On Monday night, the Minnesota Wild (47-21-7) qualified for the NHL playoffs with a 5-4 home win in overtime against the San Jose Sharks (29-34-12).
Kevin Fiala is largely responsible for this, the Swiss has a hand in four of the five goals: he has three assists and one goal. Minnesota take a 2-0 lead thanks to a double from Dmitry Kulikov (7) and Jared Spurgeon (8) while Rudolfs Balcers (10) and Matt Nieto (22) close San Jose’s deficit.
After Matt Boldy (27′) made it 3-2 for the Wild, the guests turned the game around through Noah Gregor (32′) and Nick Bonino (42’/SH). Kevin Fiala shoots Minnesota into overtime in the 49th minute, in which Jared Spurgeon puts together his brace after 1:05 minutes and makes the Wild cheer.
With Marco Rossi’s NHL team (currently playing with the farm team in the American Hockey League), twelve of the 16 playoff participants have already been determined. All eight Eastern Conference tickets have been taken, but the race in the Western Conference is still exciting.
Also qualified for the post-season are:
Eastern Conference: Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning und Boston Bruins (alle Atlantic Division), Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins und Washington Capitals (alle Metropolitan Division)
Western Conference: Colorado Avalanche und St. Loius Blues (wie Minnesota in der Central Division), Calgary Flames (Pacific Division)
Blues hit seven times in one section
The St. Louis Blues (46-20-10) beat the Nashville Predators (43-28-5) 8-3. The Predators won’t get a point in the fight for the first Western Conference wild card ticket with Michael Raffl’s Dallas Stars (43-27-5): Both teams have 91 points, but the Stars have played a game less.
The second period, in which the Blues score about every third minute and score a total of seven of their eight goals, is crucial for St. Louis. Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou put together a brace.
The Florida Panthers (54-15-6) celebrate their tenth win in a row with a 6-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings (29-37-10).
After 46 minutes the Panthers are 5:0 in the lead, Pius Suter’s goal to make it 1:5 (53rd) comes too late. Instead, Gustav Forsling fills up the half-dozen shortly afterwards (54th). The Panthers clinched their 50th point on foreign ice this season, setting a new club record (48 points away in 2015/16).
Further results:
Buffalo Sabres – Philadelphia Flyers 5:3
New York Islanders – Toronto Maple Leafs 2:4
Columbus Blue Jackets – Anaheim Ducks 4:6
Textquelle: © LAOLA1.at
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