TAMPA, Fla. - Tyler Johnson had two goals and an assist and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 4-1 on Saturday to even the second-round series at a game apiece.

Lightning goalie Ben Bishop rebounded after being pulled in second period of Game 1 to make 19 saves. He gave up four goals on 13 shots Wednesday night in a 5-3 loss.

Jonathan Drouin and Victor Hedman each had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay.

Nikolay Kulemin scored for the Islanders, and Thomas Greiss 27 stopped shots.

Game 3 is Tuesday night in Brooklyn.

After Islanders teammates Cal Clutterbuck and Nick Leddy collided at the Tampa Bay blue line, the Lightning got an odd-man rush that resulted in Johnson's backhander that opened the scoring 6:03 into the game.

Johnson extended the Tampa Bay advantage to 4-1 with a late empty-netter.

Drouin made it 2-0 on another backhander that trickled past Greiss at 11:55 of the first. It was the first career playoff goal, coming in his 13th game, for the third overall pick in the 2013 draft.

Kulemin's deflection cut the deficit to 2-1 on the Islanders' third power play with 4:45 left in the first.

Hedman stopped a 23-game playoff goal drought to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead during a power play at 11:59 of the second. His shot from the blue line went off New York's Calvin de Haan.

Hedman's goal came after Clutterbuck was sent off for goalie interference, a penalty that appeared to stun players on the New York bench.

NOTES: Tampa Bay D Anton Stralman, out since breaking his left fibula March 25, is skating before practice but is not ready yet to return. Tampa Bay also was without D Matt Carle, who sat out with an undisclosed injury. ... Islanders D Ryan Pulock (upper-body injury) missed his fourth straight game but could soon be ready to play. ... New York has allowed the first goal in seven of its eight playoff games this season.

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SAN JOSE, Calif. - Joel Ward scored the tiebreaking goal against his former team with 8:11 remaining in regulation to help the San Jose Sharks rally past the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Friday night in Game 1 of their second-round series.

Ward also set up Tomas Hertl's power-play goal that tied the game earlier in the period before scoring one of his own to help San Jose win its first playoff game when trailing after two periods since 2011.

Logan Couture added a power-play goal and an empty-netter for insurance, before Tommy Wingels sealed it with another empty-net goal as the Sharks showed few signs of rust after having six days off since beating Los Angeles in a five-game series in the first round. Martin Jones made 29 saves, and Brent Burns had two assists.

Mike Fisher and Ryan Johansen scored for the Predators, who allowed five goals in the third period after having only one day off since winning Game 7 of a first-round series in Anaheim. Pekka Rinne made 33 saves.

Ward has long played his best hockey in the postseason, most notably when he scored seven goals in 12 games in 2011 to help lead Nashville to its first appearance ever in the second round. He proved he could do it just as well against the Predators.

He started the comeback by setting up Hertl near the side of the net late in a power play early in the third. Hertl then fired a shot just under Rinne's glove on the short side.

Ward then scored his 15th career playoff goal when he was left all alone after taking a pass from Joonas Donskoi. He stickhandled past Rinne before tucking the puck into the net.

Couture's first goal on the power play gave San Jose breathing room it needed when Johansen scored with 1:49 left and Rinne off for an extra skater.

But Couture and Wingels answered with the empty-netters to clinch the win.

The game lacked the usual playoff atmosphere in the Shark Tank at the start where there were rows of empty seats in the first non-sellout in the playoffs in franchise history.

Nashville's tight-to-the-vest play also helped keep the crowd out of it as the Predators did their best to prevent the Sharks from setting up in the offensive zone and Rinne was once again sharp against San Jose.

But San Jose nearly scored first when Melker Karlsson shot his own rebound toward the net just as a sliding Anthony Bitetto knocked it off the moorings. The Sharks argued that the puck would have gone in had Bitetto not knocked off the net but a replay review was inconclusive and the call of no-goal stood.

The Predators then struck early in the second after Matt Nieto was sent to the box for tripping in the offensive zone. Nashville had failed to convert on 26 of its first 27 power-play chances this postseason, including one in the first period, and appeared on its way to another blown opportunity.

But late in the man advantage, Johansen slid a cross-ice pass to Fisher, who beat Jones with a wrist shot from the circle to the short side.

