AP"We knew we could win four games," Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick told NBCSN's Daryl Reaugh after Game 6. Quick, the 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy winner, rebounded after a shaky start to the series and helped backstop the Kings to four straight wins en route to eliminating the St. Louis Blues for the second straight year.

All six games were decided by one goal, with Game 6 ending as the third 2-1 final score of the series. Just to add to the late scoring drama of the series, Dustin Penner took until almost the final tick of the clock to put the Kings up 2-1 with 0.2 seconds left in the second period:

The Blues will have a long summer to look back and wonder where some of their top scorers disappeared to. David Perron, Andy McDonald and Chris Stewart went goalless in the series and combined for three assists. If not for Alex Steen (3 goals), this series might have ended sooner.

GM Doug Armstrong will be busy considering his options with Stewart, Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk and Patrik Berglund scheduled to become restricted free agents.

However the rest of the first round finishes, the Kings will face a California opponent in either the San Jose Sharks or the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference semifinals.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Getty ImagesWhen Justin Abdelkader scored his second goal of the playoffs midway through the third period, it gave the Detroit Red Wings a 3-1 lead, a cushion that seemed like a Game 7 was a sure thing.

But the Anaheim Ducks had other ideas as Emerson Etem and Bobby Ryan scored in a 51-second span later in the period to force overtime.

In the OT, the Ducks were whistled for icing, and with the faceoff in their own zone, head coach Bruce Boudreau called a timeout to give his players a rest. That allowed the Red Wings to draw up something special. Six seconds after the enusing face-off, captain Henrik Zetterberg scored his second of the game, forcing a Game 7 on Sunday:

Over the final four games of the regular season, with Detroit needing points to make the playoffs, Zetterberg led the charge compiling 10 points to extend the Red Wings' consecutive seasons with playoff streak to 22. On Friday night, he stepped up again when they needed it most, finishing with a 3-point night.

This will be the second straight Game 7 between the Ducks and Red Wings. When they last met in the second round in 2009, Detroit edged Anaheim 4-3, thanks to a late Danny Cleary goal.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

APIt should come as no surprise to see how tight the New York Rangers/Washington Capitals series has been. Entering Game 5, nine of their last 10 meetings had been decided by one goal, with three of them needing overtime.

Game 5 kept with that theme as Mike Ribeiro's goal 9:24 into overtime gave the Capitals a 2-1 victory and moved them a win away from the second round:

Capitals head coach Adam Oates said before Game 5 he was "worried" about how his team would start the game. His fear became a reality when Brian Boyle scored just 53 seconds into the game to give New York the early lead.

Boyle would later watch from the penalty box as Joel Ward evened the score 11 seconds into Washington's first power play (drawn by Ribeiro) of the game 7:44 into the second period. That set the scene for Ribeiro to step up in the OT and score his first goal of the playoffs and first since April 18.

With the Maple Leafs also winning Friday night, Game 6 for Capitals/Rangers will be Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Getty ImagesTD Garden has been a house of horrors of late for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but with their season on the line in Game 5, they survived to see another day thanks to a 2-1 victory. Game 6 is Sunday at Air Canada Centre.

After a scoreless first period, the Maple Leafs grabbed the lead on a Tyler Bozak shorthanded goal, their first since the centerman scored one on Feb. 7 versus the Winnipeg Jets.

As we see many times, a big save on one end of the ice leads to a goal on the other. That's what happened two minutes before Bozak's first of the playoffs when James Reimer, who finished with 43 saves, robbed Patrice Bergeron on the doorstep to keep the game scoreless:

Clarke MacArthur's goal 1:58 into the third period would stand as the game winner after Zdeno Chara cut the Toronto lead in half midway through the final period.

Maple Leafs fans spent the rest of the third period living and dying with each and every remaining scoring chance. Boston would outshoot Toronto 19-4 in the third, but Reimer stood tall stopping 18 of them to keep their season alive for at least one more game.

The Maple Leafs have made a habit of not making things easy in the postseason. Five of their last seven playoff series dating back to 2001 have gone seven games. Will they make it six of eight?

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Getty ImagesPreview: Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins, 7 p.m. ET. (Bruins lead series 3-1) Matt Bartkowski is in and Wade Redden is out as the Bruins get their first crack at eliminating the Maple Leafs. History is not on the Leafs' side tonight. Toronto has won just 3 of their last 15 games at TD Garden. Subbing in for the injured Mark Fraser on the Leafs blueline will be John-Michael Liles, who has not played since Game 1.

