Playoffs - Wed, 08 May - Results

Boston v Toronto 4-3 - Game 4 - David Krejci was the star of the night. But when it came to talking about his hat trick, he wasn't taking all the credit. Krejci scored three goals Wednesday, including the overtime winner at 13:06 , and Tuukka Rask made 45 saves to give the Boston Bruins a commanding 3-1 lead in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Patrice Bergeron had the other Boston goal. The Maple Leafs held a 2-0 lead on goals by Joffrey Lupul and Cody Franson, but the Bruins scored three unanswered goals in the second period to take the lead. While the Maple Leafs are in the postseason for the first time in nine years and don't have nearly the experience of the Bruins (who won the Stanley Cup two seasons ago), they were full marks for their effort in Game 4. In fact, when the game got to overtime, Toronto generated most of the quality scoring chances and hit two goal posts. If Krejci is an underrated player in the NHL, he certainly is not in Boston, where the Bruins and their fans value all he brings to the table. In a wide-open overtime, the Maple Leafs outshot the Bruins 14-11 to go with their two posts. The Maple Leafs now face the very tough task of trying to win three games in a row against a team that bends, but rarely breaks. Lupul, who led the Maple Leafs with nine shots on goal, believes his team did just about everything it could to win and that alone leaves the players feeling frustrated. Traditionally, the Maple Leafs talk about putting all games, wins and losses, behind them as quickly as possible. This time, though, they'll probably remember some of the good things they do for motivation in a do-or-die situation. Clarke MacArthur scored the other Toronto goal at 17:23 of the third period to force overtime. Toronto defenseman Mark Fraser took a slap shot to the forehead at 7:49 of the third period and was cut badly. He was taken to the hospital for a CT scan. There was no immediate word on the results.
Washington v NY Rangers 3-4 - Game 4 - Derek Stepan scored one goal in 20 games during last year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. It bothered him, and he knew coming into the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals against the Washington Capitals that he had to be better, be a difference-maker, because that's what he's supposed to be for the New York Rangers. Stepan was at Madison Square Garden this week. His resiliency is part of the reason the Rangers are going back to Washington with the best-of-7 series locked up 2-2. Stepan scored the winning goal in Game 4 Wednesday to again lift the Rangers to a 4-3 victory against the Capitals. They won by the same margin in Game 3 Monday, when Stepan scored the winning goal in the third period. The Rangers scored eight goals in Games 3 and 4 after managing one goal over 128 minutes in Games 1 and 2 at Verizon Center, where Game 5 will be played Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN, RDS2). Stepan's goal came 6:02 into the third period. It gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead, but Capitals forward Mathieu Perreault sliced into that 89 seconds after Stepan scored with his second goal of the night. Washington continued to surge for the equalizer and got nine more shots on goal, but Vezina Trophy finalist Henrik Lundqvist kept the puck out to preserve Stepan's goal as the game-winner. Lundqvist finished with 27 saves; Washington's Braden Holtby had 30. The Rangers worked on their game this week at MSG and it was good enough to edge the Capitals twice. The home team applied pressure, worked a perfect penalty kill (5-for-5), scored a pair of power-play goals (one in each game), withstood Washington's inevitable surges, and managed to hold Alex Ovechkin to zero points and three shots on goal over the two games. The Capitals scored six goals during Games 3 and 4, but two came from their group of top-six forwards (Nicklas Backstrom early in Game 3, Troy Brouwer in Game 4). Ovechkin, Marcus Johansson, Mike Ribeiro and Martin Erat were held off the score sheet and combined for 10 shots on goal. Erat left Game 4 late in the first period with an upper-body injury and never returned. His status will be re-evaluated Thursday. The Rangers were able to play in the Capitals' defensive zone and capitalize on their chances Wednesday night. They took a 1-0 lead when Brad Richards scored his first of the series 16:25 into the first period. The Rangers capitalized on a giveaway by Holtby, who tried to pass the puck through the middle of the ice but had it knocked down by Taylor Pyatt in the high slot. The puck went from Pyatt's stick to Carl Hagelin, whose slap shot was blocked by Capitals defenseman John Carlson. However, Holtby couldn't stop himself as he attempted to return to the crease so he slid right through, leaving the net open for Richards to score off the rebound. Hagelin had a goal and two assists, and Derick Brassard had two primary assists, his second coming on Dan Girardi's go-ahead power-play goal 59 seconds into the third period. Brassard, acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets at the NHL Trade Deadline, has five points on a goal and four primary assists in the past two games. Brassard made a tape-to-tape pass to set up Hagelin for his goal midway through the second period that put the Rangers up 2-0. A backhanded pass to Girardi at the left circle opened room for the Rangers defenseman to fire a one-timer that beat Holtby. Another reason the Rangers have been able to turn the series around is their pressure and ability to keep pucks in the offensive zone. There were moments in Games 3 and 4 when the Capitals had the Rangers pinned in their defensive zone for long periods of time, but for the most part in Game 4 the 5-on-5 play swung in New York's favor. An example was Stepan's winning goal. Ryan Callahan kept the puck in the zone with a deep forecheck and he eventually was able to get it to Stepan in front of the net. Stepan and Hagelin made a couple of quick passes back and forth, opening up Holtby so he left the entire net vacant for Stepan to score from the slot. The Capitals will get a chance to improve on that and more in Game 5, when as the home team will be able to get the matchups it wants, meaning Oates likely will attempt to get Ovechkin away from McDonagh and Girardi. The Rangers' top two defensemen were pinned on Ovechkin's in Games 3 and 4 and didn't let the Capitals captain have any space to operate.