NOTES: The Sharks last overcame a deficit after two periods to win a playoff game in Game 3 against Detroit in the second round in 2011. San Jose trailed 3-2 after two before winning 4-3 in OT. ... F Craig Smith (lower body) missed his third game of the playoffs and Eric Nystrom got the nod in his place.

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DALLAS - Radek Faksa scored the tiebreaking goal on a rebound with 4:44 to play and had an assist on the other Dallas goal to help the Stars open the second round of the Western Conference playoffs with a 2-1 victiry over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.

Like Antoine Roussel did on his second-period goal on which Faksa had an assist, Faksa started the rush that led to his winner.

Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk tied it at 1 with 8:28 left in the third period with a shot from the top of the left circle after Dallas failed to clear the puck out of the zone.

Game 2 is Sunday in the best-of-seven series matching the Western Conference's top two teams from the regular season.

After Faksa pushed the puck up the ice, Ales Hemsky had the initial shot stopped but not secured by Brian Elliott. Faksa was there to score his second goal of the playoffs.

Along with the Western Conference's top two teams, this is a matchup of Stars coach Lindy Ruff and St. Louis' Ken Hitchcock, coaches who became friends after being assistant coaches as Team Canada won gold medals in the last two Winter Olympics.

Hitchcock was coach of the Stars when the franchise won its only Stanley Cup in 1999, complete with a disputed clinching goal in triple overtime of Game 6 against Ruff's Buffalo Sabres. They also went head-to-head in the 2006 playoffs, when the Sabres beat Hitchcock's Philadelphia Flyers.

Kari Lehtonen stopped 31 shots, withstanding a final surge when the Blues pulled Elliott out of the net and had an extra skater the final 1:40.

Elliott, who has played all eight playoffs games for the Blues, had 40 saves.

Dallas took its initial lead midway through the second period when Roussel started a rush down the right side and then had a cross-ice pass John Klingberg before Faksa's wrist shot from the om the left slot. Roussel was there to knock in the rebound.

It was Roussel's second goal of the playoffs, the first one that he got a stick on the puck.

Roussel scored from behind the net in Game 2 of the first-round series against Minnesota. A puck ricocheted off a teammate's skate and then hit Roussel's, popping over the net and into the back of the goalie's head before falling to the ice. The strange goal was initially waived off before being overturned following a lengthy review.

NOTES: Stars right wing Patrick Eaves was down between the circles and had a struggle getting off the ice after getting hit by a shot taken by teammate Stephen Johns early in the third period. Once to the bench, Eaves hobbled to the locker room. ... The Stars hosted a Game 1 in the second round for the first time since 2003, the last time they were a No. 1 seed. ... St. Louis opened a playoff series on the road for the first time since 2009. ... Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth was in a suite watching his hometown team with former Stars captain Brenden Morrow. In another suite was Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. - Colin Wilson and Paul Gaustad scored in the first period and the Nashville Predators hung on to win the franchise's first Game 7, advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 2-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night.

Pekka Rinne made 36 saves for the wild-card Predators, who rallied from a 3-2 series deficit and ousted the Pacific Division champion Ducks with a gritty road victory. Nashville earned just the third playoff series victory in team history - the first since 2012, and the second over Anaheim.

Nashville will travel up the California coast to face the San Jose Sharks on Friday night.

For the fourth consecutive season, the Ducks blew a 3-2 series lead and lost a Game 7 at home.

Frederik Andersen made 18 saves and Ryan Kesler scored a power-play goal early in the third period for the Ducks. They had numerous late chances to tie it while largely dominating the final two periods, but a redirected shot clanked off Rinne's post in the final minutes, and nothing went in during a frantic final minute.

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TAMPA, Fla. - Shane Prince scored twice during a three-goal first period and John Tavares had a goal and an assist in the New York Islanders' 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series.

Taking up where he left off in helping the Islanders advance beyond the first round for the first time in 23 years, Tavares assisted on Travis Hamonic's goal that erased an early deficit and later scored his sixth postseason goal on a blistering shot from the left circle to give New York a 4-1 lead midway through the second.

The Islanders needed overtime to get three of four victories against the Florida Panthers in the opening round. This one was never seriously in doubt after New York wiped out the 1-0 lead Tampa Bay took on Ondrel Palat's goal just over three minutes into the game.

