OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Max Pacioretty scored a tiebreaking goal with less than six minutes remaining in the third period, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a series-clinching 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in Game 6 of the first-round matchup.
William Nylander had two goals, including an empty-net score in the final seconds, and an assist, and Auston Matthews added a power-play goal in the first period for Toronto. Anthony Stolarz made 21 saves
Brady Tkachuk and David Perron scored for Ottawa. Thomas Chabot had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 19 saves.
The Maple Leafs advance to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Panthers advanced by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games in their first-round series.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3, WILD 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jack Eichel scored his first goal of the series to give the Vegas the lead late in the second period, and Adin Hill held it up on a 29-save night to spur the Golden Knights onto the second round with a victory in Game 6 that ousted the Minnesota.
Shea Theodore scored first and Mark Stone scored last for Vegas, which will face the winner of Edmonton-Los Angeles series. The Oilers took a 3-2 lead on the Kings into Game 6 on their home ice later on Thursday.
Minnesota has lost nine consecutive series in the NHL playoffs and last made it out of the first round 10 years ago.
Ryan Hartman had two goals for the Wild, including a wraparound with 3:27 left that came 31 seconds after Stone had just given the Golden Knights a two-goal lead.
Stone, who set up Eichel with a long pass out of the zone that was inches out of reach of the stick of Kirill Kaprizov after he dived to try to prevent the breakaway, had four points in the last three games. Neither Stone nor Eichel recorded a single point in the first three games.
AVALANCHE 7, STARS 4
DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon got credit for a go-ahead goal with 10:56 remaining after the puck bounced off the shoulder of a Dallas player and Colorado staved off elimination with a win in Game 6.
The first-round playoff series heads to Dallas for Game 7 on Saturday.
On the winning goal, MacKinnon sent a pass into traffic in front of the net that Sam Steel tried to clear. But it hit the shoulder of Colin Blackwell and caromed toward the net. Goaltender Jake Oettinger couldn’t corral the fluttering puck with his glove.
Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, including the tying tally with 13:58 remaining, for Colorado. Artturi Lehkonen and Martin Necas also added goals, while Josh Manson and Cale Makar scored into an empty net.
Makar, MacKinnon, Brock Nelson and captain Gabriel Landeskog each added two assists. Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves to send the first-round playoff series back to Dallas.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer is 8-0 all-time in Game 7s, while the Avalanche have lost the last six times they’ve been in a decisive seventh game of a series.
OILERS 6, KINGS 4
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Trent Frederic had a goal and an assist and defending Western Conference-champion Edmonton moved into the second round of the playoffs with a win over Los Angeles.
Connor Brown had a goal and two assists, while Adam Henrique, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse also scored for the Oilers, who won the best-of-seven series 4-2. Calvin Pickard made 22 saves.
The Kings pulled within 5-4 on Anze Kopitar’s goal with 55 seconds to play, but Brown closed it out with an empty-netter with two seconds left.
Darcy Kuemper made 23 stops for LA.
The Associated Press
