The Stanley Cup Playoffs continued yesterday with four games. Four teams were facing elimination. The Boston Bruins had the chance to win their series over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Carolina Hurricanes were looking to eliminate the New York Islanders. The Colorado Avalanche were trying to win four straight games to eliminate the Winnipeg Jets. The Vancouver Canucks had an opportunity to eliminate the Nashville Predators. There are two games tonight. The Dallas Stars take on the Vegas Golden Knights. The Edmonton Oilers have the chance to eliminate the Los Angeles Kings.
The Boston Bruins played the Toronto Maple Leafs in game five of their first round series. The Bruins were leading the series 3-1 going into the game. If the Bruins won this game, the Maple Leafs would be eliminated. If the Maple Leafs won this game, they would force a game six. Six minutes into the first period, the Maple Leafs took the lead. #22 Jake MacCabe scored for the Maple Leafs. #16 Mitch Marner and #11 Max Domi got the assists. With six minutes left in the first period, the Bruins tied the game. #11 Trent Frederic scored the goal for the Bruins. #61 Pat Maroon got the assist. The score was tied up 1-1 after the first period.
Neither team scored in the second period. The game was tied at 1-1 going into the third period. Nobody scored in the third period. The score remained at 1-1. The game went into overtime. Two and a half minutes into overtime, the Maple Leafs scored. #23 Matthew Knies scored the game winning goal for the Maple Leafs. His goal was assisted by #91 John Tavares and #46 Ilya Lyubushkin. The final score was 2-1 Maple Leafs. The Boston Bruins still lead the series 3-2.
This game was really close. The Maple Leafs stepped up in this one. They live to fight another day. The Bruins were able to tie the game but they couldn’t find the lead. Game six should be scrappy. The Bruins will have another chance in game six to eliminate the Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs have not won back to back games in this series. The Maple Leafs will have the challenging task to go into Boston to try to force a game seven. There should be a strong response from the Bruins after this game. I don’t see the Bruins losing three games in a row to lose the series either. It is not that the Maple Leafs do not have it in them to win but rather the Bruins probably won’t collapse like that.
Game six of this series will be on Thursday, May 2nd. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 PM. That game will be in Boston.
The Carolina Hurricanes took on the New York Islanders in game five of their first round series. The Hurricanes were leading the series 3-1 going into this game. If the Hurricanes won, they would eliminate the Islanders. If the Islanders won, they would force a game six. This game was in Carolina. A minute and a half into the game, #86 Teuvo Teravainen scored to give the Hurricanes the lead. His goal was assisted by #24 Seth Jarvis and #74 Jaccob Slavin. Two minutes later, #37 Andrei Svechnikov scored to give the Hurricanes a two goal lead. His goal was assisted by #24 Seth Jarvis and #8 Brent Burns. Thirty seconds later, #2 Mike Reilly scored for the Islanders to bring the lead back down to one goal. His goal was assisted by #13 Mathew Barzal and #29 Brock Nelson. With six minutes left in the first period, #92 Evgeny Kuznetsov scored for the Hurricanes on a penalty shot. The score was 3-1 Hurricanes after the first period.
Four minutes into the second period, #29 Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders to again bring the lead back down to one goal. His goal was assisted by #21 Kyle Palmieri and #6 Ryan Pulock. With twenty two seconds left in the second period, the Islanders tied the game. #53 Casey Cizikas scored the tying goal. His goal was assisted by #13 Mathew Barzal and #6 Ryan Pulock. The score was tied at 3-3 going into the third period.
Five minutes into the third period, the Hurricanes took the lead. #18 Jack Drury scored the go ahead goal. His goal was assisted by #76 Brady Skjei and #88 Martin Necas. The Hurricanes took a two goal lead less than ten seconds later. #23 Stefan Noesen scored the goal with #75 Brady Skjei and #92 Evgeny Kuznetsov getting the assists. With just over a minute and a half left in the game, the Hurricanes took a three goal lead. The goal was scored by #24 Sth Jarvis and was unassisted. The final score was 6-3 Hurricanes. The Carolina Hurricanes have won this series 4-1. The New York Islanders have been eliminated from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This game started off crazy. They were scoring right out of the gate. The Hurricanes took a two goal lead twice. They lost their two goal lead twice in this game too. The Islanders consistently fought their way back into this game. It just was not enough as the Hurricanes scored three unanswered goals in the third period. The Hurricanes won the first three games. They looked like they were on their way to sweeping the Islanders. The Islanders won in overtime in game four to avoid being swept. To the Islanders credit it did look like they brought the same energy to this game. They just let it slip away in the final fifteen minutes of this series. The Hurricanes got a statement win to win the series.
