The Stanley Cup Playoffs continued yesterday with four games. The Florida Panthers played the Tampa Bay Lightning. The New York Rangers played the Washington Capitals. The Winnipeg Jets took on the Colorado Avalanche. The Vancouver Canucks played the Nashville Predators. There are four games today. The Boston Bruins take on the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Carolina Hurricanes take on the New York Islanders. The Vegas Golden Knights take on the Dallas Stars. The Los Angeles Kings take on the Edmonton Oilers.
The number three seed Florida Panthers take on the number six seed Tampa Bay Lightning. It was game one of this best of seven series. The Panthers opened the scoring with a goal from #13 Sam Reinhart. #42 Gustav Forsling and #16 Aleksander Barkov got assists on that goal. The Lightning tied the game up with under four minutes to go in the first period. #38 Brandon Hagel scored the tying goal. #71 Anthony Circelli and #91 Steven Syamkos got the assists. The first period ended with the game tied at 1-1.
Neither team scored in the second period. The game would stay tied at 1-1 heading into the third period. Less than a minute into the third period the Panther regained the lead on a powerplay goal from #23 Carter Verhaeghe. #16 Aleksander Barkov got his second assist of the game on this goal. #19 Matthew Tkachuk also go an assist on this goal. The Panthers took a two goal lead with just over two minutes to go in the game. #19 Matthew Tkachuk scored the goal. #5 Aaron Ekblad got the assist. With ten seconds to go in the game the Lightning scored to bring the game back within one goal. #91 Steven Stamkos scored the powerplay goal. #86 Nikita Kucherov and #21 Brayden point got the assists. The final score was 3-2 Panthers. The Panthers won the opening game of this series and now have a 1-0 series lead.
For most of the first and third periods the Panthers were in control of the game. The Lightning were trailing for most of the game. That is not a position they want to be in. The Lightning did not let the Panthers run away with the game. It was close. It could have gone either way. The Panthers took advantage on the powerplay early in the third period which is what gave them the edge to win the game.
Game two of this series will be on Tuesday, April 24th. Puck Drop is set for 4:30 PM. That game will be in Florida.
The number one seed New York Rangers took on the number eight seed Washington Capitals in game one of their series. There is a lot of pressure on the Rangers to win this series after winning the Presidents Trophy with the best record in the NHL during the regular season. Neither team scored in the first period. The score was 0-0 going into the second period.
Five minutes into the second period the Rangers opened up the scoring with a goal from #73 Matt Rempe. It was assisted by #26 Jimmy Vesey and #21 Barclay Goodrow. Thirty seconds later the #10 Artemi Panarin scored to give the Rangers a two goal lead. That goal was assisted by #16 Vincent Trocheck and #13 Alexis Lafrenière. About two minutes later #26 Jimmy Vesey scored for the Rangers to put them up 3-0. #21 Barclay Goodrow got his second assist of the game on that goal. About a minute after the Rangers third goal, the Capitals scored. #42 Martin Fehervary scored the goal. #43 Tom Wilson and #21 Aliaksei Protas got the assists. The second period ended with the Rangers up 3-1.
#20 Chris Kreider scored the only goal in the third period. His goal put the Rangers back up by three goals. That goal was assisted by #93 Mika Zibanejad and #96 Jack Roslovic. The final score was 4-1 Rangers. The Rangers now have a 1-0 series lead.
The Rangers with the game one blowout. The Capitals didn’t really put up a fight in this game. This all comes down to a five minute stretch early in the second period where four of the games five goals were scored. This may turn into a series that just has burst of offense in short periods of time. The powerplays were not a factor in this game. If either team wants to make a longer run in the playoffs they will have to start making their powerplays count. The Rangers did a good job of keeping the Capitals out of the net in this one. The capitals need to find ways to score if they don’t want to be swept. Their offense was nowhere to be found in this game.
Game tow of this series will be on Tuesday, April 23rd. Puck drop is set for 4:00 PM. The game will be in New York.
The number two seed Winnipeg Jets will faced off against the number four seed Colorado Avalanche in their first game in round one. Six Minutes into the game the Avalanche score the series opening goal. The goal came from #13 Valeri Nichushkin. It was assisted by #42 Josh Manson. Under two minutes later #44 Josh Morrissey scored for the Jets to tie the game. #81 Kyle Connor and #5 Brenden Dillon got the assists. With eight minutes to go in the first period the Jets took the lead with a goal from #7 Vlasislav Namestnikov. It was assisted by #9 Alex Ladallo. With five minutes left in the period the Avalanche tied the game with a goal from #28 Miles Wood. It was assisted by #94 Joel Kiviranta and #20 Ross Colton. Twenty seconds later the Avalanche took the lead. #29 Nathan MacKinnon scored. #96 Mikko Rantanen and #8 Cale Makar got the assists. Less than a minute later the Jets tied the game. #55 Mark Scheifele scored. #13 Gabriel Vilardi got the assist. The first period ended with the score tied up at 3-3.
