News » Capitals now face is trying to avoid any kind of Stanley

DENVER (AP) The Nashville Predators are done dealing with the speed of Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche.Next Buffalo Sabres Hoodies Womens , they get the physicality of Dustin Byfuglien and the Winnipeg Jets .There’s no easy test this time of year.”They’ve got size. They’ve got skill. They’ve got speed,” forward Austin Watson said Sunday night after Nashville beat the Avalanche 5-0 in Game 6 to clinch the series. ”Get our rest and get prepared.”Nashville looks every bit like the team that went to the Stanley Cup Final a season ago and won the Presidents’ Trophy this season. The Predators are hitting their stride heading into the Winnipeg series. They had 11 forwards notch at least a point in the Colorado series.Not to be outdone, the Jets had a balanced scoring attack in closing out Minnesota, 4-1.”We saw how the regular season went against them. They’re good hockey games,” said Watson, whose team went 3-1-1 against the Jets during the year. ”We’re excited.”This goaltending showdown should be worth the price of admission: Pekka Rinne vs. Connor Hellebuyck.One Vezina Trophy finalist against another. Both are coming off a solid series, with Rinne stopping 22 shots in a 5-0 win Sunday to close out the series with Colorado. Hellebuyck had a 1.94 goals-against average in eliminating the Wild.”Moving into the second round, I think you want to be playing very good defensive hockey against Winnipeg,” Rinne said. ”One of the better teams in the league. They have a lot of firepower Buffalo Sabres Hats Womens , a lot of talent up front. Also, like ours, their `D’ is a big part of their game. I think it’s going to be very exciting, good series.”The Western Conference semifinals feature a little bit of history: This marks only the third time the final four in the conference are all chasing after their first Stanley Cup since the introduction of conferences in `74-75, according to information provided by the league. The scenario also occurred in 2012 (the Los Angeles Kings hoisted the Cup) and in 1984 (Edmonton).In the other semifinal matchup set to get underway, expansion Las Vegas faces San Jose.”Anytime you win a series you’re feeling confident,” Predators forward Nick Bonino said. ”We’re going to be as confident as we can going against Winnipeg. We know how good they are.”That’s a sentiment shared by forward Filip Forsberg, who scored four goals against Colorado.”It was a good test for us. These guys have been flying around for six games, playing really fast hockey Custom Buffalo Sabres Jerseys ,” Forsberg said. ”We’ve been trying to play as fast as we can as well. If we can bring that speed into the next round that will be good.”The Nashville defense will have its hands full with the likes of Jets forward Patrik Laine, who scored 44 goals in the regular season, and Blake Wheeler (91 points).Still, the Predators enter on a high after posting a shutout victory in a series-ending game for the first time in franchise history. They joined Vegas and Winnipeg as the third team to accomplish the feat this postseason.”It’s better to end it this way than hanging on at the end,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. ”There are other teams on the ice that are pretty good hockey teams. You see it in other series going on. It would have been great if you win (the series) 4-0 but that wasn’t the case. We had an opposition that was young, skilled and fast and they had nothing to lose, and they played that way. There were times in the first five games it didn’t look like it was just going happen – we were going to have to work for it.”It was nice tonight to play a game we were comfortable with.”The Avs take some pride in knowing they gave the Predators fits at times.”We made them fight for it,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said.Exactly.”The way Colorado works and battles and plays the game fast, it definitely challenged us www.flamesshoponline.com ,” Predators center Colton Sissons said. ”It was a good experience for us going forward.”— ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jonathan Toews can feel the rejuvenated spirit permeating through the Blackhawks’ dressing room after they missed the playoffs last season.Toews scored his third goal of the game 2:20 into overtime and Chicago beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 on Saturday night.“It’s poise across the lineup,” Toews said. “Everyone felt that poise tonight, stuck with it and those are all things we’re looking for and wanted to improve from last year.”Toews tied it 4-all at 6:59 of the third period when he corralled the rebound of Alex DeBrincat’s slap shot and pushed it past Blues goalie Jake Allen.Toews scored the winner on a breakaway to give him his sixth career hat trick, and the Blackhawks their second consecutive overtime victory.“It was a huge two points,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I liked the way we competed. You get your captain leading the charge like that, it sets the tone.”Chris Butler put the Blues ahead 4-3 in the third just 22 seconds after Vladimir Tarasenko’s second goal. The goal was Butler’s first in the NHL since March 7, 2015, at Toronto.Cam Ward stopped 26 shots to improve to 2-0. Allen made 25 saves, but he and the Blues have given up five goals in consecutive games.“This is not winning hockey that we’re playing right now Calgary Flames T-Shirts Womens ,” Blues coach Mike Yeo said. “We can try to analyze and figure out what the reasons are. Maybe we just think that we’re good.”Tarasenko’s second goal initially was not called a goal on the ice, but off-ice officials signaled to the referees to stop play for a video review 27 seconds after the puck entered the net.Marcus Kruger put the Blackhawks ahead 3-2 at 10:25 of the second period off a pass from Patrick Kane after St. Louis failed to clear the puck out of its own zone on multiple occasions.Toews’ first goal cut Chicago’s deficit to 2-1 just 68 seconds after Tarasenko scored his first goal of the season to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.Kane tied it 2-all with his second of the season, but he was most impressed by Toews’ effort.“Johnny’s been unbelievable the first two games as far as leading the way and leading the charge,” Kane said. “You couldn’t really ask much more from the captain, so pretty impressive start for him”Colton Parayko scored his first goal on a power play 14:42 into the first period to give St. Louis its first lead of the season.St. Louis center Ryan O’Reilly finished with three assists.EXTRA TIMEChicago became the third team in NHL history to open a season with consecutive overtime wins.NOTES: Blues LW Alexander Steen skated in his 900th NHL game. … D Jakub Jerabek arrived in St. Louis after receiving his work visa. … Chicago has won 44 consecutive games when Toews and Kane each score a goal. … Kane’s first assist gave him the fifth-most in Blackhawks history. He had been tied with Steve Larmer at 517.UP NEXTBlackhawks: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday night in their home opener.Blues: Host the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.