Canucks top Preds, advance to West finals

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Vancouver Canucks have had plenty of practice this postseason when given the chance to eliminate an opponent. They finally found a way to make it look easy.

Daniel Sedin and Mason Raymond scored first-period goals, and Roberto Luongo made 23 saves as the Canucks beat the host Nashville Predators, 2-1, in Game 6 to advance to the Western Conference finals last night.

The Canucks, who had the NHL's best record this season, reached the conference finals for the first time since 1994 and will face the winner of the series between the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings. San Jose leads that series 3-2, with Game 6 in Detroit tonight.

Vancouver is 2-4 this year with the opportunity to advance on the line, and 6-1 in its other playoff games. The Canucks blew a 3-0 series lead against defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago in the first round before finally eliminating the Blackhawks in overtime of Game 7.

That gave the Canucks the chance to face Nashville, which reached the second round for the first time in team history.

They made themselves comfortable on Nashville's ice, winning all three games there in the series. Vancouver was just 1-2 at home in the series.

Raymond gave Vancouver the lead 7:45 into the game and Sedin made it 2-0 just 1:43 later. Luongo did the rest for the Canucks, who were outshot 24-19. The Canucks recorded only nine total shots in the first two periods.

David Legwand's goal 3:31 into the second period cut Vancouver's lead to 2-1. The goal -- Legwand's sixth of the postseason -- stood up to a video review, but the Predators couldn't avoid elimination again and force a Game 7.

After grabbing the early lead, the Canucks put the game away with defense. Nashville had 11 shots in the first period, but only 13 over the final 40 minutes. -- AP