Penguins Eliminate Rangers; Blackhawks Force Game 7

The streaking Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers 6-3 on April 23rd, eliminating New York in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Pittsburgh won the series 4-1. The streaking Penguins finished up the regular season 16-5, and dominated the Rangers in this series. Pittsburgh’s off season player moves and the December coaching change to Mike Sullivan paid dividends, and the team has come together at the right time. New York had eliminated Pittsburgh each of the two previous seasons, so there was plenty of motivation to reverse that course.

This sets up a great potential Eastern Conference semi final round between Pittsburgh and the Washington Capitals, who lead Philadelphia 3-2 in their series.

Meanwhile in Chicago, the Blackhawks, down 3 games to 2 and facing elimination, trailed the St. Louis Blues 3-1 after one period. But the Blackhawks came back with five straight goals and shut St. Louis out the rest of the way to win 6-3, and force Game Seven in St. Louis on April 25th. Big things have been expected in St. Louis after finishing first or second in the Central Division each of the last five seasons, but the Blues lost in the playoffs the past four years, including three straight early exits in the first round.