St. Paul, Minnesota: Zach Parise scored twice, including a spectacular short-handed goal to spark Minnesota in the first period as the Minnesota Wild advanced to the Western Conference semi-finals with a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Sunday in Game 6.
Justin Fontaine also scored, Nino Niederreiter added an empty-net goal and the Wild set up a rematch of their second-round loss last year to Chicago. The Blackhawks beat Nashville in six games to move on.
The Blues had their third straight first-round ouster.
Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves, giving him 66 over the last two games after the 6-1 defeat here that allowed the Blues to tie the series. The Wild outscored them 8-2 after that, and the Blues lost their 10th straight postseason game when facing elimination.
In Ottawa, Ontario, the Montreal Canadiens advanced to the second round of the NHL play-offs after Carey Price made 43 saves and Brendan Gallagher scored in the first period in a 2-0 win over the Ottawa Senators.
Max Pacioretty sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 1 second remaining.
Montreal won the best-of-seven series in six games, but lost two in a row after taking a 3-0 series lead - and Ottawa nearly sent it to a deciding seventh game.
Price, nominated for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie, rebounded after allowing five goals in Game 5 with a masterful effort as the Senators outshot the Canadiens 43-20.
Montreal, who reached the Eastern Conference finals last spring, are in the second round for a second consecutive year for the first time since 1992 and ‘93.