Halfway through the second period the Jets took the lead. The goal was scored by #17 Adam Lowry. #5 Brenden Dillon got his second assist of the game on that goal. #62 Nino Niederreiter got his first assist of the playoffs on that goal. The Jets had a 4-3 lead going into the third period.
Four minutes into the third period the Jets scored again to gain a two goal lead. the goal was scored by Adam Lowry for his second goal of the game. The goal was assisted by #22 Mason Appleton and #62 Nino Niederreiter. Two minutes later the Jets scored again. #81 Kyle Connor scored. #44 Josh Morrisset and #55 Mark Scheifele got the assists. The Avalanche scored thirty seconds later with a goal from #62 Artturi Lehkonen. It was assisted by #8 Cale Makar and #29 Nathan MacKinnon. Two minutes later the Jets regained their three goal lead with a goal from #81 Kyle Connor. It was his second goal of the game. #13 Gabriel Viladrdi and #55 Mark Scheifele assisted on the goal. #8 Cale Makar scored an unassisted goal to bring the game back to within two goals. With thirty seconds left in the game, #27 Casey Mittelstadt scored to bring the Avalanche within one goal of tying the game. #62 Artturi Lehkonen and #96 Mikko Rantanen assisted the goal. The final score was 7-6 Jets. The Jets now have a 1-0 series lead.
This game was full of offense. Did the defense even show up? Thirteen goals just for the Jets to win by one. The Avalanche are definitely clicking on offense. Forty six shots and two powerplay goals. This series looks like it is going to be one where as soon as one team steps off the gas offensively the other team will win.
Game two of this series will be on Tuesday, April 24th. Puck Drop is set for 6:30 PM. That game will be in Winnipeg.
The number three seed Vancouver Canucks played the number six seed Nashville Predators in the first game of their first round series. The Predators started off the scored with a goal three minutes into the game. The first goal of the series was scored by #16 Jason Zucker. It was assisted by #59 Roman Josi and #17 Mark Jankowski. The first period ended with the Predators up 1-0.
The Canucks scored within the first minute of the second period to tie the game. #23 Elias Lindholm scored the goal. It was assisted by #81 Dakota Joshua and #91 Nikita Zadorov. Halfway through the second period the Predators retook the lead with a goal from #90 Ryan O’Reilly. That goal was assisted by #14 Gustav Nyquist and #9 Filip Forseberg. The game headed into the third period with the Predators leading the game 2-1.
Halfway through the third period the Canucks tied the game. #24 Pius Suter scored the tying goal. #43 Quinn Hughes and #6 Brock Boeser got the assists. Twelve seconds later the Canucks took the lead with a goal #81 Dakota Joshua. The go ahead goal was assisted by #8 Connor Garland and #43 Quinn Hughes. With under two minutes remaining in the game, #81 Dakota Joshua scored his second goal of the game on an empty net to seal the win for the Canucks. The empty net goal was assisted by #53 Teddy Blueger and #9 J.T. Miller. The final score was 4-2 Canucks. The Canucks now have a 1-0 series lead.
The Canucks stepped up in the third period to get the win. This was a pretty even game. If this is an indicator for the rest of the series it will be a close one. The Canucks scored three unanswered goals to win this game. The Predators will not find success in the playoffs if they allow teams to do that. The Canucks offensive power was on display in the third period. They showed that they can score quickly and when they need to.
Game tow of this series will be on Tuesday, April 23rd. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM. The game will be in Vancouver.
Game two of the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs series is today. The game will be in Boston. Puck drop is set for 4:00 PM. The Bruins have a 1-0 series lead after winning game one 4-1. Will the Bruins continue to dominate the Maple Leafs? Will the Maple Leafs make a comeback in game two? Will the Bruins have a 2-0 series lead as the series heads to Toronto? Will the Maple Leafs fight off a chance for a Bruins sweep with a tied series as it heads back to Toronto?
The Carolina Hurricanes take on the New York Islanders in game two of their first round series. Puck drop is set for 4:30 PM. The game will be in Carolina. The Hurricanes have a 1-0 series lead after winning game one 3-1. Will this series continue to be close? Will the Hurricanes take a 2-0 series lead? Will the Islanders bounce back?
The number one seed Dallas Stars will face the number eight seed Vegas Golden Knights in game one of their round one series. This game is a rematch of last years Western Conference Finals. The Vegas Golden Knights are the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Puck Drop is set for 6:30 PM. The game will be in Dallas. There is a lot of pressure on both of these teams heading into the playoffs. How will teams handle the pressure? Will we see a repeat of last seasons Western Conference Finals result? Who will have the advantage going into game two? Will the Stars offense have what it takes for revenge from last season? Will the Golden Knights tricks work again?
The number five seed Edmonton Oilers will play the number seven seed Los Angeles Kings in game one of the first round. This is a rematch from both of the last playoffs. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM. The game will be in Edmonton. Will the Oilers get off to a good start in this series with a win? Will the Kings take the first steps towards finally getting past the Oilers with a game one win?
Zac Electrifly 
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