David Perron scored a goal and added an assist and Jordan Binnington picked up his franchise-record 12th playoff win with 25 stops as the St. Louis Blues eliminated the San Jose Sharks with a 5-1 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference final.
Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, Tyler Bozak and Ivan Barbashev also lit the lamp and Ryan O’Reilly dished out three assists for St. Louis, which will face the Boston Bruins in a rematch of the 1970 Stanley Cup final.
After San Jose won Game 3 on a controversial overtime goal, the Blues outscored the Sharks 12-2 over the final three games of the series.
SBN Recaps: St. Louis Game Time – Fear The Fin
IIHF World Championship (games involving Florida Panthers)
Evgenii Dadonov tied Canada’s Anthony Mantha and the Czech Republic’s Michael Frolik for the tournament lead in goals with his seventh and added an assist in Russia’s 7-4 thumping of Sweden. Russia topped Group B with a perfect 7-0 record and 21 points. Dadonov finished the group stage with ten points (7G/3A) and a +4 rating.
Frank Vatrano played 9:25 and finished with an even rating in Team USA’s 3-0 loss to rival Canada. Vatrano finished the group stage with two goals, an assist, 4 PIM and +6 rating. The Americans will face Russia in the quarterfinals.
Juho Lammikko returned to action and registered two shots on goal and an even rating in 13:54 TOI in Finland’s 4-2 loss to Germany. Lammikko finished the group stage with no points and an even rating in four games played. Finland will play rival Sweden in the quarterfinals.
Vincent Praplan did not play in Switzerland’s 5-4 loss to Russia. Praplan played in six games during the preliminary round and produced a goal, four assists, 4 PIM and a +4 rating. The Swiss team will meet Canada in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Other results
Slovakia 2, Denmark 1 (GWS)
Latvia 4, Norway 1
Quarterfinals (Thursday)
Canada (A1) vs Switzerland (B4)
Russia (B1) vs United States (A4)
Finland (A2) vs Sweden (B3)
Czech Republic (B2) vs Germany (A3)