Ducks advance to second round with sweep of Flames

DUCKS SWEEP FLAMES TO BECOME FIRST TEAM TO REACH SECOND ROUND

* The Ducks earned their fifth four-game sweep in playoff history and first since the 2015 first round against the Winnipeg Jets. They also became the first NHL team to earn a sweep in the postseason since the 2015 second round (CHI: 4-0 vs. MIN).
* The Ducks improved to 20-3 against Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the start of the 2007 postseason (8-1 vs. CGY, 4-1 vs. OTT, 4-1 vs. VAN and 4-0 vs. WPG).
* The Ducks will face the winner of the Edmonton Oilers-San Jose Sharks series in the second round. Anaheim has played each team once before in the postseason (4-1 L vs. EDM in 2006 CF, 4-2 W vs. SJS in 2009 CQF).

WEDNESDAY'S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps
Washington 5, TORONTO 4 - series tied 2-2
Ottawa 1, BOSTON 0 - OTT leads 3-1
Minnesota 2, ST. LOUIS 0 - STL leads 3-1
Anaheim 3, CALGARY 1 - ANA wins 4-0

WILD BLANK BLUES TO AVOID ELIMINATION

Devan Dubnyk stopped all 28 shots he faced to help the Minnesota Wild stave off elimination and force Game 5 in their first round series against the St. Louis Blues.
* Minnesota won a playoff game in which it faced elimination for the fourth time in its history -- and first time not in a Game 7. The others: Game 7 of 2003 CQF at COL, Game 7 of 2003 CSF at VAN and Game 7 of 2014 FR at COL.
* Dubnyk earned his second career postseason shutout (also Game 3 of 2015 FR vs. STL) and became the first goaltender in Wild history to earn a shutout in a playoff game when they faced elimination.

CAPITALS HANG ON TO EVEN SERIES WITH MAPLE LEAFS

Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie each scored twice and the Washington Capitals held off a Toronto Maple Leafs rally to even their series at 2-2.
* Elias says that the Capitals, who led 4-1 after 20 minutes, scored four goals in the first period of a playoff game for the second time in their history (also Game 3 of 1990 DF vs. NYR).
* Wilson, a Toronto native, made a
desperation goal-line save
to clear the puck from Washington's crease shortly before scoring his first goal of the game. He added a second goal 2:23 later to post his first career multi-goal game (regular season or playoffs, 345 GP).
* Oshie has earned at least one point in all four games of the series (2-4-6). He and Wilson became the first pair of Capitals teammates to each score twice in a playoff game since Alex Ovechkin (2-1-3) and Mike Knuble (2-0-2) in 2010 (Game 4 of CQF at MTL).

RYAN AGAIN SCORES WINNER AS SENATORS TAKE 3-1 SERIES LEAD

Bobby Ryan scored the only goal of the game at 5:49 of the third period, Craig Anderson turned aside all 22 shots he faced and the Ottawa Senators took a 3-1 series lead against the Boston Bruins.
* Ryan, who scored the overtime winner in Game 3 (1-1-2), has at least one point in all four games of the series (3-2-5). Elias notes that he became the second player in Senators history to score the winning goal in consecutive games within a playoff series, joining Daniel Alfredsson (Games 4-5 of 1997 CQF vs. BUF).
* Anderson earned his fourth career playoff shutout and third with the Senators to tie Ray Emery for second place on the Senators' all-time list, trailing Patrick Lalime (5).

BERGERON, KESLER AND KOIVU VOTED SELKE TROPHY FINALISTS

Centers Patrice Bergeron of the Bruins, Ryan Kesler of the Ducks and Mikko Koivu of the Wild are the three
finalists for the 2016-17 Frank J. Selke Trophy
, which is awarded "to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game."
Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association submitted ballots for the Selke Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists. The winner will be announced during the 2017 NHL Awards at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on June 21.

LOOSE PUCKS

Forward Zach Hyman scored his first career playoff goal, becoming the fifth Maple Leafs rookie to score this postseason. Elias notes that five different Toronto rookies have scored in the same playoff year for the first time since 1940 . . . Elias says that Flames forward Sean Monahan (4-1-5 in 4 GP) became the third player in their history to score at least one goal in each of the first four or more games of a playoff year, following Joe Mullen (5 GP) and Lanny McDonald (4 GP) in 1986 . . . Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored for the third straight game (3-0-3) . . . The Department of Player Safety
fined Oilers forward
Leon Draisaitl for spearing Sharks forward Chris Tierney . . . The NHL announced
start times
for first round games on Saturday, April 22 . . . ICYMI: Former Boston Pride player Denna Laing rallied the crowd at TD Garden prior to the Senators-Bruins game.

SNEAK PEEK AT THURSDAY'S ACTION

All Times Eastern
NY Rangers @ Montreal, series tied 2-2, 7 p.m., CBC, TVA Sports, USA, MSG
Columbus @ Pittsburgh, PIT leads 3-1, 7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports 2, NHLN-US, ROOT, FS-O
Chicago @ Nashville, NSH leads 3-0, 8 p.m., SN360, TVA Sports 3, NBCSN, FS-TN, CSN-CH
San Jose @ Edmonton, series tied 2-2, 10:30 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, NBCSN, NBCSCA
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PREDATORS AIM FOR FIRST SWEEP IN FRANCHISE HISTORY

The Nashville Predators look to become the second team to advance to the second round of the playoffs when they host the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 4 of their first-round series. Nashville, which began play in 1998-99 and is competing in its 13th postseason series, is aiming for its first sweep in its history.