Tampa Bay pulled to 4-3 on third-period goals by Nikita Kucherov and Valtteri Filppula before Cal Clutterbuck's empty-netter sealed the victory in the final minute.

Thomas Greiss, who won one game in overtime and two in double overtime against Florida, finished with 33 saves for the Islanders. They were outshot 28-10 over the last two periods.

Game 2 is Saturday at Amalie Arena.

Lightning goalie Ben Bishop was superb in allowing no more than two goals in any of Tampa Bay's five games against Detroit in the opening round, but he yielded four in 13 shots to the Islanders before replaced by Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Tampa Bay entered the series following a six-day layoff, but the benefit of the extended rest was debatable after the Islanders overcame the early deficit to take a two-goal lead into the first intermission.

Prince scored twice in the final 2:32 of the opening period, camping out alone in front of the net to deflect a pass from Strome through Bishop at 17:28 and beating the Vezina Trophy finalist again with a wrist shot from the right circle with 2.1 seconds remaining .

New York built the 3-1 lead despite failing to take advantage of its first two power play opportunities. Given a third chance with a man-advantage, the Islanders struck with Tavares to make it 4-1.

That ended Bishop's night.

Notes: Islanders coach Jack Capuano took a puck to the face during the third period, but returned to the bench before the end of the game. ... The Islanders' three-goal opening period ended Bishop's streak of allowing two or fewer goals in eight consecutive playoff games, dating to last year. New York C Josh Bailey did not play after leaving the team's first-round clinching victory with an upper body injury. ... The Lightning are still without injured captain Steven Stamkos, D Anton Stralman and RW J.T. Brown.

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CHICAGO - No June hockey for the Chicago Blackhawks this year. Heck, even May is a blank slate.

Plenty of time for Chicago to plan for its sticky situation with the salary cap.

The Blackhawks' title defense ended Monday night when they lost 3-2 to the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of their compelling first-round series. Six of the seven games were decided by one goal, and Brent Seabrook and Andrew Ladd each had a shot go off both goal posts during losses for Chicago.

It's the quickest exit for the Blackhawks since they also dropped their first playoff series in 2012. They won the Stanley Cup the following year, lost to the Los Angeles Kings in an epic Western Conference finals in 2014 and won the championship again last year.

While Chicago should be able to contend for another title next season - most of its talented core is signed to long-term deals - it's also going to have to say goodbye to several players because of its ongoing wrestling match with the salary cap. Ladd, Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann - each of them acquired in deadline trades - likely will leave in free agency, and Andrew Shaw, Richard Panik and Brandon Mashinter also could be headed out the door.

The 24-year-old Shaw, who has spent his entire career in Chicago, is eligible for restricted free agency. He had 14 goals and 20 assists in the regular season, and then led the Blackhawks with four playoff goals despite being suspended for Game 5 for using a gay slur.

Coach Joel Quenneville loves Shaw's grit and presence in front of the net, but it's going to be difficult for general manager Stan Bowman to keep the pesky forward. Bowman faced a similar situation last summer with Brandon Saad, a younger, more talented player than Shaw, but also eligible for restricted free agency, and the Blackhawks traded him to Columbus on June 30.

Panik also can become a restricted free agent, and Mashinter is eligible for unrestricted free agency. Panik was acquired in a January trade with Toronto and showed promise in the playoffs against the Blues. Mashinter had four goals and an assist in 41 games this season after beginning the year with no points in 23 career NHL games.

Shedding Bryan Bickell's salary could provide some much needed cap relief, but the Blackhawks have been unable to trade the underperforming winger. Bowman likely would have to pair Bickell with one of Chicago's prospects to pull off such a deal, and the team might be inclined to ride out the last year of the forward's $16 million, four-year contract instead.

No matter who stays or goes, the Blackhawks likely will have a very similar look next season. Patrick Kane, coming off his first career scoring title, and captain Jonathan Toews lead one of the NHL's most potent attacks, and Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson anchor one of the league's best defenses.

The extra time off for their biggest stars will help, but any hope of any significant improvement likely rests with the development of their younger players, namely on the blue line.

Trevor van Riemsdyk played in 82 games this season and led the team with 155 blocks. Erik Gustafsson, another 24-year-old defenseman, made his NHL debut in October and finished with 14 assists in 41 games.

