The New York Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 in Game 7 on Monday night, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals to face the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin made 36 saves for this second win in a Game 7 during the playoffs. Forward Chris Kreider scored twice, while defenseman Adam Fox, center Ryan Strome, center Filip Chytil and forward Andrew Copp added goals.

It's the first trip to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the Rangers since 2015, when they, too, faced the Lightning.

Sakari Manninen scored on a power play at 6 minutes, 42 seconds of 3-on-3 overtime and Finland beat Canada 4-3 on Sunday for its fourth world hockey championship title.

Darren Helm scored with 5.6 seconds remaining in the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche eliminated the St. Louis Blues with a 3-2 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round at Enterprise Center on Friday.

Helm won it on a slap shot from the left circle for his first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Avalanche won the best-of-7 series 4-2 and will face the Edmonton Oilers in the conference final, beginning with Game 1 on Tuesday.

Edmonton Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft thought his team needed a boost.

The Oilers were one goal away from closing out a second-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Calgary Flames in Game 5 on Thursday night. Woodcroft went with his gut and swapped Zach Hyman for Evander Kane on Edmonton's top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

The gamble paid off. That line ignited and Draisaitl set up McDavid for the overtime game winner that sent Edmonton to its first Western Conference finals appearance since 2006.

"I thought we were a little sluggish as a group," Woodcroft said after his team's 5-4 victory. 

The Florida Panthers have been swept out of the postseason, falling 2-0 to Tampa Bay in Game 4 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series on Monday.

Florida was the NHL's top-seeded team entering the playoffs, having earned the franchise's first-ever Presidents' Trophy title on the strength of a 122-point campaign. 

Game 4 was a goal-less affair most of the way, until Patrick Maroon tipped a point blast from Zach Bogosian past Sergei Bobrovsky in the third period. Ondrej Palat added an empty-netter in the final minute to seal Florida's fate.

Josh Manson scored the winning goal in overtime to give the Avalanche a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of their Western Conference second series series on Tuesday night.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period, Andrei Vasilevskiy remained red-hot with 34 saves and the Lightning topped the Panthers 4-1 in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series Tuesday night.

In Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper's estimation, Vasilevskiy was the story.

“Look at the saves he makes at the times we need them," Cooper said. “To me, that’s what great goaltenders do and they give you a chance to win a hockey game and that’s what our guy did again tonight.”

Johnny Gaudreau's overtime goal gave the Calgary Flames a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday night.

Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger was outstanding in the net all night making 61 saves in the tough loss.

The Flames advance to the second round and will now meet the Edmonton Oilers.

Artemi Panarin's power-play goal at 4:46 of overtime gave the New York Rangers a 4-3 win in Game 7, eliminating the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night.

The Rangers will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round, the first time New York has advanced past the first round since 2017.

The Edmonton Oilers eliminated the Los Angeles Kings in Game 7 at home on Saturday, 2-0, as Connor McDavid scored a goal and assisted on the game-winner.

McDavid had the primary assist on defenseman Cody Ceci's second-period goal and tallied his own insurance goal late in the third period as this first-round series closed. With 14 points, McDavid is now the postseason's leading scorer.

Edmonton goaltender Mike Smith made 28 saves for the shutout victory, as the Oilers completed the series comeback with consecutive wins after trailing Los Angeles, 3-2.