NEW YORK — The Rangers fired combative coach John Tortorella on Wednesday, four days after New York was eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
NEW YORK — The Rangers fired combative coach John Tortorella on Wednesday, four days after New York was eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Tortorella was unexpectedly dismissed with one year left on his contract. He led the Rangers to the Eastern Conference finals last year and into the second round this year before New York was eliminated in five games by the Boston Bruins.
The fiery Tortorella, who was hired to replace Tom Renney in February 2009, achieved some success with the Rangers but couldn’t match the Stanley Cup title he earned in 2004 with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Last season, Tortorella led the Rangers to 51 wins — the second-most in franchise history — and 109 points before they were beaten in six games by New Jersey in the conference finals.
Tortorella got the Rangers back into the playoffs in this lockout-shortened season, and New York outlasted Washington in seven games in the first round of the playoffs before being knocked out by Boston.
Seabrook’s OT goal lifts Blackhawks
CHICAGO — Brent Seabrook sent a wrist shot past goalie Jimmy Howard’s glove 3:35 into overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series on Wednesday night.
The Blackhawks, who had the best record in the NHL regular season, rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to reach the Western Conference finals against the Los Angeles Kings.
Game 1 is Saturday in Chicago.
Seabrook picked up a loose puck and skated in on Howard through the middle of the ice, with Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall in front of him. His shot appeared to hit Kronwall’s leg before it sailed into the left side of the net for the Chicago defenseman’s first goal of the postseason.
Henrik Zetterberg scored the tying goal in the third period for Detroit, which beat second-seeded Anaheim in seven games in the first round. Howard finished with 33 saves.
Patrick Sharp had given Chicago a 1-0 lead in the second period.