Nashville sweep NHL top seeds Chicago

Apr 21, 2017 - 6:26 AM Roman Josi scored twice, Pekka Rinne had 30 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday night to complete a surprising sweep of the NHL Western Conference's top seed.

Colton Sissons also scored and Viktor Arvidsson added an empty-net goal as Nashville completed the franchise's first playoff sweep. Led by Rinne's shutouts in the first two games, the Predators limited the high-scoring Blackhawks to just three goals in 13 periods.

Nashville will face the winner of the St Louis-Minnesota series in the second round. The Blues have a 3-1 lead heading into Game 5 on Saturday in Minnesota.

Chicago became the first No.1 seed to lose in the opening round since the Los Angeles Kings knocked off the Vancouver Canucks on their way to the 2012 Stanley Cup. Chicago's second straight first-round exit followed a regular season in which the Blackhawks went 50-23-9 and recorded 109 points, the second-highest total in franchise history.

It was the first time a top seed was swept in the first round since the NHL adopted its playoff format in 1994.

Jonathan Toews scored in the third period for Chicago, and Corey Crawford had 22 saves.

In Pittsburgh, Sidney Crosby and Scott Wilson scored 51 seconds apart in the third period, helping the Penguins win 5-2 and eliminate the Blue Jackets in Game 5 of their first-round series.

Bryan Rust scored twice for Pittsburgh, Phil Kessel added his second of the playoffs and Marc-Andre Fleury finished with 49 saves. The defending Stanley Cup champions will face the winner of the Toronto-Washington series in the conference semi-finals starting next week.

William Karlsson and Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets, but Sergei Bobrovsky stopped just 27 of 32 shots to finish a forgettable series.

In Montreal, Mika Zibanejad scored 14 minutes into overtime, lifting the New York Rangers to a 3-2 win over the Canadiens in their Eastern Conference quarter-final series.

Chris Kreider's shot on a rush went off Alexei Emelin's stick right to Zibanejad for a shot into an open side.

The Rangers grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. They can advance with a win in Saturday's Game 6.

David Desharnais scored late in the first overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 4-3 win over the Sharks on Thursday night, pushing San Jose to the brink of elimination from the playoffs.

Desharnais, in the slot, one-timed a Leon Draisaitl cross-ice pass past Sharks goaltender Martin Jones to cap an overtime session dominated by Edmonton.

The Oilers lead the Western Conference quarter-final series 3-2 with Game 6 on Saturday night in San Jose.

Source: AAP