NHL

Play-offs: Panthers and Stars advance to the semi-finals

Celebration for the Florida Panthers(Bild: Getty Images/APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Rich Gagnon)

The Florida Panthers and the Dallas Stars are through to the semi-finals of the play-offs in the North American professional ice hockey league NHL. The Panthers won the sixth game of the "best of seven" series at the Boston Bruins 2:1 on Friday (local time) and decided the series in their favor with a 4:2 victory. The Stars, on the other hand, prevailed 2-1 at the Colorado Avalanche after double overtime, meaning the series also went to the Texans 4-2.

The match-winner for Dallas was Matt Duchene, who scored the Stars' winner in the twelfth minute of the second overtime. The Stars are now in the Western Conference final for the second time in a row, where they will face either the Edmonton Oilers or the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver leads with a 3:2 victory.

Winning goal 93 seconds before the end
Defenseman Gustav Forsling scored the winning goal for the Panthers against the Bruins 93 seconds before the final buzzer. The team from Florida is also in the Eastern Conference final for the second time in a row. Last year, the Panthers prevailed against the Carolina Hurricanes and were only defeated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup final. Now the first game is against the New York Rangers, with the first clash taking place next Wednesday (local time).

NHL play-off results from Friday (2nd round/conference semifinals, "best of seven"):

Eastern Conference: Boston Bruins - Florida Panthers 1:2 (final score in the series: 2:4)

Western Conference: Colorado Avalanche - Dallas Stars 1:2 n.2.V. (final score: 2:4)