Stanley Cup Playoffs: Rangers sweep series, Avalanche, Canucks, Oilers all win

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The NY Rangers swept the Washington Capitals with a 4-2 victory in Game 4 on Sunday night to advance to the second round of the playoffs. Artemi Panarin scored the go-ahead goal on the power play early in the third period, while Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves to bring New York the win.

The Rangers will next face either the Carolina Hurricanes or New York Islanders in the Eastern Conference finals; the Hurricanes currently lead that series 3-1.

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The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Winnipeg Jets with a score of 5-1 in Game 4 at Ball Arena on Sunday, giving them a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference First Round series.

Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin recorded his first career hat trick with Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar also scoring, while goalie Alexandar Georgiev stopped 26 shots to help bring the Avalanche to victory. Nichushkin’s empty-netter with 13 seconds left earned him his first hat trick, which occurred in game No. 580 of his NHL career, including regular season and postseason.

Game 5 will be held on Tuesday night in Winnipeg at 9:30 p.m. ET.

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The Vancouver Canucks beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in overtime on Sunday night in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round series.  Brock Boeser scored a hat trick for the Canucks (the seventh of his career), who got a goal from Elias Lindholm at 1:02 of overtime as Vancouver rallied in OT to defeat Nashville.

The Canucks now hold a 3-1 series lead, with the chance to advance if they win Game 5, set to take place on Tuesday in Vancouver.

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The Edmonton Oilers topped the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday with a 1-0 score, giving the Oilers a 3-1 series lead.  Goaltender Stuart Skinner stopped 33 shots for his first postseason shutout.

Game 5 will take place on Wednesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton, where the Oilers will attempt to eliminate the Kings and advance to the Western Conference Second Round.

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