Safe to say P.K. Subban enjoyed the Nashville Predators' series-clinching victory.

The affable defenseman played the part of reporter Sunday, popping into teammate Roman Josi's media scrum after the Predators knocked out the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 to move on to their first Western Conference final.

The exchange between the two blue-liners was priceless.

Subban tweeted this shortly thereafter.

It's #LIT, indeed.

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Never question Alex Steen's commitment to the cause.

After the St. Louis Blues were eliminated by the Nashville Predators on Sunday, the series over in six games, Steen revealed that he was playing on a broken foot suffered in Game 1 of the first round against the Minnesota Wild, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jeremy Rutherford.

Steen missed Game 5 of the Predators series when his foot "suffered further complicated damage" after he blocked a shot in Game 4. Sounds painful. And yet, he played 17:12 in Game 6, including 2:35 shorthanded.

The 33-year-old's postseason ends after 10 games, in which he scored three goals and added four assists.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Ryan Johansen scored the game-winning goal 3:15 into the third period, and the Nashville Predators advanced to their first Western Conference final in franchise history Sunday by beating the St. Louis Blues 3-1 to take the series in six games.

The Predators won their ninth straight playoff game in Nashville going back to last postseason.

Goalie Pekka Rinne made 23 saves and had an assist. Roman Josi had a goal and an assist, and Calle Jarnkrok added an empty-netter with 60 seconds left.

Nashville will play either Anaheim or Edmonton.

Paul Stastny scored for St. Louis, which fell short of a second straight conference final.

The Predators and Blues were tied through the first 40 minutes for a third straight game and fourth overall in this series when Johansen skated up the slot for a pass from Viktor Arvidsson and beat Jake Allen with a backhand.

Allen kept the Blues close as he had all series, stopping Filip Forsberg on a breakaway with 13:31 left. But Jarnkrok scored with a minute to go to clinch it, amping up Nashville's celebration.

The Predators got forward Craig Smith back for the first time in this series after he was hurt in Game 3 against Chicago in the first round. And the Blues got back left wing Alexander Steen, who missed Friday night's 2-1 win with an injury.

Nashville had Grammy winners Lady Antebellum sing the national anthem, and forward Kevin Fiala, who broke his left leg in Game 1, wave the towel to rev up the fans who were ready for the puck to drop.

The Predators weren't.

St. Louis took the first seven shots and went up 1-0 on Stastny's goal, a wrister just 2:04 into the game off assists from Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz.

Tarasenko's shot from the right circle hit off Rinne, then Stastny who knocked the puck in for the goal. The Blues even took the first two penalties of the game, and Nashville couldn't take advantage of the man advantage with sloppy puck-handling and too many turnovers.

It was the first even-strength goal the Predators had allowed in the first period this postseason.

The Predators needed only 35 seconds into the second to tie it up. Mattias Ekholm found Josi all alone in the right circle for a quick shot past Allen's glove. That gave Nashville defensemen nine goals this postseason, a franchise record.

Johansen, Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg came into this game having combined for only three points in this series after getting 15 in sweeping Chicago.

Johansen had an assist on Josi's goal, then scored his first goal of the series and second this postseason with Arvidsson getting his first point against St. Louis on the primary assist.

Notes: The Predators' only playoff series clinched outside of Nashville came in Game 7 in Anaheim to clinch their first-round series last year. ... This was just the third game this postseason Nashville did not score the first goal, and it was the Blues scoring first for a third straight game. ... Rinne has three assists this postseason.

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Even after playing hero, Kyle Turris had time for the community.

The Ottawa Senators center joined the Capital City Condors - a local hockey organization for kids with developmental disabilities - for dinner Saturday after he scored the overtime winner in Game 5 against the New York Rangers.

He has served as the honorary captain of the Condors since taking over for Matt Carkner, who selected him as his successor after departing the Senators for the New York Islanders in 2012.

Turris also hosts a golf tournament with the Condors, and the sixth annual Kyle Turris and Capital City Condors Golf Classic will take place next month.

- With h/t to Taylor Loucks

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A familiar face emerged from the depths of Bridgestone Arena to pump up Nashville Predators fans in advance of Game 6 against the St. Louis Blues.

That would be forward Kevin Fiala, who recently underwent surgery to repair a fractured femur, a season-ending injury suffered earlier in the playoffs.

Fiala had scored two goals in five playoff games prior to the injury.

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The questions began right after an unlikely Game 5 win.

The Anaheim Ducks erased a 3-0 deficit late in the third period and went on to beat the Edmonton Oilers in overtime, setting up an opportunity to erase a dubious recent trend.

Here are three reasons why the Ducks will finish off the Oilers in Game 6.

Shake it off?

It's not that Anaheim won a pivotal Game 5, it's how the Ducks did it.

