Playoffs - Tue, 07 May - Results

Pittsburgh v NY Islanders 4-6 - Game 4 - There may come a day in the near future when Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is demolished. The process almost got under way prematurely Tuesday night, when John Tavares nearly blew the roof off this 41-year-old arena. Tavares, the centerpiece of the New York Islanders' rebuilding process, broke a 4-4 tie midway through the third period to lift his club to a heart-stopping 6-4 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of this Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series. Prognosticators from across North America believed the Penguins, the top seed in the East, would finish off the No. 8 Islanders in no more than five games. Instead, it's 2-2 now, a best-of-3 series that shifts back to the Steel City on Thursday, with Game 6 here Saturday. Tavares' goal rocked the Coliseum as it hasn't rocked in years, this was New York's first home playoff win since the Islanders beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 6 of their opening-round series in 2002. They had dropped a record-tying seven in a row at home since then. New York got on the board first when rookie defenseman Brian Strait scored his first NHL goal with 5:55 left in the opening period. With the teams at even strength, Strait, who was waived by the Penguins in January, took a pass from Lubomir Visnovsky and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrist shot from just inside the left point as the Islanders took a 1-0 lead. But that lead lasted all of 45 seconds. Pittsburgh tied it with 5:10 to go when James Neal, who returned to the lineup after missing Games 2 and 3 with a lower-body injury, one-timed Evgeni Malkin's feed from the right circle past Evgeni Nabokov to make it 1-1. It was Neal's first goal of the postseason. The Penguins got their first power play of the night early in the second period, when Strait was sent off for high sticking. Pittsburgh, which had converted on six of its first 13 chances in the series, kept the puck in the zone for nearly the full two minutes but couldn't find the back of the net. And when Nabokov made a glove save to finally get the Islanders a line change, the capacity crowd of 16,170 roared. Moments later, Matt Cooke put the Islanders on the power play when he interfered with Nabokov. Streit put New York back in front at 6:19 when his slap shot from the point knuckled past Fleury to make it 2-1. The goal was originally given to Tavares, but it was changed after he said in a between-periods interview that he didn't make contact with the puck. Pittsburgh again responded almost immediately. With the teams back at even strength, Malkin caught Frans Nielsen trying to go off for a line change, which created a 2-on-1 for the Penguins. Malkin cruised into the offensive zone and ripped a wrister from the right circle past Nabokov for his second goal of the playoffs. The goal came 58 seconds after Streit had given the Islanders the lead. Brandon Sutter gave the Penguins their first lead with 8:57 left in the second. Cooke laid a thunderous check on Matt Carkner that sent the latter flying into the end boards and freed the puck, Sutter took a cross-ice feed from Brenden Morrow and snapped a wrist shot over Nabokov's left shoulder to make it 3-2. But despite all of their inexperience in the playoffs, the Islanders didn't crumble. Islanders defenseman Andrew MacDonald headed off to the dressing room with about seven minutes remaining in the second period with an upper-body injury after being hit with a slap shot by Penguins defenseman Douglas Murray. MacDonald was given a holding penalty during the sequence, which was served by Keith Aucoin. MacDonald did not return to the game, which left New York with five defensemen. Capuano confirmed the injury, but did not provide a timetable for his return. Newsday's Arthur Staple reported via Twitter that MacDonald broke his hand on the play and would likely miss the remainder of the postseason. Kyle Okposo, arguably the Islanders' best player in this series, evened things with 1:24 left in the second on another fortunate bounce as his backhand attempt from behind the net went off Fleury's blocker and over the goal line to make it 3-3. It was Okposo's third goal of the playoffs. Pittsburgh regained the lead 41 seconds into the third. Pascal Dupuis charged the net and redirected Brooks Orpik's wrist shot past Nabokov and the Penguins held a 4-3 edge. Dupuis has four goals in as many games. But the Islanders got even again at 4:30 when Streit took a pass from Casey Cizikas and fired a slap shot from the point that went off the toe of Murray's skate and past Fleury to make it 4-4. Streit became the first Islanders defenseman since Denis Potvin in 1983 to score twice in a playoff game. Tavares, the No. 1 pick at the 2009 NHL Draft, then scored the biggest goal of his career with 9:49 to go in regulation. After Boyes made a nice play to deny Malkin on a clearing attempt, Tavares seized control of the puck, made nifty moves around both Orpik and Malkin and fired a shot that Fleury stopped. But he grabbed his own rebound and rifled it home to send the Coliseum crowd into a frenzy. Cizikas sealed it when he muscled his way around Matt Niskanen before poking the puck past Fleury with 1:16 remaining for his second goal of the playoffs. The Penguins, who won 5-0 in the series opener and appeared to be much the better team, denied that they had taken the Islanders lightly. The Penguins got a scare with 7:14 left in the first when Strait's slap shot from just inside the left point drilled Sidney Crosby up high, but below his face shield. Crosby hunched over in pain for a few moments and skated over to the bench to be examined by the trainer. The Penguins captain, who broke his jaw March 30, remained in the game. Crosby was held to an assist and three shots on goal in 20:58 of ice time, but went 4-14 in the faceoff circle, where he usually excels.
