Philadelphia Flyers at New York Rangers – NYR wins 4-2, NYR leads series 3-2
Marc Staal opened the scoring for the Rangers with just over eight minutes left in the first period. Staal jumped up in the rush and simply fired a wrist shot past Steve Mason to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers would extend the lead to 2-0 with a scramble, rebound-type goal from the Brad Richards. There was a whack-a-puck taking place after a rush by the Rangers and Richards was forgotten about to the side of the net. The puck would bounce out to him and he would put it in the top part of the net for the goal. It was a just reward as the Rangers had a goal taken away a few minutes earlier as the referee blew down a shot on Mason too early, a puck that had squeaked through him and was lying in the crease unprotected. The 3-0 goal would come as a D-to-D pass from Braydon Coburn ended up in Hal Gill’s feet, only to be picked up by Dominic Moore. Moore would go in pretty much uncontested on Steve Mason and put it past Mason for the goal.
The Flyers would get on the board late, though, off a Rangers semi-own goal. Vincent Lecavalier took a one-timer from the point on the power play and Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein tried to block it with his stick. As can happen when a player tries to block a shot with his stick, Klein redirected it past Henrik Lundqvist and in his own net.
With the goalie pulled, the Flyers would cut the lead to 3-2. A pass to Claude Giroux on the half-wall resulted in a one-timer on partially-screened Lundqvist and the puck squeezed through and in the net. That was as close as they would get, though, as Brian Boyle would score an empty net goal with 15 seconds left to seal it.
St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks – CHI wins 5-1, CHI wins series 4-2
It would take just a little over four minutes for the ‘Hawks to get on the board in this one. A wrist shot from Brent Seabrook – in his first game back from suspension – was tipped by Bryan Bickell in front and past Ryan Miller to make it 1-0 Chicago. T.J. Oshie would tie the game, though, late in the first period. Oshie was in the slot and was the recipient of a tape-to-tape centering pass by Alex Steen. It didn’t take long for the puck to find the back of the net off of Oshie’s stick.
Jonathan Toews put the Blackhawks up with a power play goal just under four minutes through the third. Toews received a cross-ice pass, cut back to the middle and fired it top shelf past Ryan Miller. A little over a minute after Toews scored, Patrick Sharp was sent in on a breakaway. Sharp was hooked, but he still managed to slide the puck underneath Miller for what was likely the nail in the coffin at 3-1. If Sharp’s goal wasn’t enough, a point shot from Duncan Keith with 12:30 left in the third period was tipped by Andrew Shaw and past Miller to make it 4-1. That would be Keith’s third assist of the night. Just to humble brag, Keith would add a goal to that with 2:55 left on the clock on a nice second-effort play to bat a puck out of the air and past Miller.
Corey Crawford stopped 35 of 36 shots for the series-clinching win, and he posted a .935 save percentage over the six games.
Anaheim Ducks at Dallas Stars – ANA wins 5-4 (OT), ANA wins series 4-2
Anaheim would get the first power play, but it would be the Stars who got the game’s first goal. Trevor Daley exited the penalty box after a successful kill a little over five minutes in and was sent in on a breakaway. A nice deke to the forehand later, Daley opened the scoring in the game going over the blocker of Frederik Andersen. Cody Eakin would make it 2-0 Dallas on a one-timer from the slot on a power play. A nice seam pass by Tyler Seguin and a better shot by Eakin extended his team’s lead.
Devante Smith-Pelly would cut the lead in half on the power play with a little over two minutes left. A nice cross-ice pass from Teemu Selanne landed on Smith-Pelly’s stick and the puck was behind Kari Lehtonen to make it 2-1. The Stars would get their two-goal lead right back, though, as Ryan Garbutt would one-time into a mostly-open net off a scramble rebound from a point shot.
Teemu Selanne would again play set-up man, putting it on a tee for Ben Lovejoy. The shot would beat Lehtonen and make it 3-2 just 3:55 into the second period. The two-goal Dallas lead would be restored, though, near the mid-point of the second period as Trevor Daley drove wide on Luca Sbisa and pulled it forehand again to beat Andersen. Daley beat him on the blocker side for the second time on the night.
Nick Bonino would bring the Ducks within one though as with the goalie pulled and a little over two minutes left, Bonino got a pass from Perry below the goal line, brought it out front, and went upstairs over Lehtonen’s shoulder. The Ducks would get the miracle fourth goal as Devante Smith-Pelly would get his second of the night off a mad scramble around the crease of Lehtonen. What was a 4-2 deficit with 135 seconds left was a 4-4 game headed to overtime.
Anaheim would finish the comeback, as Bonino would get his second of the night less than three minutes into overtime. A seam pass from Andrew Cogliano left Bonino in a good spot to shoot in the slot and he made no mistake in eliminating the Stars.
Jonas Hiller saved all 12 shots in relief of Andersen after the fourth Dallas goal.