Preview: New York Rangers at Washington Capitals, 7:30 p.m. ET (Series tied 2-2) One lineup change entering Game 5 tonight: Martin Erat will be scratched with an upper-body injury. Enter rookie Tom Wilson for the Capitals. Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said Friday morning that he will not play tonight, and could possibly be out for the rest of the series as he recovers from an eye injury. Steve Eminger will once again take his place.

Hockey Hugs is a feature that celebrates the best in hugging from around the sport of hockey, because who doesn't love a good hug now and then? Have you seen a particularly good hug photo lately? Send it to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet it to @HarrisonMooney.

Welcome once again to Hockey Hugs.

It's playoff time, which means this week's hugs are a little bigger, a little tighter, and a little more emotional. It means hugs like the one above, where the Rangers get together in a corner for a quick snuggle before a shift. That's Ryan Callahan, looking back at John Tortorella, who's screaming at them to get to the faceoff dot.

But before we get to today's batch of NHL calibre dude-huggery, we have to take a moment and appreciate this big squeeze from Game 2 of the QMJHL's Presidents Cup Final. Watch these two members of the Halifax Mooseheads bring it in for a goodbye squeeze before one of them is thrown out at the 2:05 mark:

And here it is in gif form. Adorable.

Anyway. Let us now come together and watch the NHL's finest do the same.

(Ed. Note: As the Stanley Cup Playoffs continue, we're bound to lose some friends along the journey. We've asked for these losers, gone but not forgotten, to be eulogized by the people who knew the teams best: The bloggers who hated them the most. Here are Chicago Blackhawks bloggers CT, Morph, Slak, Thrillho, Umlaut, Forklift and Big Cheyenne of Hockeenight.com, fondly recalling the Minnesota Wild. Again, this was not written by us. Also: This is a roast and you will be offended by it, so don't take it so seriously.)

By HockeeNight.com

Dearly beloved:

We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of the Minnesota Wild, who were put to an early death by a Chelsea Dagger.

At least those of you mourning the demise of your heroes can be comforted in the knowledge that the end was quick and painless.

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

Getty Images• It was then that Brenden Dillon regretted having that third sno-cone for lunch.

• Ryan Getzlaf and Teemu Selanne believe the Hart Trophy voting is a product of EAST COAST BIAS. "The only time the media in the East sees anyone in the West is when we play them," Getzlaf said. "You're not going to see our games, the media, staying up to 1 or 2 in the morning to watch." Which obviously explains why neither Corey Perry nor Henrik Sedin has ever won the Hart. [ESPN]

• Jonathan Toews, not a whiner: “I think there's another guy across the room there (Patrick Kane) that deserves it just as much, probably more.” [Between The Circles]

• Nineteen-year-old Tom Wilson will make his debut for the Washington Capitals in Game 5, described as a Milan Lucic type. [WashPost]

• If the Leafs beat the Bruins in Game 5, the Caps and Rangers play Game 6 at 4:30 pm. on Sunday; if Boston wins, the game is at 7:30 p.m.

• Ilya Kovalchuk and the Russians seem to be having fun at worlds: “Ilya Kovalchuk loses it in the final seconds of the game, cross-checks a Finnish d-man high repeatedly until he goes down.” [Linus Hogosson]

• Jesse Spector looks to do some debunking: “It really should not come as a surprise that teams who already have beaten an opponent three times in a series have a good track record at winning a fourth—they have won three games for a reason, which generally is that they're better. The teams who get to three wins and then let their opponent force a Game 7 still have a 75-69 record in deciding contests, a .521 winning percentage that is better than teams' in Game 4 up 2-1.” [Sporting News]

• In praise of NBC Sports: “The NHL is not the most enlightened enterprise, not when it locks out once every decade, eschews meaningful revenue sharing, shelters foundering franchises and imports officials from ancient Byzantium. Yet, credit must be given where it is due, and the NHL is shaping up well on the NBC Sports networks. One might even say that it is better off on NBC than in some dark corner of Bristol. Boo yah.” [Dispatch]

• An in-depth look at how New York Islanders fans troll Sidney Crosby. [PSAMP]