NHL playoffs: Penguins squeak past Capitals in thrilling seven-game series

After a thrilling seven-game series, the Penguins have emerged victorious over the Capitals. The Penguins were carried by their captain Sidney Crosby, who scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 to clinch the series.

The Capitals played a strong series but were ultimately undone by their inability to score in key moments. The Penguins now advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they will face either the Lightning or the Bruins.

NHL Stanley Cup odds: Lightning a strong favorite over Golden Knights

The NHL Stanley Cup odds have the Tampa Bay Lightning as a strong favorite over the Golden Knights. Tampa Bay finished the regular season with 114 points, tying the record for most points in a season. They also had the best record in the league and are looking to win their second Stanley Cup in four years. The Golden Knights had an amazing inaugural season, but they are not expected to beat Tampa Bay.

The Lightning have been on fire in the playoffs, winning their first 10 games. They are led by Nikita Kucherov, who is one of the top players in the league. He had 100 points during the regular season and has continued his hot streak in the playoffs, scoring 18 goals so far. The Golden Knights will need to find a way to stop him if they want to have any chance of winning.

Besides Kucherov, the Lightning also have Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos, who are both dangerous offensively. They also have a strong defense, led by Victor Hedman. The Golden Knights will need to score a lot of goals if they want to win, and it will be tough against this powerful Tampa Bay team.

The OddsShark website has Tampa Bay as a -225 favorite to win the Stanley Cup, while Vegas is at +175. This means that a $225 bet on Tampa Bay would net you $100 in profits, while a $100 bet on Vegas would return $175 in profits. These odds may change as the series progresses, but it looks like Tampa Bay is going to be very tough to beat.

Ovechkin's Capitals can't solve Rinne as Predators oust them in six games

Just one year ago, the Washington Capitals were Stanley Cup champions. But on Monday night, they were eliminated from the playoffs in six games by the Nashville Predators.

Washington's captain and superstar Alex Ovechkin had a very tough series against Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne. In fact, Rinne was virtually unbeatable in this matchup, posting a .976 save percentage in six games.

Meanwhile, the Predators got timely scoring from their top players. Filip Forsberg led the team with four goals, while Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson each notched five assists.

It was a disappointing end to the season for the Capitals, who looked like contenders early on but ultimately came up short. With Ovechkin aging and several other key players set to become unrestricted free agents this summer, Washington could be in for a major overhaul.

Jets fly by Predators to clinch maiden conference final berth

The Winnipeg Jets have booked their first appearance in the conference final since moving from Atlanta in 2011, following a nervy 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators in game seven of their second-round playoff series.

The Jets looked to be cruising to a dominant victory when they raced into a 2-0 lead by early in the second period, but as they so often do, they let the Predators back into the game. Nashville hit back with two late goals to tie the game and force an overtime period, but Jets captain Blake Wheeler's 92nd-minute winner finally extinguished their opponents' hopes and sent his team through to their first ever conference final.

"There was a lot of character shown by our team tonight," said Wheeler after the game. "Nashville are a great team and we knew it wasn't going to be easy, so it was important to get that winning goal late on. We're really excited to be moving on and can't wait for our next challenge."

The Jets will now face either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Washington Capitals in the next round of the playoffs – with the Lightning currently leading that series 3-2. Whoever they come up against, Winnipeg will go into the matchup as heavy underdogs, but with plenty of belief in their own ability having already upset one high-powered offence in Nashville.

Golden Knights complete stunning postseason turnaround, oust Sharks in six games

In their inaugural season in the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights managed to make a Cinderella run all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. They fell just short of the ultimate prize, but it was an amazing accomplishment nonetheless.

This year, expectations were high for the Golden Knights, as they returned essentially the same team. However, things did not go as planned and they found themselves in danger of being eliminated from playoff contention.

With just a few games remaining in the regular season, it looked like the Sharks would finish ahead of the Golden Knights and claim the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. But Vegas had other ideas.

The Golden Knights won their last three games to clinch a playoff spot, then proceeded to knock off San Jose in six games in Round 1 of the playoffs. It was an amazing turnaround and just another example of why Vegas is one of the most exciting teams in hockey.