Last night in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Wild, Oilers even up series in a big way

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell
Last night in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: Wild, Oilers even up series in a big way
Credit: © Brad Rempel

With four Game 2s on the agenda last night, it was time for teams to respond in their respective series. For the most part, we got that in some pretty big statement wins.

Missed anything? Here’s a recap of the night’s action.

Kirill the Thrill leads Minnesota to a blowout win to tie series

After a Game 1 that saw the St. Louis Blues give the Minnesota Wild absolutely nothing in a 4-0 win, Kirill Kaprizov and the Wild took to responding in similar proportions in Game 2.

By 51 seconds into the second period, the Wild had already matched the Blues’ 4-0 score from Game 1, with two goals from Joel Eriksson Ek, and another two from Frederick Gaudreau and Kaprizov on the power play, after they went 0-for-6 in Game 1.

The Blues started to creep back into the game, with goals from Jordan Kyrou and Vladimir Tarasenko, but then ‘Kirill the Thrill’ took over in the third, scoring two more goals in 1:05 to put the game back out of reach, and to give Kaprizov the hat trick. Kaprizov is arguably the best player in this series, and he definitely showed it in this game. Marc-Andre Fleury had a nice bounce-back game as well, stopping 32 of 34 shots in the win.

To make matters worse for the Blues, the blueline just keeps getting hurt. Defenseman Nick Leddy wasn’t able to play due to an upper-body injury, so Calle Rosen took his place in the lineup, and then Robert Bortuzzo left the game in the first period after blocking a shot on the side of the head.

Mike Smith’s shutout – and lack of turnovers – help even up series for Edmonton

You’d be hard pressed to find a story from Game 1 of the series between the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings that didn’t talk about goaltender Mike Smith’s questionable play, especially his brutal turnover late in the third period that lead to the game-winning goal. He was definitely scrutinized for the play, with some people even calling for Mikko Koskinen to start the second game.

But coach Jay Woodcroft went with Smith for Game 2, and Smith didn’t make him pay. He stopped all 30 shots he faced from the Kings, and helped the team to 6-0 shutout win. That ended a personal 10-game losing streak in the playoffs for Smith, as he hadn’t won since he got another shutout in Game 1 of the first round in 2019 against the Colorado Avalanche as a member of the Calgary Flames. The victory also ended a seven-game losing streak in the playoffs for the Oilers, who hadn’t won since Game 2 against the Chicago Blackhawks in their play-in series in 2020.

Smith also helped get the Oilers a call early in the second, after getting bumped by Kings forward Andreas Athanasiou, that led to the first goal from Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers followed up the scoring in the second with a Darnell Nurse shorthanded goal and another from Ryan McLeod late in the period.

Edmonton made it a blowout in the third period, as Evander Kane scored his first two playoff goals as an Oiler. Jesse Puljujarvi, who gets a lot of flack for his production, or lack thereof, playing in the top six, also scored in the third.

The bad news for the Kings started before the game, too, as they were absent forward Viktor Arvidsson.

Injuries the big story in Carolina as the Hurricanes take a 2-0 lead over the Bruins

The Hurricanes continued where they left off in Game 1, outplaying the Bruins with a 5-2 win thanks to two-goal games from Sebastian Aho and Nino Niederreiter. There was still some cause for concern for the Canes in the series, as goalie Antti Raanta got hurt in the first period. Already without Frederik Andersen, the mantle fell on Pyotr Kochetkov, who stopped 30 of 32 in the win. There’s more on the Raanta injury, as well as Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm’s injury, here.

Tampa Bay takes advantage of undisciplined Leafs team to even series

After a dominant performance in Game 1, the Leafs gave the Lightning every opportunity to get back into the series in Game 2, taking seven penalties over the course of the game. While they got another shorthanded goal, they were lit up by Tampa’s terrifying power play for three goals in the 5-3 loss. For a deeper dive into the game, check out Matt Larkin’s story on it here.

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