Ducks bounce toothless Sharks
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Teemu Selanne and Francois Beauchemin scored their first playoff goals 43 seconds apart in the second period, and the eighth-seeded Ducks ousted the Presidents' Trophy-winning and Western Conference top seed San Jose Sharks from the first round with a 4-1 victory last night in Anaheim, Calif.
Jonas Hiller made 36 saves to finish his phenomenal playoff series debut for the Ducks, who won a fight-filled Game 6 clincher in a remarkable playoff upset two years after winning the franchise's only Stanley Cup.
With a dynamic offensive effort that negated all the Sharks' physical bluster, Anaheim became the third team to beat a Presidents' Trophy winner in the first round since 2000.
Blackhawks 4, Flames 1 - Chicago won its first playoff series in 13 years, eliminating host Calgary in Game 6.
Chicago's previous playoff series win was a four-game sweep of Calgary in 1996.
Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist for Chicago, with Adam Burish and Brian Campbell also scoring. Dustin Byfuglien added an empty-net goal and had two assists. Rookie Kris Versteeg, a Calder Trophy nominee, also contributed two assists.
Todd Bertuzzi scored the lone goal for the Flames, who managed just two goals in the final two games of the series. They were ousted in the first round for a fourth straight season.
Nikolai Khabibulin played a stellar game in net for the Blackhawks with 43 saves. Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 12 shots in the loss.
Capitals forward Donald Brashear was suspended by the NHL for a total of six games - five for what the league called a "blind-side hit" on Rangers center Blair Betts - and will miss tonight's Game 7 of the teams' first-round playoff series.
In addition to leveling Betts midway through the first period of Washington's 5-3 victory at New York in Game 6 Sunday, Brashear made contact with Colton Orr in pregame warmups and was barred from one game for that.
"Brashear delivered a shoulder hit to an unsuspecting player," said Colin Campbell, the NHL's senior executive VP of hockey operations. "It is also my opinion that the hit was delivered late and targeted the head of his opponent, causing significant injury."
