Rangers advance after defeating Flyers in Game 7

Daniel Carcillo and Benoit Pouliot scored second-period goals, and the Rangers advanced to the second round with a 2-1 victory in Game 7 over the Flyers.

The Rangers shook off a 5-2 thrashing in Philadelphia on Tuesday and knocked out the Flyers about 24 hours later, improving to 6-0 in Game 7s at Madison Square Garden. New York will face another Metropolitan Division rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the next round starting on Friday.

Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves, allowing only a third-period goal to Jason Akeson 4 minutes 32 seconds into the final frame. He protected the one-goal lead at 7:25 when he made an awkward save against Flyers captain Claude Giroux.

The Rangers mobbed Lundqvist after the final buzzer, while the Flyers consoled their goalie Steve Mason.

Mason, who didn’t start until Game 4 because of injury, was sharp in stopping 31 shots, but he couldn’t will his club to a complete comeback after the Flyers fell into a 3-2 series hole. The Flyers dropped to 9-7 in Game 7s after winning their previous three.

No team won consecutive games in the series. The Rangers, who finished two points ahead of Philadelphia during the regular season, made the most of their home-ice advantage by taking three of the four games in the Garden.

Carcillo, re-inserted into the Game 7 lineup, scored the all-important first goal 3:06 into the second off a picture-perfect pass from Mats Zuccarello.

Zuccarello threaded the puck with a behind-the-back feed from near the right circle between the legs of Flyers defensemen Andrew MacDonald and Braydon Coburn to Carcillo for the redirection into the net.

It was the second goal of the series for Carcillo, who played for just the third time in the series and the first at home. Carcillo had come out of the penalty box less than a minute earlier after serving a penalty for too many men on the ice.

Wild 5, Avalanche 4 (OT): Nino Niederreiter scored his second goal of the game 5 minutes 2 seconds into overtime andIlya Bryzgalov made a big save filling in for an injured Darcy Kuemper, leading the Minnesota Wild to a 5-4 win over the host Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday night in Game 7 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

It’s the first playoff series win for the Wild since 2003.

Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley and Jared Spurgeon also scored for the Wild, which will face the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the second round. Nick Holden, Jamie McGinn, Paul Stastny and Erik Johnson scored for the Avalanche.