ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Zach Parise scored twice, including a short-handed, highlight-reel goal to get Minnesota going in the first period, and the Wild advanced to the Western Conference semifinals 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 consecutive 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 consecutive postseason game when facing elimination.
Coach Ken Hitchcock pulled goalie Jake Allen after Fontaine scored with 8:41 left in the second period, and T.J. Oshie's first goal of the series came with four seconds left before the second intermission to give the Blues some life. They outshot the Wild 27-11 over the last two periods.
CANADIENS 2, SENATORS 0
OTTAWA, Ontario -- Carey Price made 43 saves, Brendan Gallagher scored in the first period, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators to advance to the second round of the NHL playoffs.
Max Pacioretty sealed the victory with an empty-net goal with one 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, which reached the Eastern Conference finals last spring, is in the second round for a second consecutive year for the first time since 1992 and 1993.
Sports on 04/27/2015