Paul Stastny (Denver) scored two goals, including the game-winner, and Blake Wheeler (Minnesota) set up another score as the Winnipeg Jets advanced to the first Western Conference final in team history with a 5-1 win at Nashville in Game 7 of the conference semifinals on Thursday.
Stastny's goal gave him five for the seven-game series, while Wheeler's assist was his ninth of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, both of which are team highs. Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) stopped 36 shots in all as the Jets eliminated the host Predators, the defending Western Conference champions and the team with the best record in the NHL this season. Winnipeg took a 2-0 first-period lead on Thursday, surrendered a Nashville power-play goal late in the opening stanza, and then scored three times over the final two periods to continue the Jets' best postseason run since relocating from Atlanta in 2011.
Winnipeg will begin a best-of-seven series against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday night (7 p.m. ET, NBC TV). The winner of that matchup will then face the winner of the Eastern Conference final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals for the Stanley Cup itself.
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