NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Colton Sissons scored his third goal with 6:00 left, ensuring the Nashville Predators’ magical postseason now includes the franchise’s first trip to the Stanley Cup Final after eliminating the Anaheim Ducks with a 6-3 win in Game 6 on Monday night.

The Predators, who’ve never won even a division title in their 19-year history, came in with the fewest points of any team in these playoffs.

Now they’ve swept the West’s No. 1 seed in Chicago, downed St. Louis in six in the second round and then the Pacific Division champ in six games. Peter Laviolette became the fourth coach to take three different teams to the Final, and the first since the playoffs split into conference play in 1994.

“It feels so good,” Sissons said. “Listen to this crowd. Our fans are amazing, a great group of guys. We just believe in ourselves. That’s all it is.”

The Predators will play either defending champion Pittsburgh or Ottawa for the Stanley Cup. Game 1 is Monday.

Anaheim lost in the conference finals for the second time in three years.

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Cam Fowler tied it up at 3-3 at 8:52 of the third for Anaheim as the Ducks tried to rally for the fifth time this postseason when trailing by multiple goals.

But Sissons, who scored on the third shot of the game, scored twice in a wild third period to give the Predators a 3-2 lead at 3:00 and then 4-3 three minutes later.

Austin Watson scored on Nashville’s first shot and had an empty-netter with 1:34 to go. Filip Forsberg also had an empty-net goal.

Pekka Rinne made 38 saves to improve to 12-4.

Ondrej Kase scored his second career goal – both in this series. Chris Wagner banked the puck off Rinne’s head for a goal at 5:00 of the third to keep the Ducks close.

But this has been the best postseason ever for Rinne, a three-time Vezina Trophy finalist, a stretch ranking among the NHL’s best. And the 6-foot-5 Finn used his big body to turn away shot after shot even with the Ducks trying to crash the net every opportunity. He helped the Predators improve to 7-3 in one-goal games.

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NOTES

BLACKHAWKS: Bill White, a former Chicago All-Star defenseman and a member of Canada’s 1972 Summit Series team, has died. He was 77.

White, a Toronto native, started his career with the Los Angeles Kings in 1967 before being traded to Chicago during the 1969-70 season.

He formed an imposing tandem on the Blackhawks’ blue line with Pat Stapleton and helped the team reach the playoffs in all seven of his seasons in Chicago.


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