Red Wings clinch; Flames’ victory forces a Game 7

The top-seeded Detroit Red Wings were already very good. Sunday at Nashville, they were lucky too.

Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom bounced in a short-handed goal over Nashville goaltender Dan Ellis in the second period, and the Red Wings went on to defeat the Predators, 3-0, to clinch the first-round series, four games to two.

“I’m just trying to float one in there,” Lidstrom said. “I took some off the shot just to see if I could land [it] in front of him, just go for a bounce or just create something in front of him.”

Ellis had been the biggest reason why the eighth-seeded Predators had a chance in this series. He came out to the edge of the crease to stop Lidstrom’s long-distance lob.

“It just took a wicked bounce to the top corner. It’s a situation you really can’t do much about it. I thought I was close enough to stop it from going anywhere,” Ellis said.

Jiri Hudler added a goal in the third with Brian Rafalski adding an empty-netter with 4.8 seconds. Goalie Chris Osgood stopped 20 shots for the shutout in his second consecutive playoff start as top-seeded Detroit became the first road team to win in this series.

Calgary 2, San Jose 0 – Miika Kirpusoff made 21 saves, Owen Nolan and Daymond Langkow scored, and the host Flames’ victory pushed the first-round series with the Sharks to a Game 7.

Facing elimination in front of raucous home crowd that braved freezing temperatures and snow to get to the Pengrowth Saddledome, the Flames checked San Jose relentlessly along the boards.

Kiprusoff was outstanding during the stretches that his team’s scoring chances dried up and the Sharks were pressing.