NHL roundup: Sharks sweep Ducks

[April 19, 2018]  Tomas Hertl scored the winning goal 76 seconds after the Anaheim Ducks tied the game midway through third period, and San Jose goalie Martin Jones made 30 saves as the Sharks swept their California rivals with a 2-1 victory Wednesday night in San Jose.

Hertl first forced a Ryan Getzlaf giveaway that resulted in a point shot for Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and then deflected the puck into the net with 10:51 remaining in the game. Hertl scored in his third consecutive game.

The Sharks, who will meet the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round, swept a playoff series for only the second time in franchise history.

Goaltender John Gibson stopped 22 shots for the Ducks, who were last swept in a series by the Detroit Red Wings in 1999.

Penguins 5, Flyers 0

Sidney Crosby scored one goal, assisted on another and carried visiting Pittsburgh past Philadelphia.

Crosby's performance helped the Penguins take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. In the process, Crosby moved past Mario Lemieux and into first place all-time in franchise history with 173 postseason points.

Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang and Riley Sheahan each scored a goal for the Penguins, who will look to wrap up the series Friday at home.

Lightning 3, Devils 1

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 27 saves as visiting Tampa Bay beat New Jersey in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Tampa Bay leads the series three games to one and can close it out Saturday afternoon on home ice in Game 5.

Vasilevskiy made seven saves while Tampa Bay was short-handed, and the Devils finished 1-for-6 on the power play. He also made four saves on breakaways, stopping Travis Zajac, Blake Coleman, Patrick Maroon and Taylor Hall.

Predators 3, Avalanche 2

Nashville scored two second-period goals immediately after killing penalties, and Pekka Rinne stopped 31 shots at Denver to give the Predators a 3-1 advantage over Colorado in the best-of-seven series.

Nashville can wrap up the series Friday on home ice, where it has won 15 of its past 17 playoff games, dating to 2016. Making matters worse for Colorado is that it might have to play Game 5 without starting goalie Jonathan Bernier, who departed after the second period with a lower-body injury.

Filip Forsberg, Colton Sissons and Craig Smith scored to lead the Predators to a 3-0 lead. Third-period goals by Gabriel Landeskog and Alexander Kerfoot weren't enough for Colorado.

--Field Level Media

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