Final Score: Nashville 3, Detroit 2
Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Pekka Rinne made 41 saves and the Nashville Predators held off the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2, in Game 3 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series. Kevin Klein had a goal and an assist for the fourth-seeded Predators, who split a pair of games with Detroit in Nashville. Shea Weber and Sergei Kostitsyn also lit the lamp. Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings, who posted a stellar 31-7-3 record at home during the regular season. Henrik Zetterberg also scored. Jimmy Howard turned aside 19-of-22 shots in defeat.
Final Score: Philadelphia 8, Pittsburgh 4
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - In between the seemingly endless scrums, a hockey game was played at the Wells Fargo Center. And the Philadelphia Flyers won it in decisive fashion. Danny Briere, Maxime Talbot and rookie Matt Read had two goals apiece as the Flyers posted an 8-4 win to grab a commanding 3-0 series lead over the heavily favored Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The Flyers have won the first three games of a series for the first time since a 2000 quarterfinal against Buffalo and will look to complete the sweep Wednesday in Philly. Only three teams have rallied to win a series from such a deficit: The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, the 1975 New York Islanders and the 2010 Flyers.
Final Score: Florida 4, New Jersey 2
Sunrise, FL (Sports Network) - Stephen Weiss netted a pair of power-play goals as the Florida Panthers earned their first playoff win in 15 years with a 4-2 decision over the New Jersey Devils in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Florida's last victory in the postseason came on April 17, 1997 against the New York Rangers in Game 1 of the conference quarterfinals. Weiss' tallies were the first two playoff goals of his 10-year career. This is his first time in the playoffs. Marcel Goc and Tomas Fleischmann also lit the lamp for the Panthers, while Jose Theodore made 23 saves as Florida knotted the series at a game apiece. Game 3 will take place in New Jersey on Tuesday. Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk scored for New Jersey, which had its seven- game win streak -- including the final six games of the regular season -- snapped. Martin Brodeur stopped 20-of-23 shots in defeat.
Final Score: Los Angeles 1, Vancouver 0
Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Jonathan Quick stopped 41 shots to record his second career postseason shutout and help the Los Angeles Kings gain a stranglehold over the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference quarterfinals with a 1-0 victory. Dustin Brown netted the game's lone goal for the Kings, who took a commanding 3-0 lead over the Canucks in the series. Los Angeles will have a chance to record its first series win since 2001 on Wednesday. Cory Schneider made his second career start in the playoffs in place of the benched Roberto Luongo and stopped 19-of-20 shots. Vancouver is on the verge of becoming the sixth Presidents' Trophy winner to be eliminated in the first round, joining the 1990-91 Chicago Blackhawks, 1999-2000 St. Louis Blues, 2005-06 Detroit Red Wings, 2008-09 San Jose Sharks and 2009-10 Washington Capitals.
