Wild, Canadiens progress in play-offs

ZachParise - Cropped

The Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens secured their places in the next round of the Stanley Cup play-offs on Sunday.

Zach Parise scored twice for the Wild as they clinched a 4-1 win over the St Louis Blues and 4-2 series victory in the Western Conference.

Devan Dubnyk made 30 saves at Xcel Energy Center as the Wild set up a meeting with the Chicago Blackhawks for the third consecutive post-season.

Parise made it 1-0 in unlikely fashion seven minutes, 14 seconds in, firing a shot from the left wall and almost on the goal-line past Jake Allen.

Justin Fontaine was the next to beat Allen as the Wild doubled their lead and forced the Blues to replace their goaltender during the second period.

TJ Oshie gave the Blues hope with his goal with seconds remaining in the second period, but Parise and Nino Niederreiter struck in the third stanza to complete the Wild's win.

The Canadiens claimed a 2-0 win over the Ottawa Senators to seal a 4-2 series triumph in the Eastern Conference.

Brendan Gallagher and Max Pacioretty scored for the Canadiens, who had led the series 3-0 before dropping consecutive games.

But Montreal avoided a game seven thanks to goals in the first and third periods at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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