The Vegas Golden Knights became the first team in an inaugural season to sweep the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
Brayden McNabb put Vegas ahead four minutes into the second period and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury held on to deliver the shutout as the newcomers took the series 4-0.
The Golden Knights progress to play the winners of the San Jose Sharks’ first-round series with the Anaheim Ducks. Leading Anaheim 3-0, the Sharks are a win away from the second round.
The Washington Capitals got their first win of the playoff series as they edged a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in a third game decided in overtime.
Lars Eller scored the tiebreaker nine minutes into a second overtime period to put the series 2-1 in Columbus’ favour.
The Blue Jackets won both the preceding games on Washington’s ice, while the Capitals beat Columbus on their territory on Tuesday.
Mark Scheifele scored a brace as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 2-0, bringing them to within a game of progressing to the second round of the Western Conference.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves in a seventh shutout of the season as he helped the Jets to a 3-1 series lead.
Scheifele’s opener came in the final minute of the first period, with the second into an empty Wild net with 11 seconds left in the game.