Chicago withstood a last-gasp flurry from Minnesota to win 4-3 against the Wild on Thursday and complete a 4-0 series sweep, becoming the first team through to the final four of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Tampa Bay failed at their first shot at joining the Blackhawks in the final four as the Lightning were beaten 6-2 at home by Montreal, who cut their series deficit to 3-1.
Chicago fans were already celebrating when the Blackhawks scored to make it 4-1 with 3 minutes, 7 seconds left to play, but goals by Jason Pominville and Nino Niederreiter suddenly made it interesting.
Photo: AFP
However the Wild’s desperation shots in the final minute were either wide or turned aside by commanding Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford, who made 34 saves.
“It may have looked a little hectic, but our team remained calm and we did what we had to do,” left wing Patrick Sharp said.
Crawford stopped 124 of 131 shots over the series and the Blackhawks improved to 30-0 this season when leading after two periods.
“They want to be successful. They want to find ways to win and in the end they want to be champions,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said, praising the resolve of his players over that final frantic sequence.
Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, while Brent Seabrook, Andrew Shaw and Marian Hossa also scored for the Blackhawks, who were down to five defensemen after a serious injury to veteran Michal Roszival.
Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell had two assists apiece as Chicago eliminated Minnesota from the playoffs for the third straight year.
Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who made 21 saves before being pulled for an extra skater in the final four minutes, said he felt “sick” about the series result.
“To be with the group that we have, to finish it that way, it just doesn’t feel right,” he said.
Erik Haula scored in the second period for Minnesota; the first goal by a Wild forward in a stretch of 177 minutes, 11 seconds since the second period of Game 1.
Montreal went to hostile territory and claimed the win they needed to stay alive against Tampa Bay.
Carey Price stopped 22 shots and Max Pacioretty had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens.
Pacioretty and Andrei Markov scored in the first period as the Canadiens beat the Lightning for the first time in nine attempts this season. Game 5 was set for yesterday in Montreal, where Tampa Bay won the first two games of the series.
Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop allowed three goals on 14 shots before he was pulled a little more than five minutes into the second period.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS