Montreal and Minnesota Advance in Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota Wild both advanced to the second round of the Stanley cup after closing out their first round opponents on April 26th.

Ottawa made a great late season run to make the playoffs, but Montreal put an end to it by shutting out the Senators 2-0 to take the series four games to two. Ottawa’s late season rush was in part due to the play of rookie goaltender Andrew Hammond, who finished the season 20-1-2 after being called up from the minors in mid February. But Hammond was 0-2 with a 3.44 goals against average in the series, and veteran Craig Anderson got more playing time. Anderson was 2-2 with a great 0.97 goals against average.

Montreal will play the winner of the Tampa Bay-Detroit series in the second round.

The St. Louis Blues won the Central Division crown in a very competitive race, but as has been the case in recent years, made a disappointing early exit from the post season as Minnesota took the series four game to two. St. Louis’ offense consisted of Vladimir Tarasenko and, well, not really anyone else. The Wild put it together in the second half of the season, including a great streak 12 consecutive wins on the road late in the season (Minnesota won two of three in St. Louis in the series).

Minnesota will play the Chicago Blackhawks in Round 2. Chicago eliminated Nashville on April 25th.