DENVER (AP) Colorado had speed and youth. Nashville brought
experience and know-how.It was plain to see which won out ¨C this time.Mattias
Ekholm ignited the offense early with the first goal by a Nashville defenseman
in the series
Bobby
Ryan Jersey , Pekka Rinne stopped 22 shots and the top-seeded
Predators advanced to the second round with a 5-0 victory over the Avalanche in
Game 6 on Sunday night.Austin Watson , Filip Forsberg , Nick Bonino and Viktor
Arvidsson also scored to help the Predators move on to face Winnipeg. They were
3-1-1 against the Jets in the regular season.¡±I¡¯m very impressed the way (the
Avalanche) played. They played very modern hockey, with a lot of speed,¡± said
Rinne, who notched his fourth career postseason shutout as the Predators won the
series 4-2. ¡±Great game. Great team effort. We didn¡¯t give them any
life.¡±Nashville removed any sort of drama with two goals in the opening period
and two more in the second to hush the capacity crowd. That¡¯s the sort of game
plan the Predators envisioned.¡±I think that was our best game from start to
finish,¡± Watson said. ¡±That¡¯s good for us going forward, to be able to take the
last game of this series and carry that into how we want to play in the next
one.¡±Andrew Hammond ran out of magic in net, allowing five goals. The
third-string goaltender nicknamed ¡±Hamburglar¡± had 44 saves during a Game 5 win
in Nashville to extend the series. But he couldn¡¯t turn back a formidable
Nashville offense that won a second straight playoff contest in Denver. Before
this, the Avalanche hadn¡¯t lost two straight at the Pepsi Center since early
December.¡±It¡¯s disappointing to us and I¡¯m sure it¡¯s disappointing to fans,¡±
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. ¡±It means a lot to us that they did
give us a standing ovation at the end.¡±Watson tormented Colorado with four goals
and seven points in the series. In all, 11 of Nashville¡¯s forwards had at least
a point over six games.The one thing missing was contributions from a blue line
that tied a franchise record for goals during the regular season. The Predators
`D¡¯ was held scoreless until Ekholm¡¯s slap shot at 7:20.Forsberg scored 38
seconds into second to give Nashville a 3-0 lead and completely drain the energy
out of the arena. Bonino added another to go with his two assists.The closest
Colorado came to scoring on Rinne was in the second period, when Nikita Zadorov
sent in a shot, but it was waved off due to goaltender interference on Carl
Soderberg.¡±Every line that went out there took a lot of pride in playing good
defense, even at the end with the game 5-0. We still protected the
net
http://www.officialsenators.com/authentic-adidas-chris-widem an-jersey ,¡±
Rinne said. ¡±Guys wanted to get me that shutout.¡±It was quite a bounce-back
season for Colorado, which boasts one of the youngest teams in the league. The
Avalanche went from a 48-point team in 2016-17 to 95 points this season, earning
the last playoff spot on the final day of the regular season. The Avs are the
first NHL team to post that sort of turnaround from one full season to the next
since Pittsburgh also jumped 47 points in 2005-06 (58) to `06-07 (105).¡±There
are a lot of positives for sure,¡± said Nathan MacKinnon, who was held to one
shot Sunday. ¡±Everybody thought we weren¡¯t going to make it, that we were going
to be the odd-team-out in the West. Obviously, it¡¯s nice to prove some people
wrong and have a good young team going forward.¡±In the handshake line after the
game, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette had some encouraging words for
MacKinnon.¡±He thought our team was up-and-coming, similar to their team,¡±
MacKinnon recounted. ¡±Definitely, it¡¯s a good team to be compared to.¡±Colorado
ran into a Predators squad that looked every bit like the team that went to the
Stanley Cup Final a season ago and won the Presidents¡¯ Trophy this season.
