NASHVILLE, Tennessee, May 9 (Reuters) - The Vancouver Canucks took an early 2-0 lead and held on to beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 on Monday and advance to the NHL's Western Conference Finals.
Mason Raymond and Daniel Sedin netted first-period goals and Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo made it stand up as the Canucks clinched the best-of-seven series 4-2 to reach their
first conference final in 17 years.
The victory enabled Vancouver, who had the best record in the National Hockey League this season, to avoid another Game Seven.
The Canucks failed three times to finish off their first-round series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks after taking a 3-0 lead, before prevailing in a deciding seventh game.
Luongo finished with 23 saves in what was a hard-fought defensive series throughout, with each contest ending in a one-goal result except for Game Four.
David Legwand scored Nashville's lone goal at 3:31 in the second period, for his third score in two games, but the Predators came up short in what was their first trip ever to the conference semi-finals.
Nashville outshot Vancouver 18-9 through two periods, but Vancouver went into full clamp-down mode in the third and held Nashville to just six shots over the final 20 minutes.
Vancouver will play the winner of the other Western semi-final between the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings, which San Jose leads 3-2 with Game 6 in Detroit on Tuesday.
Mason Raymond and Daniel Sedin netted first-period goals and Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo made it stand up as the Canucks clinched the best-of-seven series 4-2 to reach their
first conference final in 17 years.
The victory enabled Vancouver, who had the best record in the National Hockey League this season, to avoid another Game Seven.
The Canucks failed three times to finish off their first-round series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks after taking a 3-0 lead, before prevailing in a deciding seventh game.
Luongo finished with 23 saves in what was a hard-fought defensive series throughout, with each contest ending in a one-goal result except for Game Four.
David Legwand scored Nashville's lone goal at 3:31 in the second period, for his third score in two games, but the Predators came up short in what was their first trip ever to the conference semi-finals.
Nashville outshot Vancouver 18-9 through two periods, but Vancouver went into full clamp-down mode in the third and held Nashville to just six shots over the final 20 minutes.
Vancouver will play the winner of the other Western semi-final between the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings, which San Jose leads 3-2 with Game 6 in Detroit on Tuesday.
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