Islanders, Stars advance to Stanley Cup playoffs conference semifinals

Aug. 21 (UPI) — The New York Islanders and Dallas Stars have each clinched conference semifinals spots after four-goal victories in their first-round series finales.

The Stars beat the Flames 7-3 in Game 6 Thursday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to win their series 4-2. The Islanders beat the Capitals 4-0 in Game 5 Thursday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto to win that series 4-1.

The Stars trailed 3-0 in the first period of their Western Conference affair before they scored seven unanswered goals. Denis Gurianov scored three times of the Stars’ five goals in the second period. He added a fourth score in the third period.

“We had a tough first period,” Gurianov told reporters. “We went in the locker room and forgot about the first period and moved on and started to play our game.”

Andrew Mangiapane lit the lamp for the first time 3:42 into the game for Calgary. Johnny Gaudreau scored on a power play less than two minutes later to double the Flames lead. Rasmus Andersson gave the Flames a 3-0 edge less than a minute after the Gaudreau goal.

Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored on a power play midway through the first period to spark Dallas’ offensive explosion.

Gurianov cut the deficit to one score with a goal 59 seconds into the bridge period. The Stars right wing tied the score 3:25 into the second period. Radek Faksa gave Dallas a 4-3 edge on a power play 5:47 into the second period. Joe Pavelski pushed the lead to 5-3 about two minutes later.

Gurianov completed his hat trick with 4:30 remaining in the second period. He added his fourth score midway through the third frame.

“There was no panic,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “We had to battle back and we did.

The Stars will face the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference semifinals at Rogers Place.

Islanders 4, Capitals 0

The Islanders advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals after their win over the Capitals, but their opponent for the next round is to be determined.

New York’s series finale win over Washington featured much less drama than the Stars and Flames affair. Anthony Beauvillier scored a goal in each of the first two periods before Nick Leddy pushed the lead to 3-0 with score with less than three minutes remaining.

Josh Bailey netted a fourth score with 1:29 remaining in the victory. Bailey had a goal and two assists for New York. Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves for the Islanders.