The Nashville Predators continue to impress mightily in the postseason. James Neal scored 9:24 into overtime to give the upstart Predators a 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center in Game 1 of the Western Conference final, despite a 43-save by John Gibson.
PPG Paints Arena will host Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final as the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Ottawa Senators tonight (NBC – 7 pm).
In Florida Panthers news, Sam Brittain made 21 saves to backstop the Manchester Monarchs to a 2-1 road win over the South Carolina Stingrays in Game 1 of ECHL’s Eastern Conference final. Defenseman Thomas Schemitsch took a slashing penalty and finished the tilt with an even rating.
At the IIHF World Championship, all four of the Cats participating will be in action today. Team USA (Nick Bjugstad) will face Latvia (NHL Network – 6 am) and Canada (Jason Demers, Mike Matheson) will do battle with pesky Switzerland (Denis Malgin) this afternoon (NHL Network – 2 pm).