The Carolina Hurricanes have advanced to the second round. They will take on the New York Rangers.
The Winnipeg Jets took on the Colorado Avalanche in game six of their first round series. The Avalanche were leading the series 3-1 going into the game. If the Avalanche won, the Jets would be eliminated. If the Jets won, they would force a game six. This game was in Winnipeg. Just over a minute into the game, the Jets scored. #81 Kyle Conner scored an unassisted goal to give the Jets the lead. Two minutes later, the Avalanche tied the game with a goal from #13 Vlaeri Nichushkin. His goal was assisted by #7 Devon Toews and #96 Mikko Rantanen. The score was tied at 1-1 after the first period.
Six minutes into the second period, #73 Yakov Trenin scored to give the Avalanche the lead. His goal was assisted by #42 Josh Manson and #11 Andrew Cogliano. Just over a minute later, the Jets tied the game with a goal from #44 Josh Morrissey. His goal was assisted by #55 Mark Scheifele and #13 Gabriel Vilardi. With six minutes left in the second period, #62 Artturi Lehkonen scored and unassisted goal to give the Avalanche the lead. The score was 3-2 Avalanche.
Just over two minutes into the third period, #73 Tyler Toffoli scored for the Jets to tie the game. His goal was assisted by #27 Nikolaji Ehlers and #6 Colin Miller. With fifteen minutes to go, #96 Mikko Rantanen scored for the Avalanche to take the lead. Hid goal was assisted by #7 Devon Toews and #29 Nathan MacKinnon. #96 Mikko Rantanen scored again about halfway through the period to give the Avalanche a two goal lead. His goal was assisted by #29 Nathan MacKinnon and #8 Cale Makar. With two seconds left in the game, the Avalanched took a three goal lead with a goal from #42 Josh Manson. His goal was assisted by #37 Casey Mittelstadt. The final score was 6-3 Avalanche. The Colorado Avalanche have won the series 4-1. The Winnipeg Jets have been eliminated from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Avalanche didn’t really break away until the third period. Three unanswered goals became the Jets demise. The Jets won game one but the Avalanche took over the series after that. They won four straight games to win the series and advance. The Jets completely collapsed. They did well in game one but failed to follow it up. The Avalanche found another gear and outplayed the Jets for four straight games.
The Colorado Avalanche will play the winner of the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights series in round two.
The Vancouver Canucks played the Nashville Predators in game five of their first round series. The Canucks were leading the series 3-1 going into the game. If the Canucks won, they would eliminate the Predators. If the Predators won, they would force game six. This game was in Vancouver. Neither team scored in the first period. The score was tied at 0-0 after the first period.
No one scored in the second period. The score was still 0-0 after two periods. Four minutes into the third period, the Canucks took the lead. #91 Nikita Zadorov scored for the Canucks. #34 Quinn Hughes got the assist. About halfway through the third period, the Predators tied the game. #59 Roman Josi scored the tying goal. His goal was assisted by #9 Filip Forsberg and #22 Tyson Barrie. With seven minutes left in the game, the Predators took the lead. #45 Alexandre Carrier scored the goal for the Predators. #24 Gustov Nyquist and #9 Filip Forsberg got the assists. The final score was 2-1 Predators. The Vancouver Canucks still lead the series 3-2.
This was the third one goal game in this series. This series is close. It has the makings of a series that could go to seven games. The Predators were able to stay alive. Game six should be another close game with lots of action.
Game six of this series will be on Friday, May 3rd. Puck drop is still to be determined. The game will be in Nashville.
The Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Islanders, and Winnipeg Jets have been eliminated from the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Colorado Avalanche have advanced to the second round.
The Dallas Stars take on the Vegas Golden Knights in game five of their first round series. The series is tied at 2-2. This game will be in Dallas. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:30 PM. Will the home crowd help the Stars take the series lead? Will the Golden Knights win another game in Dallas?
The Edmonton Oilers take on the Los Angeles Kings in game five of their first round series. The Oilers lead the series 3-1. If the Oilers win, the Kings will be eliminated. If the Kings win they will force a game six. This game will be in Edmonton. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Will the Oilers slay the Kings? Will the Kings hold their ground in oil country?
Zac Electrifly 
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