Calvin Pickard made 27 saves for his first shutout in over five years and the Edmonton Oilers won their 15th straight game, 3-0 over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.
Connor McDavid scored twice and set up a goal by Zach Hyman as Edmonton became just the fifth team in NHL history to win 15 or more consecutive games.
The Mario Lemieux-era Pittsburgh Penguins hold the NHL record with a 17-game winning streak set during the 1992-93 season, while the 2016-17 Columbus Blue Jackets own the second-longest run at 16 games.
The Oilers are 23-3-0 in their last 26 games and have gone a franchise-record 13 straight games allowing two or fewer goals.
Pickard’s shutout was his first since a 4-0 win over the New York Rangers on Nov. 23, 2018, when he was with Philadelphia.
Chicago tied a franchise record with its 19th consecutive road loss (0-18-1), set in 1953-54 and matched in 2003-04.
Lightning’s Kucherov adds 3 more points
Red-hot Nikita Kucherov had a goal and two assists and Steven Stamkos recorded his 1,100th career point to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 6-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes.
Kucherov, coming off a four-point game in a victory over Philadelphia on Tuesday, raised his season total to a league-leading 83 points, one ahead of Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon. Kucherov also reached 50 assists in fewer than 50 games for the third time in his career, one of only nine players to accomplish that.
Brayden Point scored one goal and set up another to help Tampa Bay win its fifth straight at home. The Lightning have won seven of eight overall.
Stamkos notched his milestone point with an assist on Kucherov’s goal and scored a power-play goal of his own in the second period.
Hurricanes beat Devils to stay hot
Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen each scored one goal and set up another and Antti Raanta stopped 23 shots in the Carolina Hurricanes’ 3-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Jordan Staal also scored for the Hurricanes, who won a night earlier at East-leading Boston and improved to 10-2-1 since Christmas.
Justin Dowling and Jesper Bratt scored third-period goals for New Jersey, which has lost four of its last six games.
Edmonton Oilers reach Stanley Cup Final
Stuart Skinner made first-period goals from Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman stand up by making 34 saves, and the Edmonton Oilers advanced to their first Stanley Cup Final in 18 years with Sunday's 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars to win the Western Conference.
McDavid added an assist on Hyman's league-leading 14th goal of this year's post-season, while Evan Bouchard assisted on both Edmonton scores to help the Oilers oust Dallas in six games in the best-of-seven series and capture the Clarence Campbell Trophy for the first time since 2006.
Edmonton will meet the Florida Panthers in the Final, with Game 1 to take place Saturday in Florida. The Panthers won their second straight Eastern Conference title with Saturday's 2-1 win over the New York Rangers to also take that series in six games.
The Oilers have not hoisted the Stanley Cup since winning five titles in a seven-year span from 1984-90. The Panthers have never won the Cup since entering the NHL as an expansion franchise in 1993-94.
Dallas, meanwhile, lost in the West Final for the second consecutive year after falling to the eventual Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in six games last season. The Stars had a decisive 35-10 shot advantage in Game 6, but were kept off the scoreboard until Mason Marchment's goal midway through the third period.
The Stars outshot Edmonton by a 12-3 margin in the first period, but quickly fell behind shortly after defenseman Chris Tanev was called for a tripping penalty 3:35 in.
Edmonton needed just 42 seconds on the resulting power play to move ahead. McDavid skated deep into the Dallas zone, faked out a defender and lifted a backhand over the shoulder of Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger with 4:17 elapsed in the contest.
The Oilers converted another power-play chance awarded to them when Dallas defenseman Ryan Suter was called for slashing with 5:37 left in the first. McDavid found Hyman open in the slot and the standout sniper beat Oettinger stick-side with a wrist shot to extend the lead to 2-0 with 4:18 remaining in the period.
Skinner made nine more saves during a scoreless second period, but was unable to stop Marchment's close-range shot off a behind-the-net feed from Tyler Seguin that gave the Stars renewed life with 10:42 left to play.
Dallas pulled Oettinger with under 2 1/2 minutes left but was only able to get two shots on Skinner with the extra skater.
Oettinger recorded just eight saves and the Stars went 0 for 3 on the power play, while Edmonton converted both of its 5-on-4 attempts.
NHL: Panthers win Game 6 to return to Stanley Cup Final
Sergei Bobrovsky had a shutout until the final minutes and the Florida Panthers held on for a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers to reserve a spot in the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight season on Saturday.
Sam Bennett scored in the first period and Vladimir Tarasenko tallied in the third for the Panthers, who will face either Edmonton or Dallas for the Cup, with that series set to start on June 8.
Bobrovsky finished with 23 saves and turned away 69 of 74 shots over the final three games – all wins for Florida.
Florida will play for the Cup for the third time after it was swept by Colorado in 1996 and lost 4-1 to Vegas last season.
If Edmonton advances, Game 1 of the title round will be on Florida’s ice. If Dallas wins the West, the Stars will have home-ice advantage for the series.
The Rangers were held scoreless until Artemi Panarin scored with 1:40 remaining but were unable to find the equalizer.
New York had a 2-1 lead in the series before losing three straight games, meaning for the 11th consecutive year the team that finished with the NHL’s best regular season record won’t go on to win the Stanley Cup.
NHL: Oilers beat Stars for 3-2 lead in Western final
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored twice on the power play and Stuart Skinner took a shutout late into the third period as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the top-seeded Dallas Stars, 3-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference final on Friday night.
Philip Broberg had the other goal and Evan Bouchard had a pair of assists for the Oilers, who can advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2005-06 with a win at home in Game 6 on Sunday night.
Skinner was perfect until Wyatt Johnson’s goal with 5:51 remaining. He held the Stars scoreless the rest of the way to finish with 19 saves in his second straight win after losses in Games 2 and 3.
There hadn’t been a power-play goal by either team in this series until Nugent-Hopkins scored on a rebound 18 seconds after a penalty in the first period. He struck again just 16 seconds after the Stars took a penalty early in the second period for a 2-0 advantage.
Dallas was limited to six shots on goal halfway through the game and dropped to 4-6 at home this postseason. The Stars are 0 for 11 on the power play in this series.
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