UNDATED (AP) — The St. Louis Blues are the second team to reach the second round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs.
Jordan Binnington made 25 saves and the Blues beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-1 to close out their opening-round series in six games. Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in a dominant second period during which the Blues outshot the Wild, 22-5.
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 Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.
Next up for the Blues are the Colorado Avalanche.
There will be at least three Game 7s in the first round.
The two-time defending-champion Lightning avoided elimination by outlasting the Maple Leafs, 4-3 in overtime. Brayden Point scored on a rebound with 1:56 showing on the clock in OT, preventing the Leafs from wrapping up their first series win since 2004.
Ondrej Palat, Anthony Cirelli and Nikita Kucherov also scored for the Bolts, who blew a two-goal lead for the second straight game and trailed 3-2 entering the third period.
Andrei Vasilevskiy had 30 saves, nine of them in overtime. He’s 18-0 in games following a playoff loss over the past three postseasons.
Game 7 is Saturday in Toronto.
The Bruins have stretched their first-round series to the limit with a 5-2 win over the Hurricanes. Brad Marchand delivered a goal and an assist, giving him 10 points in Boston’s three victories in the series. Marchand broke a scoreless tie 46 seconds into the second period. Charlie Coyle made it 2-0 later in the third period before Erick Haula and Derek Forbert beat Antti Raanta in the third. Curtis Lazar added an empty-netter.
Andrei Svechnikov provided Carolina’s goals
The home team has won each game by a combined 29-10 margin. Game 7 is Saturday in Raleigh.
The Oilers staved off elimination as Tyson Barrie snapped a 2-2 tie with 5:10 remaining in a 4-2 victory against the Kings. Edmonton squandered a 2-0 lead and were tied after Carl Grunstrom’s goal 29 seconds into the third period.
Evander Kane clinched the win with an empty-netter, his second goal of the game and seventh of the series.
Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists for the Oilers, who will be home for Game 7 on Saturday.