But van Riemsdyk had a couple of costly gaffes in the playoffs and Gustafsson played just seven minutes in each of the last two games against St. Louis. They have to provide more support for Keith, Seabrook and Hjalmarsson for Chicago to make another deep run in the postseason.

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ST. LOUIS - Troy Brouwer tapped in his own rebound to snap a third-period tie and the St. Louis Blues advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in four seasons, eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in Game 7 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series Monday night.

Brouwer, who played for the Blackhawks' Cup winner in 2010 and was among the veteran additions to a team trying to break through, swiped in a backhander. The goal at 8:31 was his first in 24 postseason games since 2013.

It is the first time the Blues advanced past the first round since 2012, when they beat San Jose in five games but then lost four straight to Los Angeles.

Jori Lehtera scored his first career playoff goal and rookie defenseman Colton Parayko also scored for the Blues, who avoided another inglorious finish. They led 2-0 early before the Blackhawks tied it in the second period.

Chicago just missed a chance to tie it when Brent Seabrook's shot went off both posts with about 3:30 left.

Marian Hossa scored his third goal of the series and Andrew Shaw got his fourth on a power play for the Blackhawks. Patrick Kane was dangerous all night but was scoreless, and was minus-2.

The Blackhawks have won three of the last five Cups - but when they don't win it all, the postseason can be a short one, with three first-round eliminations the last six seasons.

Brouwer, playing in his seventh career Game 7, scored from close range off a feed from Robby Fabbri. The first shot went off the right post and he nudged the second past Corey Crawford.

St. Louis was coached by the Blackhawks' Joel Quenneville the last time it played in a Game 7, a loss at Vancouver in 2003. The Game 7 win was the franchise's first since 1999.

The Blues outscored the Blackhawks 7-3 in the first period in the series, but Chicago owned the second period with an 11-3 advantage. That included the first three of five unanswered goals in Game 6 on Saturday.

Blues standout Vladimir Tarasenko was no factor after entering among the playoff leaders with four goals. He went to the locker room for about 2 1/2 minutes midway through the second for undisclosed reasons and his ice time was down, just as it has been earlier in the series.

Game 7 drew a standing-room attendance of 19,935 and the arena had seldom been louder than after Parayko's drive from the point made it 2-0 at 13:43 of the first period. Lehtera's deflection on Jay Bouwmeester's point shot gave St. Louis an early cushion just a minute in.

The Blackhawks had a 7-0 shots advantage the rest of the period and Hossa's third of the series, a drive from the top of the right circle on the counter-attack, cut the deficit to one at 18:30.

Chicago made it 14 shots in a row at the start of the second period, including the tying goal by Shaw from a bad angle off the leg of Bouwmeester crouching in the crease and past Brian Elliott.

NOTES: The Blackhawks made no lineup changes. The Blues re-inserted rookie D Joel Edmundson after sitting two games in place of Robert Bortuzzo. ... The 37-year-old Hossa has 149 career playoff points, including 52 goals. ... The Blues outscored the Blackhawks 7-3 in the first period in the series.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - James Neal scored the winning goal late in the second period, and the Nashville Predators held on to beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 on Monday night and force the first Game 7 in franchise history.

The Predators had lost the previous five Game 6s when needing a win to stay alive in the playoffs, and they snapped a three-game skid to the Ducks to force this series back to Anaheim for the deciding game Wednesday night.

Shea Weber had an empty-net goal with 10 seconds left off an assist by Neal. Mattias Ekholm also scored a goal, and Pekka Rinne made 26 saves for the win.

Ryan Kesler scored a power-play goal for the Ducks, who now are 8-6 in Game 6s. They return to Anaheim where they lost their last Game 7 last spring in the Western Conference finals to eventual Stanley Cup champ Chicago.

Rinne, who had been struggling in this series, came up big late. He stopped Corey Perry on a point-blank shot from in front with 6:40 left and turned away David Perron's wrister with less than 3 minutes to go.

Nashville brought out Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker to wave a towel and charge up the sellout crowd. Fans just needed something to cheer after watching the Predators get outscored 12-3 in losing the last three games. They also got right wing Craig Smith back on the ice after he missed most of the last three games with a lower-body injury.

Ekholm put the Predators up 1-0 at 8:10 of the second period, beating Andersen with a wrister from the top of the right circle off a pass from Calle Jarnkrok. That made the defenseman Nashville's top goal scorer with his second in this series. Fans rewarded the Predators with not one, but two standing ovations in the period.

