For 40 minutes, the Dallas Stars appeared poised to coast into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with an easy Game 6 win against the Minnesota Wild. Then the third period happened. Dallas scored three goals in the first period but had to survive a four-goal third period by Minnesota and a last-minute video review on what could have been the tying goal to earn a series-clinching 5-4 win in the Western Conference First Round at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday. Dallas won the best-of-7 series 4-2. The Stars will play the winner of the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks series in the second round. The Blues and Blackhawks play Game 7 in St. Louis on Monday.
The Wild trailed 4-0 after two periods but got within one goal and pulled Dubnyk for an extra attacker with 1:45 left. Minnesota nearly tied it off a scramble with 33 seconds remaining, but a video review confirmed the call on the ice that the puck had not completely crossed the goal line. The Stars iced the puck twice after the no-goal call, but the Wild never threatened again. A goal by Jamie Benn with 23.7 seconds left in the second period gave the Stars a 4-0 lead; for the second time in as many intermissions, the Wild were booed off the ice by their own fans.
Minnesota, which used Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" as its goal song in honor of the singer, who passed away on Thursday, nearly wore out the soundtrack in the third period. Jared Spurgeon scored a power-play goal at 3:48, and Jonas Brodin followed 16 seconds later to start the comeback. Spurgeon scored again on the power play at 8:39 to get the Wild within 4-3 with plenty of time remaining. The first two goals were the fastest in Wild postseason history.
The Wild nearly tied it moments later when Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen turned the puck over to Jason Zucker at the top of the crease, only to see it roll off Zucker's stick with the net open. Instead, the Stars, as they'd done all series, took advantage of a fortuitous bounce of their own when defenseman Alex Goligoski's point shot hit traffic in front and popped in the air, landing in the feet of Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who lost sight of the puck. Forward Charlie Coyle dove to try and keep it out, but Dubnyk swept the pick into his own net with the back of his right leg at 10:28, giving Dallas a 5-3 lead.
Even that stroke of bad luck didn't deter Minnesota's comeback attempt.
Jason Pominville finished off a rebound near the left post of a shot from the point by Brodin to get Minnesota back within a goal with 4:47 remaining.
At that point, the Xcel Energy Center crowd needed no prodding from the goal song.
Jason Spezza scored a goal and had three assists, and Benn finished with a goal and two assists for the Stars, who got 25 saves from Lehtonen. Sharp and John Klingberg also scored for Dallas. Goligoski's wacky goal midway through the third period turned out to be the game-winner.
Dallas took advantage of an early 5-on-3 power play when Spezza feathered a point-to-point pass to Klingberg for a one-timer from the top of the left circle that beat Dubnyk at 5:56 of the first period. Spezza made it 2-0 at 9:07 when he finished off a rebound of a Mattias Janmark shot.
Sharp capped a 2-on-1 break with Benn at 18:11 by beating Dubnyk with a snap shot to the blocker side just inside the left post for his third goal of the series. Benn scored his fourth of the playoffs late in the second before the third-period fireworks. Benn scored at least one point in all six games of the series and is one game shy of tying a franchise record for most consecutive games with at least a point to start a postseason; Dino Ciccarelli scored in the first seven games in 1983, when the franchise was known as the Minnesota North Stars.
Stars Quotes
Lindy Ruff: "That first 45 minutes, this building was dead. There was nothing going on. We were above them, we made them come through us, we maybe gave them a handful of chances.
"That last 15 was interesting. For 45 minutes we played just a model game. I wasn't a big fan of the [penalty] call against [Antoine] Roussel [that led to Spurgeon's goal] in a game like that, but that gave them a little life. We made a mistake on their second one, and then it was game on."
Patrick Sharp: "We talked about momentum so much in the playoffs. [Ahead] 4-0 [with] 20 minutes left, a power-play goal and then the building gets into it, they get excited and we've got a tough time stopping it, but we did. We won the game and we're happy about it. Lot of respect for what Minnesota can do on their side. It was a tough series, but we're excited we're moving on."
Wild Quotes
Ryan Suter: "When you're in the middle of it, you're not even thinking about [how crazy it is], you're just trying to get that next one and just build off the crowd. It's just too bad we couldn't get that last one."Devan Dubnyk: "It seemed like at least one every game. I guess that's why you throw pucks to the net. But that was a tough time to get a bounce like that. The way the guys worked in the third period, I'm just proud to be back there and a part of that. Right to the end, we still managed to get within one and almost score there. That makes you feel sick to have to lose a game and a series on a bouncer like that."
John Torchetti: "I'd rather be lucky than good, because that happens a lot. They're a great shot-attempt team, and they're committed to that. That's something moving forward for our team, we need way more commitment to that, and that net-front presence we've been talking about for however long I've been here. That's the difference."
