Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens – MTL wins 4-3, MTL wins series 4-0
The Habs fed off the excitement of the crowd early as Daniel Briere was left all alone in front of the net and was the recipient of a nice pass from Dale Weise, promptly making it 1-0 Montreal less than two and a half minutes in. That Montreal lead was extended to 2-0 with just under five minutes left in the first period. Lars Eller capitalized on a turnover by streaking down the left side and ripping a slap shot from the left dot past goalie Anders Lindback.
Ondrej Palat would score a short handed goal to cut the lead to 2-1 at the 4:32 to mark, but just over two minutes later Brendan Gallagher would make it a two-goal lead again on a slapshot off the post and in. Anders Lindback would be pulled in favour of rookie Kristers Gudlevskis after the third goal.
Tampa would get the spark they needed less than five minutes in as Victor Hedman would make it 3-2 with a bankshot off of Carey Price from behind the net off of a faceoff. Tampa Bay would tie it up as Tyler Johnson would tally his first of the playoffs 6:31 into the third period.
Tampa’s Cedric Paquette would take a tripping penalty with just over two minutes left, and with 43 seconds on the clock, Max Pacioretty put home a deflected puck that just squeezed through Gudlevskis’ legs. It would prove to be the series-clinching goal, Pacioretty’s first of the playoffs.
Boston Bruins at Detroit Red Wings – BOS wins 3-0, BOS leads series 2-1
Boston started off strong and carried it through the first period, outshooting Detroit 11-4 and outscoring them 2-0.
Boston’s first goal came on a great individual rush from defenseman Dougie Hamilton, came down the right side and snapped one past goalie Jimmy Howard for a power play goal. The second tally was from Jordan Caron, as he scored off a quasi two-on-one rush from a Shawn Thornton shot.
The second period would pass relatively uneventful, save for a Brendan Smith knee-on-knee on Brad Marchand reminiscent of others these playoffs. Detroit had their chances, namely a 35-second five-on-three, but couldn’t solve Rask.
Nothing would materialize for the Red Wings in the third period and Patrice Bergeron would ice the game, making it 3-0 with an empty-netter from his own end.
Tuukka Rask made 23 saves for the shutout.
New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers – NYR wins 4-1, NYR leads series 2-1
The Rangers were quick out of the gate with as Derek Stepan put away the Rangers’ first goal off the rush as he was left by himself to the left of Ray Emery. The puck appeared to hit Emery’s glove and land pretty much on Stepan’s stick. Martin St. Louis would deflect a Dan Girardi point shot to make it 2-0 Rangers a little over halfway through the first period. Philadelphia’s top line would connect for their first goal, with Jakub Voracek putting a perfect pass on teammate’s Mark Streit’s tape to make it 2-1 with less than three minutes left in the first.
Dan Girardi would get his first goal of the playoffs on a slap shot from the middle of the ice that made it through a crowd and beat Emery over his left shoulder. The Flyers would get a couple of power play chances but could not come closer in the second.
After coming out of the penalty box for a questionable hooking call, Daniel Carcillo would tap a Brian Boyle pass past Emery to make it 4-1 Rangers. Steve Mason would come in to replace Ray Emery in net after that goal.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31 of 32 shots in the win.
San Jose Sharks at Los Angeles Kings – SJS wins 4-3 (OT), SJS leads series 3-0
It didn’t take long for the Sharks to get on the board in this one when Brent Burns made it 1-0 at just 3:16 of the first period. Burns didn’t get a solid shot off on a one-timer, but the change-up knucklepuck fooled Quick and found the twine.
Jarret Stoll would tie the game for the Kings 4:48 into the second period on the power play after a pretty cross-ice pass from Tyler Toffoli. Marian Gaborik would give the Kings the lead a few minutes later as he drove wide with the puck on a 3-on-2 and went backhand, over the glove of Antti Niemi. The Sharks would reply just a couple of minutes after that as Matt Nieto tipped a point shot past Jonathan Quick, who had been run into by his own defenseman Robyn Regehr.
With just seconds left on a power play that had carried over from the second period, Jeff Carter tipped home an Anze Kopitar shot to give the Kings a 3-2 lead. The Sharks would tie it up again, though, as Tomas Hertl would bang home a rebound on a power play with 10:43 left in the third. That would be it for the scoring until overtime.
In the first overtime frame with their first shot of the period, the Sharks’ Patrick Marleau took a backhand that deflected off of Slava Voynov’s stick and past Quick to give the Sharks the win.
