EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Artturi Lehkonen scored 1:19 into overtime, and Colorado rallied to beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 Monday night, completing a four-game sweep in the Western Conference final and sending the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2001.
Colorado will take on the winner of the Eastern Conference final between the New York Rangers and two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Cale Makar, Devon Toews Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen also scored for Colorado. Pavel Francouz stopped 30 of 35 shots. Zach Hyman scored twice for the Oilers. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Connor McDavid and Zack Kassian also scored for Edmonton. Leon Draisaitl had four assists and goalie Mike Smith finished with 36 saves.
Bruins fire coach Bruce Cassidy after 1st-round playoff exit
UNDATED (AP) — The Boston Bruins have fired coach Bruce Cassidy several weeks after losing in the first round of the playoffs.
General manager Don Sweeney says the search for a replacement will begin immediately. Boston made the playoffs in each of Cassidy’s six seasons behind the bench. He coached the Bruins within one victory of the Stanley Cup in 2019. Cassidy immediately becomes a top candidate for vacancies in Philadelphia, Chicago, Winnipeg, Vegas and Detroit and any others that may now come open.
In other NHL news:
—Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor has won the Lady Byng Trophy, given to the NHL’s most gentlemanly player. Connor tied for the second-fewest number of minor penalties during the regular season. He was penalized just twice in over 1,700 minutes of ice time. Last year’s winner, Jaccob Slavin of Carolina, was second in voting by the Professional Hockey Writer Association.