Other Results
Washington @ Philadelphia 1-0 - Caps Win Series 4-2Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom scored the only goal in the Capitals' 1-0 victory of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday. The Capitals won the best-of-7 series 4-2 and will play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round. The Penguins defeated the New York Rangers in five games in their first-round series. Washington and Pittsburgh will meet in the playoffs for the ninth time since 1991. Pittsburgh has won seven of the prior eight series. Braden Holtby made 26 saves for his second shutout of the series and his 20th career win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, tying Olaf Kolzig for most in Capitals history.Backstrom was in the penalty box for four minutes in the second period of a scoreless game after being called for high-sticking Flyers forward Ryan White at 4:25. Five seconds later, teammate Matt Niskanen joined him when he was called for hooking, giving the Flyers a two-minute, two-man advantage. The Flyers had three shots on goal during the 5-on-3 but Holtby stopped them all. The power play ended with 30 seconds left in Backstrom's penalty when White was called for holding the stick. The Capitals had a short power play, and four seconds after it ended Backstrom one-timed a Marcus Johansson pass from the right circle high over a lunging Neuvirth. Neuvirth made 28 saves for the Flyers, who had won two straight after falling behind 3-0 in the series. Neuvirth replaced Steve Mason in goal to start Game 4, and allowed two goals on 105 shots in the final three games. That includes a 44-save shutout in Game 5 when the Flyers won 2-0 despite 11 shots on goal.
In Neuvirth's three starts the Flyers scored four goals, and one was an empty-netter. They scored six goals in six games and went 1-for-24 on the power play.
Captain Claude Giroux had two shots on goal in Game 6. He led the Flyers in scoring during the regular season but was held to one point in six games. Wayne Simmonds, who led the Flyers with 32 goals, had two assists. He had four shots on goal in Game 6. The Flyers had one last push in the final 1:35 of the third period with Neuvirth pulled for an extra attacker. They had two shots on goal but Holtby stopped Shayne Gostisbehere's point shot and Voracek's attempt on the rebound. Holtby didn't have much work during the series, but when he was needed he came through. That the Capitals had lost back-to-back games in regulation in Games 4 and 5, something they hadn't done during the regular season, allowed a bit of doubt to creep into their mind. But their win Sunday gives them confidence moving forward. It will be the second time Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will face each other in the postseason. The Penguins defeated the Capitals in seven games in the 2009 Eastern Conference Semifinals. In that series, won by the Penguins in seven games, Ovechkin had eight goals and six assists; Crosby had eight goals and five assists. Ovechkin and Crosby also each had their first career postseason hat tricks in Game 2.
Florida @ NY Islanders 1-2 2OT - Fish Sticks Win Series 4-2New York Islanders captain John Tavares came up big when it mattered most for a franchise starving for a winner. Tavares scored his second goal of the game 10:41 into the second overtime to give the Islanders a series-clinching 2-1 victory against the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round and their first playoff series victory since 1993. Tavares took a wrist shot low in the right circle that was initially stopped by Roberto Luongo but he picked up the rebound and curled the net before scoring his fifth of the playoffs. The Islanders had lost their past eight playoff series. The Islanders will play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round. The last time the Islanders and Lightning faced each other in the playoffs was in the 2004 Eastern Conference First Round. The Lightning won the series in five games on the way to winning their only Stanley Cup. Luongo, who finished with 49 saves, made 18 saves after regulation before allowing the winner to Tavares. Tavares tied the game 1-1 with 53.2 seconds remaining in the third period. With goalie Thomas Greiss pulled for an extra attacker, Nikolay Kulemin took a pass from Nick Leddy low in the right circle and took a shot that Luongo failed to control in his pads at the right post. The puck squirted out and remained in the crease behind Luongo when Tavares skated in from the slot and scored. Left wing Jonathan Huberdeau scored his first career playoff goal to give the Panthers to a 1-0 lead with 1:02 remaining in the first period. Greiss made 41 saves, including 12 after regulation. The Islanders won three games in overtime in the series, including the last two in double overtime. In the first overtime, Luongo made 15 saves and Greiss stopped eight. Greiss stopped a slap shot from the point by Aleksander Barkov with 10:18 left. Luongo denied a wrist shot from the left circle by Brock Nelson off a 2-on-1 with Shane Prince with 7:23 left. Islanders Game 5 hero Alan Quine nearly ended the game with 2:51 remaining when his wrist shot from the left circle just deflected off the glove of Luongo and into the right corner. The Panthers have lost their last eight playoff overtime games, dating to a 1-0 triple-overtime loss against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup Final. The Panthers killed a penalty to Huberdeau for cross-checking with 7:23 remaining in the third. Luongo made three saves on the Islanders advantage, stopping Tavares and a two quick attempts by Brock Nelson. Luongo later denied a quick wrist shot by Kulemin with his blocker despite being screened with 5:14 left in the third. With the exception of the last-minute, empty-net goal by Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov in Game 2, every game in the series was decided by a goal. Luongo made seven saves in the first period when the Islanders generated as much pressure 5-on-5 as they have at any point in the series. The Islanders held a 26-14 advantage in shot attempts in the first, including 11 that were blocked. Greiss, who made 47 saves in a 2-1 double overtime win in Game 5 on Friday, stopped Kulikov on a rebound with 4:43 left in the second to keep the Islanders within a goal. Florida forward Jaromir Jagr played in his 208th career playoff game to tie Wayne Gretzky for 16th on the all-time list. The Panthers were without center Nick Bjugstad, who sustained an upper-body injury in the first overtime of a 2-1 loss in Game 5 at BB&T Center on Friday. Islanders forward Josh Bailey played 4:24 of the first but did not return.
Roberto Luongo: "When he went to shoot the first one, I took a step out and challenged more, and I think it ricocheted off our guys' stick so I kind of made the save but I was off balance. I wasn't able to recover for the wraparound so you have to give him credit. [Tavares is] a [heck] of a player and he pretty much won that series by himself."
Jaromir Jagr: "It was close; I thought we got it there when there was one minute left. [Vincent Trocheck] was close to scoring into an empty net. But maybe a loss like this is what this team needs to move higher next year."
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