Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 9: Rangers sweep Caps, Canucks rally late to get OT win

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell
Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 9: Rangers sweep Caps, Canucks rally late to get OT win
Credit: © Geoff Burke

Sunday’s NHL action gave us a little bit of everything: hat tricks, comebacks, overtime, goalie shutouts, as well as our first playoff team seeing their season come to an end.

Valeri Nichushkin hat trick gives Avs 5-1 win and 3-1 series lead

Even though the series was only 2-1 in favour of the Colorado Avalanche, the Winnipeg Jets looked like they were in trouble this series. Not only has Connor Hellebuyck‘s play in net been a cause for concern, but the Avs offense was in peak playoff form, and that’s somehow with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar not having statement games yet. Would Hellebuyck and the Jets have a response, or would the Avs push them to the brink?

The Avs came out of the gate flying, dominating possession and hemming the Jets into their own zone until they got the game’s first goal 8:10 in to the game courtesy of Artturi Lehkonen. But just under six minutes later, Nate Schmidt responded to tie the game, and with a 1-1 score going into the intermission, the Jets were looking better than they had in the past couple games, and Hellebuyck had a solid period himself.

But that didn’t last long. While both teams were held scoreless through the first half of the second period, Makar finally made his statement in the series, as his shot was tipped into the net by Valeri Nichushkin to give the Avs the 2-1 later, and then three and a half minutes later, Makar scored a highlight reel end-to-end goal to make it 3-1. Nichushkin got his second goal of the game and fifth of the series with 24 seconds left in the frame to give Colorado a three-goal lead, and this game was all Avs again.

The third period didn’t have as many goals, but it did feature a scary incident. Just before the seven-minute mark, Schmidt took another shot from the point, but this time it went too high and hit teammate Vladislav Namestnikov in the face, resulting in him going to the hospital.

Nichushkin scored the lone goal of the third with an empty net goal to make it 5-1, and the Avs took Game 4 and have a 3-1 series lead, with the chance to eliminate the Jets on Tuesday in Winnipeg. While Nichushkin’s hat trick stole the show, Alexandar Georgiev quietly had another solid game by stopping 26 of 27 shots in the win.

Boeser’s hat trick helps Canucks rally from down two to win 4-3 in overtime

The Vancouver Canucks just can’t stop having goalie problems. With Thatcher Demko already out for the series, Casey DeSmith also suffered an injury, and was announced to be out for Game 4. This meant that Arturs Silovs was going to get his first Stanley Cup playoff action in a pivotal Game 4 against the Nashville Predators.

It didn’t take long for the Canucks to give him some goal support, as Brock Boeser scored the game’s first goal just 2:55 after puck drop. That lead didn’t last long though, as Mark Jankowski scored his first career playoff goal to tie the game only a few minutes later.

That Jankowski goal started a bit of a run for the Preds. Gustav Nyquist gave Nashville the lead five minutes into the second period, and then Filip Forsberg made it 3-1 just 12 seconds into the third after Roman Josi‘s pass bounced off of the 29-year-old’s skates and in. Suddenly, the Canucks’ goalie problem seemed even more concerning after Silovs allowed three goals on 20 shots.

The Canucks just couldn’t seem to get any momentum in the third period to muster some sort of a comeback, and as the minutes went by, all hope seemed to be loss until Boeser finally broke through. With 2:49 left in the game, he got his second of the night to cut the deficit in half, and then after Colton Sissons hit the post on the empty net chance to give the Preds some insurance, Boeser completed the hat trick with the tying goal with just eight seconds left. Just like that, we needed overtime.

But OT didn’t last very long. Elias Lindholm need just 62 seconds to end the game, as Conor Garland set him up right in front of the net to give them the 4-3 win and a 3-1 series lead. On top of Boeser’s three goals, J.T. Miller had a hat trick of assists, and Silovs ended up with a solid night, stopping 27 of 30 shots to get his first postseason win in his first postseason game.

Rangers sweep Capitals with 4-2 win in Game 4

This weekend has already seen two teams down 3-0 in their series win Game 4 to keep their season alive, with victories from both the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning. With the Washington Capitals in an 0-3 hole themselves, would they join the other two teams in keeping their season alive?

Long story short? No. While the game was close, the Caps never found a way to get the lead. Kaapo Kakko opened the scoring just 57 seconds into the game, and while Martin Fehervary got the tying goal later in the first period, Vincent Trocheck made it 2-1 with 16 seconds left.

Washington wasn’t out of it just yet, as Hendrix Lapierre tied the game midway through the second with his first career playoff goal. But, it was all Rangers in the third to close it out. Artemi Panarin got the eventual game winner on the power play three minutes into the third, and Jack Roslovic sealed the deal with the empty net goal to give the Rangers a 4-2 win, advancing them to the second round with a sweep.

Panarin finished the game with a goal and an assist, while Mika Zibanejad also had multiple points with two assists. Igor Shesterkin was quietly strong in net again in the series, stopping 23 of 25 shots in the series-clinching win.

The Rangers advance to the second round for the second time in three seasons, and will face either the Carolina Hurricanes or the Islanders, with the Canes currently up 3-1 in that series. The Caps fail to win a playoff series for the sixth straight season, and have also now lost four straight playoff series’ against the Rangers.

Skinner’s 33-save shutout proves pivotal in Oilers 1-0 win

Silovs wasn’t the only goalie on Sunday making his playoff debut, as with the series now 2-1 for the Edmonton Oilers and Cam Talbot rocking an .861% save percentage through three games, the Los Angeles Kings opted to make a goalie switch and start David Rittich in Game 4.

However, it didn’t seem to matter who the Kings started in net, because they played some excellent shutdown defense in front of him. In the first two periods of the game, L.A outshot Edmonton 20-10, out-attempted them 51-32, and had the 2.11-0.89 edge in expected goals, giving them almost nothing to work with outside of some lower chance shots. But that didn’t stop the Oilers, as they took advantage of a power play and got a goal from Evan Bouchard to take a 1-0 lead.

The Kings continued their possession dominance in the third, outshooting the Oilers 13-3, out-attempted them 23-7, and had the 0.89-0.18 advantage in expected goals, but nothing seemed to beat Stuart Skinner. The Oilers only needed the one goal, with Skinner stopping all 33 shots that he faced to get his first career playoff shutout, and get Edmonton the 1-0 win and the 3-1 series lead.

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