Montreal v Ottawa 2-3 - Game 4 - Injuries have forced the Ottawa Senators to rely on young players all season long, and it was those very players that brought them within a win of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Mika Zibanejad, Cory Conacher and Kyle Turris were the catalysts of a dramatic 3-2 overtime Tuesday night in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the Montreal Canadiens that gave Ottawa a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. Zibanejad cut Montreal's 2-0 lead in half with his first career playoff goal at 11:05 of the third period, Conacher tied it with his own first career postseason goal, firing home a shot from just outside the crease with 22.6 seconds left in regulation. Turris won it for the Senators at 2:32 of overtime. The Senators lead the series 3-1 with Game 5 back in Montreal on Thursday night (7 p.m. ET; CBC, RDS, CNBC). As for Turris, the back injury that continues to sideline No. 1 center Jason Spezza has forced him into a bigger role on the team, and he was an essential element to this victory. He crashed the crease of Montreal goaltender Carey Price on Conacher's tying goal, drawing an assist, and he scored the winner on Peter Budaj after Price was hurt at the very end of regulation. It was the second straight season Turris scored an overtime goal in Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs, last year's goal tied the series with the New York Rangers 2-2; this one gave the Senators a 3-1 stranglehold. The Canadiens find themselves facing elimination even though they feel they were the better team in three of the four games. Coach Michel Therrien was puzzled after the game that a faceoff just prior to Zibanejad's first goal was taken on the wrong side of the ice. He thought it should have been held on the left side of the ice, so he sent out left-handed center David Desharnais. Instead it was held on the right, Desharnais ultimately got kicked out of the circle and Brendan Gallagher lost a draw and six seconds later the Senators' comeback had begun. Therrien was still pleased with how his team played, particularly since they were without captain Brian Gionta, who was ruled out with an upper-body injury earlier Tuesday. The Canadiens controlled play through two periods, but were outshot 13-4 in the third. The Senators were down only 2-0 coming into the third largely because of their goaltender Craig Anderson, who made 21 saves through 40 minutes and finished with 26 on the night. Ottawa's hard work in the third paid off at 11:55, when a Sergei Gonchar point shot went off the end glass and rolled to the corner to Chris Neil, who saw Zibanejad slip in backdoor. Neil fired a pass through the crease, and the puck went in off Zibanejad's skate. The play was called a goal on the ice and survived a video review. Then with Anderson pulled for an extra attacker, the Canadiens were called twice for icing as the Senators pressed for the tying goal. It came when Alfredsson centered the puck from behind the net and it bounced over to Conacher with Turris crashing the net. Price suffered a lower body injury on the goal and did not come out for overtime, forcing Budaj into a must-win game. He stopped the first shot he saw from Jakob Silfverberg at 2:03, but when Turris flipped a harmless looking shot on goal from far out, Budaj missed it and it sailed in. Budaj immediately looked at defenseman Raphael Diaz in front of the net after Diaz waved at the knuckleball shot with his elbow. It's possible Diaz slightly deflected the puck before it found a hole between Budaj's arm and his body. Montreal got goals from P.K. Subban and Alex Galchenyuk 62 seconds apart in the second period and 30 saves from Price. But in spite of a slow start, the Senators had something special left in them at the end, and it brought them one step closer to advancing.
