NEW YORK — Mats Zuccarello scored twice in the second period and the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Derek Stepan also scored and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 shots to help New York get past the first round for the fifth time in six years. The Rangers won three straight after falling behind 2-1 to beat Montreal for the ninth time in 16 postseason series.
The Rangers will face the winner of the Ottawa-Boston series, which the Senators lead 3-2.
Alexei Emelin scored for Montreal and Carey Price finished with 20 saves. The Canadiens, winners of the Atlantic Division after missing the playoffs last year, were bounced from the postseason by the Rangers for the second time in four years. In 2014, it was in the conference finals.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Magnus Paajarvi scored at the 9:42 mark in overtime, giving the St. Louis Blues a series-clinching win over the Minnesota Wild.
The Blues advanced to play Nashville in the second round.
Jake Allen made 34 saves for the Blues, who led 2-0 and 3-1 in Game 5 before a furious rally by the Wild to try to keep their season alive forced the extra frame.
Paajarvi’s first career playoff goal gave Blues coach Mike Yeo the satisfaction of beating the team that fired him a little over a year ago.
Mikko Koivu and Jason Zucker scored to bring the Wild back from their second two-goal hole, a deficit that held past the midpoint of the third period.
