Kane, Blackhawks Top Wild 2-1 In OT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Patrick Kane scored on a backhand at 9:42 of overtime to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game 6 to clinch their second-round Western Conference series on Tuesday night.

Kris Versteeg scored at 1:58 of the first and Corey Crawford came up with tough save after tough save among his 34 stops for the Blackhawks, who advanced to the Western Conference finals to meet either Anaheim or Los Angeles. Anaheim leads that series 3-2 and Game 6 is Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Erik Haula scored and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots for the Wild, who pushed a frenetic pace for much of the night but missed prime chances to score.

They paid for it in the extra period, when a simple dump-in by Brent Seabrook took an unusual bounce back toward the slot. The puck slid past Peter Regin but not Kane, who deked once and flipped it into the net.

Rangers complete comeback to reach conference finals

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The New York Rangers have advanced to the NHL's Eastern Conference finals by storming back from a three-games-to-one deficit for the first time in the team's 88-year history. And the Chicago Blackhawks have moved into the Western Conference finals with another overtime victory.

Henrik Lundqvist turned back 35 shots and Brad Richards scored the game-winner as the Rangers topped the Penguins 2-1 in Game 7 at Pittsburgh. Lundqvist stopped 102 of the 105 shots he faced over the final three games and set an NHL record with his fifth straight Game 7 victory. He allowed New York to win despite being outshot 36-20.

The Rangers led most of the night despite the disparity in shots. Richards snapped a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal 7:56 into the second period, 3:41 after Jussi Jokinen knotted the score. Brian Boyle provided the Rangers' first goal 5:25 into the game.

The Rangers next face the winner of Game 7 between the Boston Bruins and visiting Montreal Canadiens.