal gave the Blues a 2-0 lead midway through the second period. Brayden Schenn set up the one-timer from the slot with a perfect pass from behind the net.
Bozak cleaned up a rebound off Alexei Toropchenko's shot to extend St. Louis' advantage later in the second. Toropchenko created the chance by getting around Mats Zuccarello while driving to the net.
Tarasenko's power-play goal with 1:24 left in the second made it 4-0. It was his fourth goal in the last two games.
Bruins force Game 7
Brad Marchand scored one goal and assisted on another, and Jeremy Swayman stopped 23 shots to lead the Boston Bruins past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Thursday night and send their first-round playoff series to a decisive seventh game.
The home team has won all six games in the series so far — an edge for Carolina, which will host Game 7 on Saturday. The winner will play either the Penguins or Rangers in the Eastern Conference semifinals; Pittsburgh leads that series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Friday night.
Two days after losing 5-1 at Carolina — their third blowout loss on the road — the Bruins returned to the TD Garden for what could be the last home game for future Hall of Famer Patrice Bergeron. The Bruins captain has declined to talk about his future during the season.
Andrei Svechnikov scored twice and Antti Raanta made 29 saves for the Hurricanes, who have won three games by a combined score of 15-4 and lost three by a total of 14-6.
Charlie Coyle also scored for Boston, and Erik Haula and Derek Forbort added third-period goals before Curtis Lazar backhanded the puck into the empty net with 4:17 to play.
Marchand broke a scoreless tie 46 seconds into the second period, taking a long cross-ice pass from Connor Clifton and skating to the right circle before wristing it over Raanta's glove.
Coyle gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead in the last two minutes of the period, poking in the trickling rebound of David Pastrnak's one-timer. Svechnikov made it a one-goal game early in the third before Haula and Forbort gave Boston back its cushion.
Svechnikov's second goal came with 2:30 left during a power play for a double minor to Marchand for spearing.
