Canadiens, Ducks on verge of 1st-round sweeps

The Montreal Canadiens and Anaheim Ducks finished on top of their respective divisions in the regular season (with the Ducks winning the Western Conference), and both teams are showing off their might in the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with both squads on the verge of series sweeps.

First, the Canadiens went up 3-0 on the Ottawa Senators with an overtime goal by Dale Weise on Sunday night. It was Weise’s second goal of the game, as he also tied the game in the third period. It was the second straight game Montreal won in overtime and the third straight one-goal victory. But while these haven’t been dominant victories for the Canadiens, great teams are able to consistently win these types of close games, and that’s exactly what they have done thus far in the first round.

Meanwhile, the Ducks won their Game 3 on the road in similar fashion, pulling out a 5-4 overtime victory over the Winnipeg Jets. Rickard Rakell’s overtime goal spoiled the first playoff game in Winnipeg since 1996 and put the Jets on the brink of elimination and the Ducks on the brink of the second round.

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This was Anaheim’s second consecutive one-goal victory after a 4-2 win to start the postseason. Also like the Canadiens, the Ducks showed some moxie in Game 3, coming back from several one-goal deficits. Winnipeg took 3-2 and 4-3 leads in the second period, but Ryan Kesler tied the game in the third period before Rakell won it in overtime. Interestingly, the Jets have led in this series for far longer than the Ducks, but Anaheim has come up big when it has mattered most. Again, similar to Montreal.

While both the Canadiens and Ducks were great during the regular season and nearly have their first-round series’ locked up, neither have the best odds to win the Stanley Cup. The New York Rangers are still on top with 9/2 odds, per VegasInsider.com, while the Canadiens, Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks all have 6/1 odds.

Both the Canadiens and Ducks would certainly love to finish off these sweeps and get a little rest before the second round, and both teams will go for those sweeps on Wednesday night.