Los Angeles v St Louis 3-2 - Game 5 - The defending Stanley Cup champs have roared back in their series against the St. Louis Blues in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Through the first four games, the home team held serve. The Los Angeles Kings became very rude guests Wednesday night. Slava Voynov's second goal eight minutes into overtime gave the Kings a 3-2 win in Game 5 of Western Conference Quarterfinals at Scottrade Center, their third win in a row. Voynov, who had one career playoff goal in 20 previous postseason games, finished off a play after the Kings started an odd-man rush. The Kings broke out and Voynov beat Blues goalie Brian Elliott as the Kings won their third straight to grab a 3-2 series lead. The Blues, who won the first two games of the series in St. Louis, got the equalizing goal from Alex Pietrangelo with 44.1 seconds remaining and felt as if though they had momentum. The defending champs can advance to the second round of the postseason with a victory in Game 6 Friday at Staples Center, where they've won nine straight. Jeff Carter scored twice, Mike Richards and Kopitar each had two assists as the Kings snapped an eight-game road losing streak dating back to the regular season. Alexander Steen also scored for the Blues, and Elliott stopped 22 shots as the Blues saw their eight-game home winning streak snapped. Carter got his second of the game and third in two games when he took Kopitar's cross-ice feed on the power play and snapped a shot into the open side 54 seconds into the third period for a 2-1 Kings lead. Richards was able to freely get into the Blues' zone without much resistance before getting the puck to Kopitar, who made the final pass. It marked the first time in nine games (dating back to April 14) the Blues have allowed more than one goal in a home game. They allowed exactly one goal in eight straight contests. With Elliott pulled for an extra attacker, David Backes won a crucial faceoff from Jarret Stoll back to Pietrangelo, the Blues' defenseman skated to the middle of the ice and fired a wrister through traffic past a screened Quick with 44.1 seconds remaining to tie it 2-2. The Blues held a 9-3 shots advantage for the first part of the opening period and dictated the tempo, but were unable to solve Quick. Los Angeles jumped ahead just 14 seconds into the second period when Carter popped home Drew Doughty's point shot after winning the faceoff himself. Carter won the draw from T.J. Oshie, who replaced Patrik Berglund after getting kicked out of the faceoff circle. Carter won the draw to Doughty and split the Blues' defense and knocked in the rebound after Elliott made the initial save. But the Blues got the equalizer when Steen got his third of the series on pure persistence. Steen had a break-in moments earlier after picking Jake Muzzin's pocket and was stopped on a wraparound attempt. The Blues continued to pressure and Steen was able to curl around the net after thwarting off Muzzin again, use Oshie as a bit of a screen and snap one over Quick's stick 6:46 into the second to tie it 1-1. In the end, another one-goal game in a series with little margin for error.
Detroit v Anaheim 2-3 - Game 5 - There won't be any so-called passengers on the Anaheim Ducks' plane back to Detroit. Nope, another trip to Joe Louis Arena looks a lot better this time. Nick Bonino tapped in Ben Lovejoy's pass less than two minutes into overtime as Anaheim defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2, on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal series at Honda Center. Anaheim is bringing a 3-2 series lead to Detroit. The Ducks can advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a win in Game 6 on Friday. It was the third overtime game of the series and the first claimed by the Ducks. The Red Wings, who have Justin Abdelkader back for Game 6, will fly back home knowing a win was in their grasp. They owned the second period until it turned on Daniel Winnik's five-minute boarding major on Daniel Cleary, who was helped to the trainer's room but returned in the third. Detroit could barely get their unit set up and managed one shot in 4:11 before Brendan Smith took a holding penalty. On the ensuing power play, Getzlaf took a stretch pass from Beauchemin, coasted to the high slot and ripped a wrist shot past the blocker side of Jimmy Howard with 32 seconds left in the period to force a 2-2 tie going into second intermission. Detroit failed to take advantage of a fine game from Howard, who stopped 17 of 18 shots in the first 20 minutes and made 31 saves on the night. Detroit took a 2-1 lead on fat rebound left by Jonas Hiller that Mikael Samuelsson buried, and its lead could have been more. Damien Brunner was thwarted on a breakaway. Pavel Datsyuk had a chance on an egregious turnover by Beauchemin, and Smith hit the post. While Detroit's two overtime wins came on goals by young players Brunner and Gustav Nyquist, Anaheim answered with Bonino, who has developed into a solid two-way center. He co-leads the Ducks with three goals this postseason after his first career overtime goal. Faceoff ace David Steckel helped Anaheim tie it at 1-1 after the first period. Steckel won a draw at the left dot for Kyle Palmieri, who spun and wristed it through heavy traffic into the left side of the net at 17:41. Howard was sharp early with a glove save on Corey Perry in the slot and another on Teemu Selanne. Anaheim had a 14-3 shot advantage through 12 minutes, but couldn't score on a 22-second two-man advantage. Anaheim gave Detroit two power plays in the opening five minutes, and Johan Franzen converted on Perry's goalie interference penalty when he put in his own rebound at 5:28. Henrik Zetterberg slipped him a pass down low and Franzen curled to the left side of the net. His initial shot bounced off Sheldon Souray's leg. Hiller moved into second all-time among franchise postseason wins with his 10th. He has a .930 save percentage and 2.07 goals-against average in five games. Toni Lydman missed his second straight game with head/neck injuries.