New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers – PHI wins 2-1, Series tied 2-2
It wouldn’t take very long for the Rangers to get on the board. Just after coming out of the penalty box, Dominic Moore grabbed his own rebounds off a rush and wrapped the puck around the other side for a 1-0 lead. The Flyers would tie the game before the mid-mark of the first, though, as a shot by Jason Akeson went wide but the rebound off the boards came to Matt Read. Read promptly deposited the puck in behind Henrik Lunqvist.
Jakub Voracek would make it 2-1 Philadelphia on the power play with under 13 minutes to go in the second period. A shot by Brayden Schenn was beautifully redirected by Voracek and over Lundqvist’s right shoulder.
The Rangers would get their chances in the third period but Steve Mason would shut the door the rest of the way, saving 37 of 38 shots over the course of the game.
Chicago Blackhawks at St. Louis Blues – CHI wins 3-2 (OT), CHI leads series 3-2
The first period would be a lot of back and forth to start but with less than four minutes left in the first period, the ‘Hawks would take the lead. Marian Hossa would corral a rebound off of goalie Ryan Miller and fire it into the open net to make it 1-0.
The Blues would tie the game about halfway through the second period as T.J. Oshie wasn’t picked up coming off the bench on a change, would receive a pass in the slot, deke to his backhand, and slide the puck past Corey Crawford. Ben Smith would give Chicago the lead back, though, with under four minutes left. A rebound off of Miller’s pads came right to Smith in the slot and a back hander went under the crossbar to make it a 2-1 game.
The Blues would tie the game early in the second period, as Alex Pietrangelo converted on a pass from Jaden Schwartz off the rush. The puck seemed to dip under Crawford’s left pad as he slid across trying to save the shot. The ‘Hawks would pressure late in the period but for the fourth time in five games, this series would go to overtime.
Jonathan Toews would be the hero for Chicago as he was the recipient of a clearing attempt from Duncan Keith that put him behind the Blues defense. Toews would go in in a breakaway, deke to the backhand and slide it past Miller to give his team the series lead.
Dallas Stars at Anaheim Ducks – ANA wins 6-2, ANA leads series 3-2
The scoring would open on an Anaheim power play just 5:28 into the game. Nick Bonino faked out Stars defenseman Jordie Benn around the face off dot, cut to the middle and fired it low on the short-side to make it 1-0.
Anaheim would get a 5-minute power play as Dallas forward Ryan Garbutt was given five minutes and ejected for spearing Corey Perry. Dallas would capitalize short-handed, though, as Ryan Getzlaf lost control of the puck in front of his net, a puck that ended up on Jamie Benn’s stick. Two quick moves later, and it was 1-1. The Ducks would convert on the PP less than 30 seconds later as a Francois Beauchemin point shot would deflect off of Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell and past Kari Lehtonen to restore the Ducks one-goal lead.
Mathieu Perreault would score early in the second period on the power play. The Stars had a short-handed 3-on-2 that didn’t materialize to much. The Ducks had numbers going the other way and a Getzlaf pass to Perreault made it on his tape and to the back of the net.
Shawn Horcoff continued his hot streak and brought the Stars to within a goal with 11:41 left in the second. Horcoff fought off his check in front of the net and smacked a rebound from a Vernon Fiddler shot past Frederik Andersen to make it 3-2.
The Ducks would come out in the third period with good pressure. The result was a goal by the Ducks to make it 4-2. Andrew Cogliano retrieved a mishandled puck and fed it out front to Jakob Silfverberg who immediately snapped it past Lehtonen just over a minute in the third period. Anaheim would make it 5-2 before the 15 minute mark on a goal by Getzlaf. Corey Perry would forecheck and cause a turnover, he would feed it out front to Getzlaf immediately who then fired it past Lehtonen.
Lehtonen was pulled after the fifth goal for Tim Thomas but the scoring didn’t stop there. Perry, on the ensuing power play, would sneak out of the corner for an opportunity. Perry deked out Thomas, who tried to pokecheck, but Perry went around Thomas’s stick and slid the puck into an open net.
There would be a bit of goon time, fights, and otherwise dirty play, but the Ducks would hang on for the 6-2 win to take the series lead.