The Predators took a 2-0 lead when Ryan Johansen brought the puck up the right side and passed to Neal at the left post who tapped the puck into the net behind Andersen at 17:45.

The Ducks got a power play with 42.8 seconds left in the period when officials penalized Ekholm for holding Hampus Lindolm after the Anaheim defenseman jumped onto Ekholm's back at the end boards. Kesler tapped the puck into the net behind Rinne who had just stopped a tip-in attempt by Perry.

Fans still furious at the penalty tossed a handful of the towels given away by the Predators onto the ice and booed as the period ended.

NOTES: The only other Game 6 Nashville won came in 2011 when clinching the franchise's first postseason series win over Anaheim. ... Andersen passed Jonas Hiller (26) for second for most postseason games played by an Anaheim goalie with his 27th playoff appearance. ... Predators center Cody Bass played only 1 minute, 17 seconds and three shifts before leaving the game with a lower-body injury.

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PHILADELPHIA - It's Ovie vs. Sid the Kid in the postseason, take II.

OK, Sidney Crosby isn't called a kid much at all these days, and he already has one Stanley Cup title.

And for Alex Ovechkin, well, it had been more like Ova and out in a postseason history littered with early exits.

But seven years after Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins eliminated Ovechkin's Washington Capitals in the lone playoff meeting between the two greats, they are ready for the rematch.

''Pittsburgh is huge,'' Ovechkin said. ''It's going to be a hard series. We'll see what's going to happen.''

The NHL world can't wait.

Ovechkin can, earning some needed rest after the Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 1-0 on Sunday in Game 6 to win the series 4-2 and advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Capitals scored two goals over the final three games of the series and clearly need more offense from Ovechkin and Co. to have a chance against the Penguins, who beat the Rangers in five games.

Against the Flyers, it was just enough, though.

Braden Holtby had 26 saves for his second shutout of the series. He stymied a Flyers team that went a miserable 1 for 24 on the power play and failed to score on nearly 2 minutes of a 5-on-3 edge in the second period that doomed their chances.

Consider, the Penguins scored 11 goals total in their final two decisive wins against New York.

''The Penguins are obviously rolling, especially offensively, but we're confident in our game,'' Holtby said. ''We're confident in our game plan to shut teams down defensively and still have offense.''

The Capitals pushed Pittsburgh to the limit in a fantastic 2009 playoff series. The Penguins won in seven games in a series that had six games decided by one goal and three that were decided in overtime. Ovechkin had 14 points in the series and Crosby 13. The superstars had memorable dueling hat tricks in Washington's Game 2 victory.

The Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup.

The Capitals, meanwhile, have not even reached the Eastern Conference finals since 1998. The reward for beating the Flyers: keeping alive the pursuit of the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

Early in the third period, a Flyers fan held up a sign directed at Washington that read, ''You'll choke.''

Not these Capitals, and certainly not against punchless Philadelphia.

''It's a different group. The past is a different regime,'' Holtby said. ''We are trying to write our own history.''

Crosby and Ovechkin bring the star power.

The Caps are so much more than just their captain.

Ovechkin had an assist on Nicklas Backstrom's second-period goal that easily held against the Flyers.

Riding the momentum of Michal Neuvirth in net, the Flyers won two straight to force an unlikely trip home. Neuvirth was sensational again, but the Flyers were ultimately doomed by a power play that could not cash in against Holtby. The Flyers wasted nearly 2 minutes of a 5-on-3 power play in the second period that made a critical difference.

''We sacrificed our body 5-on-3,'' Ovechkin said. ''We paid the price and we won.''

Holtby, who had a 19-save shutout in Game 1, was barely tested with solid shots the last two games. The Flyers took only 11 shots against him in Game 5 and matched that feeble total midway through the second period, and failed on a two-man edge.

Backstrom's double minor for a high stick and Matt Niskanen's hooking penalty gave the Flyers 1:55 of a 5-on-3. The Flyers missed both shots with a two-man advantage. They later got hit with a penalty to make it 4 on 4 and wipe out the one-man edge.

''We just had to find a way to get a goal on the power play,'' Flyers captain Claude Giroux said.

