NHL Game 7 Recap
Boston, MA – Scott Walker scored his first NHL playoff goal 18:46 into overtime to send the Carolina Hurricanes into the Eastern Conference finals with a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.
Byron Bitz gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 7:42 of the first period, and Carolina captain Rod Brind’Amour tied it six minutes later. Sergei Samsonov put the Hurricanes ahead 2-1 at 7:45 of the second period, but Milan Lucic tied it for the Bruins at 6:19 of the third.
Carolina will face the Pittsburgh Penguins, who beat the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of that series on Wednesday, in the East finals.
Walker scored his first goal in 25 career NHL playoff games on a rebound of a shot by Ray Whitney from the right circle. Tim Thomas made the save but couldn’t recover in time to stop Walker from batting the puck out of the air and over him.
Red Wings 4, Ducks 3
DETROIT (AP) – Dan Cleary’s tiebreaking goal with 3 minutes left lifted Detroit over Anaheim and sent the defending Stanley Cup champions to the Western Conference finals for the third straight year.
im’s Jonas Hiller made 36 saves, and Chris Osgood stopped 24 shots for the Red Wings, who couldn’t protect an early two-goal lead.
Jiri Hudler, Darren Helm and Mikael Samuelsson scored for the Red Wings, who will next face the Chicago Blackhawks in a matchup of Original Six teams.
Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry cut into deficits and Bobby Ryan made it 3-all at 7:37 of the third.
Posted: 4/15/09 12:29AM ET