ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Dallas Stars were cruising into the second round, dominating their slumbering opponent, when the Minnesota Wild jolted awake.
Minnesota’s remarkable rally ended a fraction of an inch short, a fitting metaphor for an intensely upand-down season. Dallas advanced in the playoffs for the first time in eight years, extracting some valuable experience from a nerve-racking finish.
Jason Spezza scored his fourth goal of the series and added three assists, and goalie Kari Lehtonen and the Stars needed every last one of them to hold off the Wild 5-4 on Sunday and wrap up the first-round series in six games.
“A lot of respect for what Minnesota can do on their side,” said Patrick Sharp, who had one of three first-period goals for Dallas. “It was a tough series, but we’re happy about moving on.”
John Klingberg, Jamie Benn and Alex Goligoski also scored for the Stars, who will face the winner of the Chicago-St. Louis series, which is tied at 3-3. The Blues host the Blackhawks tonight in their decisive Game 7.
Jared Spurgeon scored two of Minnesota’s four third-period goals, both on the power play, and the Wild nearly tied the game with 34 seconds remaining when Nino Niederreiter whacked at a loose puck in the crease.
Freeze-frame replays showed it in the net, but not quite fully across the goal line as it connected with Lehtonen’s right pad, an oh-so-close call that was upheld by review. Another angle revealed the puck taking a slight hop, which might have put it all the way in, but it was awfully difficult to determine.
“It seems like it always comes down to that: inches, a fluky play, whatever you want to call it,” Wild center Charlie Coyle said. “It’s crazy. It was right there.”
At the end of a sleepy second period, with the Wild and their fans seeming more than ready for summer vacation, Benn put the Stars in front 4-0 on his top-shelf shot with 24 seconds remaining until the break. Benn had two assists and finished with 10 points in the series.
But the Wild weren’t ready to pack it in, as they proved during the torrid 20 minutes that followed.
“It was fun. It was a blast,” Wild Coach John Torchetti said, “but we didn’t get the job done.”
The Wild squeezed months of drama into one final period after waking up from a figurative afternoon nap during the first 40 minutes of the game. Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin scored 16 seconds apart, pulling the Wild to 4-2 with 15-plus minutes to play.
“Obviously, it’s tough when they get the crowd going. They were pretty loud. But I think we were pretty calm the whole game,” said Klingberg, who knocked in a one-timer from Spezza during a 5-on-3 just 5:56 into the game after Coyle was called for elbowing Jason Demers and Marco Scandella’s high stick hit Sharp in the face.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
CAPITALS 1, FLYERS 0
PHILADELPHIA — Nicklas Backstrom scored, Braden Holtby had 26 saves, and the Washington Captials beat the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday in Game 6 to win the series 4-2 and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Capitals will play the Pittsburgh Penguins, setting up a marquee matchup of Alex Ovechkin vs. Sidney Crosby.
Ovechkin had an assist on Backstrom’s second-period goal that was easily enough against the punchless Flyers.
Riding the momentum of Michal Neuvirth in net, the Flyers won two consecutive to force an unlikely trip home. Neuvirth was sensational again, but the Flyers were ultimately doomed by a power play that could not cash in against Holtby. The Flyers wasted nearly 2 minutes of a 5-on-3 power play in the second period that made a critical difference.
ISLANDERS 2, PANTHERS 1 2OT
NEW YORK — John Tavares tied it in the final minute of regulation and got the winner at 10:41 of the second overtime, leading the New York Islanders past the Florida Panthers and into the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
Tavares skated in and fired an initial shot that Roberto Luongo saved, but the New York captain got the rebound, wrapped around the net and stuffed the puck in to end the longest home game in Islanders history.
The Islanders will next face Tampa Bay.
Thomas Greiss finished with 41 saves in the teams’ second consecutive two-overtime game and third in the series to go past regulation. The Islanders won the third game 4-3 in the first extra period, and captured Game 5 in Florida 2-1 at 16 minutes of the second overtime.
Jonathan Huberdeau scored late in the first period for Florida.
Sports on 04/25/2016