Chicago v Minnesota 3-0 - Game 4 - Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith hasn't slept in days. Following his team's 3-0 victory against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night in Game 4 of their Western Conference Quarterfinal series, he and his teammates appear ready to put the Wild to bed. The victory gives the Presidents' Trophy winners a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series as it shifts back to the United Center for Game 5 on Thursday night (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS2). The last 36 hours have been a whirlwind for Keith, who said he last slept Monday morning. After practice at Xcel Energy Center, Keith learned his wife Kelly-Rae was ready to give birth to the couple's first child, a boy, who was born Tuesday morning. Keith was by his wife's side in Chicago, then flew to Minnesota and played a team-high 23:57 seconds in Game 4, spearheading a stifling defensive effort that blocked more shots than it allowed and helped secure Corey Crawford's second career playoff shutout. Keith also played a pivotal role in stonewalling the Wild's power play, which went 0-for-6 on the night and is 0-for-15 in this series. Chicago finished the night with 26 blocked shots, nearly three times as many as Minnesota, keeping Crawford clean for a good chunk of the evening. He made 25 saves in a ho-hum effort for him that was, for lack of a better word, simple. Minnesota came out with good momentum to start and drew a power play 1:06 after the opening faceoff. Unfortunately, that was the problem for the Wild all night. Chicago used its penalty kill to gain momentum instead of lose it, and often used such kills to start pick up its own pace. It didn't help Minnesota that it was down to its third goaltender of the series at the start of the second period after backup-turned-starter Josh Harding sustained what looked like a lower-body injury. With 4:23 remaining in the first, Blackhawks forward Jonathan Toews attacked the Wild net with the puck. After going forehand-to-backhand, he lost control of the puck into the corner. Harding sprawled to make the stop, and Toews landed awkwardly on the goalie's left leg. Harding remained down for several seconds before getting to his feet. Play continued for more than a minute until the next whistle, when Harding could get looked at by a trainer. Minnesota killed off a penalty and Harding finished the period, stopping five of six shots before being replaced by rookie Darcy Kuemper. Harding's injury is the second to strike a Wild goaltender in this series. Niklas Backstrom, scheduled to start Game 1, suffered a lower-body injury during warm-ups prior to that game and hasn't played since. After Harding's injury, he dressed and served as Kuemper's backup. Just over a minute into Kuemper's first career playoff appearance, Patrick Sharp beat him with a snap shot through a screen on the first shot he faced. The goal, Sharp's second of the game and fourth of the series, pushed the Blackhawks' lead to 2-0, delivering a serious mental blow to a team ravaged by key injuries. Chicago jumped ahead 8:48 into the game when a failed breakout pass by Mikko Koivu at the right half-wall ended up on the stick of Marian Hossa. He dished to Michal Handzus on his left, who fired a wrist shot that was tipped in by a crashing Sharp in front. Had the pass connected, Zach Parise and Charlie Coyle would have been sprung on an odd-man break. Instead, Chicago turned it into the eventual game-winning goal. The two-goal effort by Sharp was his second of the series. He also scored a pair in a 5-2 victory in Game 2. Chicago hasn't suffered a regulation loss in any game Sharp has played in this season, going 25-0-3 during the regular season. Minnesota's Game 3 win came in overtime. Bryan Bickell added an insurance goal for the Blackhawks with less than eight minutes to play, his third tally of the series. Kuemper stopped 16 of 18 shots but did not figure into the decision. Despite playing only 20 minutes and seeing six shots, Harding was tagged with his third loss of the series.
Vancouver v San Jose 3-4 - Game 4 - The San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks were deadlocked 3-3 during a furious overtime battle Tuesday night, and the chants of "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep" rained down yet again at HP Pavilion. Sharks forward Patrick Marleau, the franchise's all-time leader in playoff goals, gave the 17,562 fans what they wanted. Marleau knocked a rebound past goaltender Cory Schneider at 13:18 of overtime for a power-play goal, giving the Sharks a 4-3 win and the first playoff sweep in franchise history. The Sharks beat Vancouver four straight times to win their Western Conference Quarterfinal series. Their first-ever sweep came one year after they were bounced by the St. Louis Blues in the first round in five games, the fastest playoff exit in franchise history. The Canucks have lost back-to-back first-round series since reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2011. They lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings last year. This year, they were swept in a best-of-7 playoff series for the fourth time in franchise history. The Sharks scored three power-play goals for the second straight game, and Marleau's game-winner came on their seventh advantage. Daniel Sedin was in the penalty box for boarding Sharks forward Tommy Wingels and vehemently disputed the call, earning a game misconduct after Marleau's goal for abusive language. The Sharks made Vancouver pay for its final penalty of the series. Defenseman Dan Boyle hit Joe Thornton with a long outlet pass, and the pass-first center actually unloaded a long blast that Schneider stopped but couldn't control. Marleau turned on the jets, got to the puck and knocked it past Schneider from close range before he could recover. For the second straight game, Joe Pavelski scored two goals for the Sharks, including one with 4:27 left in regulation that tied the score 3-3 after the Sharks had blown a 2-1 lead in the third period. Brent Burns also scored for the Sharks, and goaltender Antti Niemi made 32 saves. Schneider stopped 43 shots. Burns and Pavelski scored in the first period when the Sharks built a 2-1 lead. After a scoreless second period, the Canucks took a 3-2 lead when Alexandre Burrows and Alexander Edler scored back-to-back goals in a span of 1:50. The Canucks were 20 minutes away from being swept before their offense came alive in the third period. Burrows scored a power-play goal at 9:12 with Andrew Desjardins in the box for roughing. He took a pass in the slot from Daniel Sedin and beat Niemi. Burrows got the puck to Edler in the left circle, and he ripped another shot that found the back of the net at 11:02, giving the Canucks a 3-2 lead. Pavelski made the Canucks pay for another penalty. With Kevin Bieksa off for cross-checking, he backhanded a rebound past Schneider from just to the left of the crease, making it 3-3. Schneider made his second straight start after missing the first two games because of an undisclosed injury. The Sharks, meanwhile, have time to rest and get healthy, forward Adam Burish suffered an injury to his right hand, and enjoy their first-ever sweep before the next round begins.