They¡¯re clicking on all cylinders heading into the Winnipeg series.¡±These guys
have been flying around for six games, playing really fast hockey,¡± Forsberg
said. ¡±We¡¯ve been trying to play as fast as we can as well. If we can bring that
speed into the next round that will be good.¡±NOTES: The Predators improved to
6-6 all-time in a Game 6 situation. ¡ F Colton Sissons had two assists. ¡ RW
Ryan Hartman was a scratch after being suspended for Game 5 for a hit on
Soderberg. ¡ D P.K. Subban had high praise for MacKinnon: ¡±My expectations for
him as a player is to be a Hall of Famer by the end of his career.¡±¡ª VANCOUVER,
British Columbia (AP) Anders Nilsson finally had his hard work rewarded with a
victory.Loui Eriksson scored his second goal of the night late in the third
period and Nilsson stopped 44 shots to pick up his first win in 2 1/2 months as
the Vancouver Canucks beat the Boston Bruins 6-1 Saturday night.Nilsson was
0-7-0 in his last 11 appearances, including nine starts
Craig
Anderson Jersey , since beating Nashville on Nov. 30.Article
continues below ...¡±I feel like I¡¯m getting back to my game a little bit,¡± the
27-year-old Swede said. ¡±Even though the results haven¡¯t been going my way, or
the team¡¯s way, I¡¯m feeling like my game has slowly been getting back to the way
it should be and the way when I play my best.¡±It feels great to be able to
contribute to two points.¡±Nilsson started the season strong with four wins in
his first five starts, including shutouts over Ottawa and Minnesota. Since
December, however, he has struggled. His win against the Bruins improved his
record to 7-10-1.Jacob Markstrom was scheduled to start against the Bruins after
Nilsson played in a 4-1 loss to San Jose on Thursday night. Nilsson learned
after the morning skate that Markstrom was sick and he¡¯d be starting instead.¡±It
was plenty of time to get prepared,¡± he said. ¡±I still had the whole day. I just
prepared the way I normally do.¡±Daniel Sedin, Sven Baertschi, Nic Dowd and Bo
Horvat also scored for Vancouver, which scored four goals in the first to take
control. It gave the Canucks just their second win in eight games.Vancouver was
outshot 45-23 but got some timely saves from Nilsson.Tim Schaller scored in the
third period for the Bruins, who lost in regulation for just the third time in
27 games. Tuukka Rask started and gave up four goals on eight shots in the first
period. Anton Khudobin came on to start the second and finished with 13 saves.¡±I
look at the goals and they got there,¡± Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. ¡±They
wanted to get there, and we didn¡¯t prevent them from getting there.¡±We got
sloppy at times and we paid the price.¡±Nilsson made a couple of big saves early,
including getting a pad on Danton Heinen¡¯s shot off a rebound during a
first-period Boston power play. In the third
Authentic
Erik Karlsson Jersey Kids , he robbed Schaller and Sean Kuraly on
back-to-back plays.Nilsson also got a little lucky as the Bruins hit three posts
in the first 20 minutes.¡±We played a pretty good game, but we have to be honest,
we got some bounces,¡± Nilsson said. ¡±It was nice to see us get an early lead and
maybe control the game.The Canucks were outshot 18-9 in the first period but led
4-0.Eriksson opened the scoring two minutes into the game. Rask gave up a big
rebound off Alex Edler¡¯s shot, and Sedin took a swipe at the puck before it
rolled to Eriksson, who whacked it into the net.The Canucks went ahead 2-0 at
10:54 on a pretty play from Thomas Vanek. He skated down the middle the ice then
feathered a pass through the legs of Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo to Sedin,
who was alone at the side of the net.Horvat made it 3-0 just 56 seconds later as
he took a pass from Troy Stecher, skated around defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and
put a shot over Rask¡¯s glove. Nilsson earned an assist on the goal.The Canucks
made it 4-0 on a strange play. Rask stopped a shot from Baertschi and Boston¡¯s
Noel Acciari tried to clear the rebound, but the puck hit Kuraly¡¯s stick and
went into the net.¡±We hung our goalies out to dry,¡± the Bruins¡¯ David Backes
said. ¡±Then you are climbing uphill the rest of the games.¡±Dowd scored the only
goal of the second period to make it 5-0. Jake Virtanen cut across the front of
the net and took a shot that Khudobin stopped but Dowd put in the rebound for
his second at 2:44.NOTES: Canucks D Ben Hutton was a healthy scratch for the
second consecutive game and the ninth time in the last 25. ¡ Baertschi returned
to the Canucks¡¯ lineup after sitting out Vancouver¡¯s 4-1 loss to San Jose on
Thursday. ¡ Louie DeBrusk, the father of Boston rookie forward Jake DeBrusk,
worked between the benches as a color analyst for the first time in a game his
son played.UP NEXTBruins: At Calgary on Tuesday night in the second of a
five-game trip.Canucks: Host Colorado on Tuesday night.