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Series in brief: Panthers force game number 7
Last night saw four first-round playoff games in the National Hockey League.

Of four games numbered 6, two were the final game of a series.

Here’s what caught our eye.

1. Panthers force final game in Boston

After their incredible season, everyone expected the Boston Bruins to make it far in the playoffs.

However, everyone was also aware that the Florida Panthers would be no easy test in the first round.

The Panthers have had an up-and-down season, but on paper, they’re a solid team.

Well, we’ll be treated to the ultimate match-up between the two teams, as the Panthers tied the series last night with a 7-5 victory.

It was a completely crazy game, especially in the third period, when the two teams exchanged goals very quickly.

The efforts of David Pastrnak (two goals), Tyler Bertuzzi (two goals and an assist) and Brad Marchand (four assists) will not have been enough.

For all the game highlights, click here.

It’s game number 7 in Boston on Monday, with the winner advancing to the second round.

It will be interesting to see if the Bruins opt for Jeremy Swayman in net rather than Linus Ullmark, who has been pretty ordinary in the last two games.

The series is tied 3-3.

2. Hurricanes fly into second round

It wasn’t easy for the Canes, but they managed to end their first-round series against the Islanders last night with a 2-1 overtime victory.

The Canes were right to start selling their second-round tickets before the end of their series.

The Islanders had opened the scoring, but were never able to score another goal.

And in overtime, it was Peter Stastny who gave the Canes the win with a shot Ilya Sorokin would surely love to see again.

It’s a shame for the Islanders’ goalie, who had an excellent season and a good series all in all.

As for the Hurricanes, well, it’s been since 2015 that goaltender Frederik Andersen hadn’t won a decisive game in the playoffs.

It’s been 2910 days since he won game number 5 with the Anaheim Ducks against the Calgary Flames.

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Rod Brind’Amour’s troupe will therefore face either the New York Rangers or the New Jersey Devils in the second round.

The Hurricanes win the series 4-2.

3. Stars send Wild on vacation

It was game number 6 again, and the team with the 3-2 series lead advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs.

The Dallas Stars won 4-1 at the home of the Minnesota Wild to end their six-game first-round series.

Roope Hintz opened the scoring with a superb goal.

The Stars forward has been simply dominant since the start of the playoffs, with 12 points (five goals and seven assists) in six games.

He’s the leading scorer in the playoffs so far.

The Stars won rather easily, while the Wild seemed to be completely shut out and didn’t seem to be putting in any effort.

Note that Stars 19-year-old forward Wyatt Johnston scored his first career playoff goal.

It was also the winning goal.

Mason Marchment delivered the coup de grace for the Wild with a goal in the final second of the second period.

For the Wild, it’s another first-round defeat. It’s been eight years since they’ve made it past the first round.

They’re the Leafs of the West, after all.

In fact, the Stars’ social media didn’t hesitate to laugh at the Wild.

Ouch.

The Stars will face either the Seattle Kraken or the Colorado Avalanche in the next round.

Dallas wins the series 4-2.

4. The Avalanche have not said their last word

The Seattle Kraken is surprising a lot of people this season, and it’s also ruining the predictions of many field hockey fans.

Most people thought the defending champions would have an easy time of it against the expansion team.

However, the opposite is true.

It was a very close series, with the Kraken even putting the Avalanche to the sword by taking a 3-2 series lead.

The Avalanche faced elimination last night in Seattle, but fortunately for them, there will be a Game 7.

Jared Bednar’s team won 4-1 to avoid elimination last night.

Artturi Lehkonen scored two goals, including the empty-netter.

In short, we’re in for the ultimate game Sunday night in Colorado. It’s sure to be an interesting game to watch.

The series is tied 3-3.


Overtime

– Here are yesterday’s results.

– Here are the night’s top scorers.

(Credit: NHL.com)

– On today’s program: three more games number 6.

(Credit: Google/NHL)
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