No one will soon forget that the Ducks scored three goals late in the third period with John Gibson on the bench to send the game to overtime, and the Oilers in particular were not pleased with what they saw as a clear goalie interference violation on the tying goal.

While momentum swings from game to game may be slightly overstated, there's no denying the Oilers weren't happy about how that one got away, especially considering their early 2-0 series lead has given way to a 3-2 hole.

That kind of collapse isn't easily forgotten.

It's a huge test of resiliency for the Oilers, and this is where the Ducks' playoff experience will pay off.

Getzlaf is dominating

Related to the above, Connor McDavid might be the best player in the world as soon as next season, but Ryan Getzlaf is giving the kid a lesson or two on what it takes to succeed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The veteran center sits in a tie with Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel for postseason goals (8), and Getzlaf's 15 points trail only Evgeni Malkin (17). And over the last three games against the Oilers - all Ducks wins - Getzlaf has basically taken over the series.

Here's what Getzlaf was up to in Games 3-5 after the Ducks dropped the series' opening two contests.

Getzlaf drew the primary assist on Corey Perry's overtime goal to cap Game 5's epic comeback, and the captain - who's certainly been leading by example - doesn't want that one win to define his team.

No Sekera

Oilers defenseman Andrej Sekera will be out for the remainder of the series, head coach Todd McLellan announced Sunday.

Sekera was the recipient of a hit from Getzlaf early in Game 5 that forced him to leave the contest with an undisclosed injury.

In 11 games this postseason, Sekera had registered one goal and two assists with 18 shots on goal in an average of 21:10 per night, ranking fourth among Oilers defensemen.

His absence will mean the addition of Eric Gryba into the lineup, bringing all of 11 games of playoff experience to the table. It'll also mean more minutes for the likes of Adam Larsson, Kris Russell, and Oscar Klefbom, giving the Ducks opportunity to pounce on an increasingly taxed defense corps.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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Talk about being a good teammate.

Following France's shocking 5-1 win over Finland, Philadelphia Flyers forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was named France's player of the game.

However, Bellemare refused the award, insisting goaltender Florian Hardy deserved it after turning away 42 of the 43 shots thrown his way. After some slight confusion, the award was indeed handed to Hardy.

Of course you could argue Hardy deserved the award based on this save alone.

Meanwhile, France's win was its first in World Championship history against Finland, having lost all eight previous contests.

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Edmonton Oilers defenseman Andrej Sekera will be out for the remainder of the team's second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks, head coach Todd McLellan announced on Sunday.

Sekera was forced to leave Game 5 after taking a hit from Ryan Getzlaf after playing just 1:54.

The 30-year-old's omission was felt during the team's heart-breaking double-overtime loss in Game 5 as his injury forced Adam Larsson to play a league-high 44:58, while the remaining five defenders also played over 27:30.

Sekera has blocked the third most shots per game among all Oilers players and has averaged 21:10 of ice time in the postseason, the fifth highest mark on the team.

Game 6 goes Sunday night, with the Oilers needing a win to avoid elimination.

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Erik Karlsson continues to set himself apart as one of the greatest players in Ottawa Senators history.

Karlsson, who leads the team with 11 points in 10 postseason games to date, has already set club records for assists (10) and points in a playoff year by a defenseman.

Three of those assists were earned in Saturday's Game 5 overtime win over the New York Rangers.

Granted, it's not a high bar to clear, but impressive nonetheless, especially seeing as he played the first round with a pair of hairline fractures in his foot and that he made an early exit from Game 4 against the Rangers.

Here's how Karlsson stacks up to Ottawa defensemen of playoff years past.

Karlsson could have as many as two more games against the Rangers to add to those totals, and possibly also another round, provided the Senators can make good on a 3-2 series lead.

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After a first round that was highlighted by some incredible goaltending performances - including some of the record-breaking variety - things appear to have settled in Round 2.

All eight of the remaining teams are now five games deep in the second round and with a few more games under their belt it appears skaters are beginning to find the holes in the opposing netminders, as goalies are not stopping pucks at nearly the same rate as they were in their opening series.

There isn't a single goalie among the eight remaining clubs who is posting better numbers than they did in Round 1. In fact, some are playing leaps and bounds worse than in the conference quarterfinals, including Pekka Rinne, Jake Allen, Henrik Lundqvist, and Craig Anderson who are all giving up more than one goal per game more than they did in Round 1.

Of course, the most likely reason is that teams are now playing tougher competition in the second round, but even still these numbers are puzzling.

During the regular season, the average save percentage was .913, while the averaging goals-against average was 2.59. As we can see above, six goalies are stopping pucks at or below average rate and six are also allowing more goals against in Round 2.

It's an interesting trend, but who doesn't love more goals?

(Stats courtesy: Hockey-Reference.com)

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