The Flyers finished 0 for 3 on Sunday, but it's the 5-on-3 failure that will linger with them into the offseason.

The Capitals' penalty kill deserved credit, too.

''We watched a lot of their 5-on-3s and knew exactly what they were going to do,'' defenseman Karl Alzner said. ''Holtby made some big saves and that was the turning point.''

Backstrom helped Washington break Neuvirth's shutout streak that stretched 72 straight shots over nearly 110 minutes when he scored on a one-timer just below the circle with 8:59 left in the second period.

''Good pass, unbelievable shot,'' Neuvirth said. ''I don't think I could have stopped it.''

The Flyers, who made a late-season surge under rookie coach Dave Hakstol just to reach the playoffs, have not won the Stanley Cup since 1975.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota's dormant arena had jolted awake, with two goals in a 16-second span by the previously slumbering Wild early in the third period.

The Dallas Stars had their 4-0 lead sliced in half, and coach Lindy Ruff called his team over to try to stem the momentum with 15-plus minutes to play.

''Probably one of the most useless timeouts I've taken, because they couldn't hear a word I said anyway,'' Ruff said, ''But I was just trying to tell them, `Listen, we've got to play.' You've got to live that environment to get better at it.''

Though the Wild pulled even closer, coming within a fraction of an inch of tying the game in the final minute, the Stars prevailed with a 5-4 victory on Sunday afternoon to wrap up their Western Conference quarterfinal series in six games and extract some valuable experience from the difficult finish.

Jason Spezza scored his fourth goal of the series and added three assists, and goalie Kari Lehtonen and the Stars needed every last one of them to reach the second round for the first time since 2008.

''A lot of things that you can take out of this that are good, a few things that are bad, but it's never easy to win a playoff series, especially against a tough team like Minnesota,'' said Patrick Sharp, who had one of the three first-period goals for Dallas.

John Klingberg, Jamie Benn and Alex Goligoski also scored for the Stars, who will face the winner of the Chicago-St. Louis series, which is tied at 3 entering their decisive Game 7 on Monday night.

''The veteran leaders are the guys that you need in a game like this to make a difference, and they get all the credit for leading the way for us,'' Ruff said.

Jared Spurgeon scored two of Minnesota's four third-period goals, both on the power play, and the Wild nearly tied the game with 34 seconds remaining when Nino Niederreiter crashed the crease for a loose puck.

Freeze-frame replays showed it in the net, but not fully across the goal line, as it connected with Lehtonen's right pad. The oh-so-close call was upheld by review.

''We knew they wouldn't go away. They didn't all series and we didn't expect them to now,'' Goligoski said. ''They made some great plays, and we made a couple mistakes but found a way. Sometimes it's just about winning games, especially this time of year, so we're happy we (sneaked) away with it.''

At the end of a sleepy second period, with the Wild and their fans seeming more than ready for summer vacation, Benn put the Stars in front 4-0 on his top-shelf shot. Benn had two assists and finished with 10 points in the series.

The Wild weren't ready to pack it in, though, as they proved during the torrid 20 minutes that followed.

In one of many odes throughout the afternoon to Minnesota's late musical prodigy Prince, the song ''Let's Go Crazy'' played on the sound system after each score by the Wild, who sent 16 shots at Lehtonen in the third period. Lehtonen finished with 25 saves and a 3-1 record in the series, but the Stars were all out of sorts down the stretch.

Those early goals added up, though, because the Stars only needed one more to seal it. They got a friendly bounce when Goligoski's shot bounced around the goal mouth and Devan Dubnyk didn't see it beneath him. Charlie Coyle lunged to try to keep it out, but the puck glanced off Dubnyk and in for a 5-3 lead with 9:32 remaining.

''I guess that's why you throw pucks to the net, but that was a tough time to get a bounce like that,'' said Dubnyk, who stopped 19 shots. ''The way the guys worked in the third period, I'm just proud to be back there and a part of that. Right to the end, we still managed to get within one and almost score there. That makes you feel sick to have to lose a game and a series on a bouncer like that.''

Jason Pominville slammed in a rebound with 4:47 left, setting up the frantic final flurry, but the Stars held on.

''I feel like we should still be playing,'' Wild defenseman Ryan Suter said. ''The way that third period ended, I thought, 'Man, just one more minute in that period and maybe we're going to keep going.'"

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