NHL Playoffs 2024 - Day 29

It's a one-game Saturday, with the Edmonton Oilers hosting the Vancouver Canucks. Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner are in the blue paint. Edmonton started in the first period with a Dylan Holloway goal, his third of the postseason, coming off of Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard. Vancouver tied it on a Nils Hoglander goal, via Elias Pettersson and Filip Hronek. The Oilers retook the lead in the second period with a Zach Hyman goal, his tenth of the playoffs, assisted by Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Edmonton added on with a Bouchard goal, his fifth of the postseason, passed from McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins. The Oilers extended the lead in the third period as Nugent-Hopkins scored his third of the playoffs, thanks to McDavid and Bouchard. Edmonton padded the lead on an Evander Kane goal, his fourth of the postseason, guided in by Draisaitl. The final stood at 5-1, with the three stars going to Bouchard, Nugent-Hopkins, and McDavid, while Draisaitl gets an honorable mention. The series is tied at 3-3, with the series heading back to Vancouver for Game 7. 

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NHL Playoffs 2024 - Day 28

We're back with two games this Friday. First up...

The Boston Bruins welcome the Florida Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jeremy Swayman are the masked men. Boston opened in the first period with a Pavel Zacha goal, via Jake DeBrusk and Parker Wotherspoon. Florida tied it in the second period with an Anton Lundell goal, his second of the postseason, coming off of Carter Verhaeghe. The Panther won 2-1 with a Gustav Forsling goal in the third period, his second of the playoffs, fueled by Lundell and Matthew Tkachuk. The three stars were Lundell, Forsling, and Bobrovsky (22 for 23 in saves). The Panthers won the series 4-2 and will face the Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Out west, the Colorado Avalanche bring in the Dallas Stars. Jake Oettinger and Alexandar Georgiev tend twines. Colorado got going in the second period with a Mikko Rantanen power play goal, his fourth of the postseason, powered by Jonathan Drouin and Cale Makar. Dallas tied it in the third period with a Jamie Benn goal, his third of the playoffs, fueled by Evgenii Dadonov and Tyler Seguin. The Stars won 2-1 in double overtime on a Matt Duchene goal, his second of the postseason, courtesy of Joe Pavelski. The three stars were Duchene, Oettinger (29 for 30 in saves), and Georgiev (36 for 38 in saves). The Stars won the series 4-2 and will head to the Western Conference Finals. 

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NHL Playoffs 2024 - Day 27

There's two games on this Thursday, beginning with...

The Carolina Hurricanes welcoming the New York Rangers. Igor Shesterkin and Frederik Andersen guard the cages. Carolina began in the first period with a Martin Necas goal, his fourth of the postseason, via Jordan Martinook and Dmitry Orlov. The Hurricanes added on with a Seth Jarvis power play goal in the second period, his fifth of the playoffs, powered by Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov. New York answered with a Vincent Trocheck goal, his sixth of the postseason, made possible by Artemi Panarin. Carolina shot back with an Aho goal, his fourth of the playoffs, guided in by Svechnikov and Jaccob Slavin. The Rangers replied in the third period with a Chris Kreider goal, his fifth of the postseason, assisted by Mika Zibanejad and Jack Roslovic. New York tied it on a Kreider power play goal, his second of the game and sixth of the playoffs, with assists provided by Panarin and Trocheck. The Rangers took the lead with a Kreider goal to complete his hat trick on his seventh of the postseason, fueled by Ryan Lindgren and Roslovic. New York iced it at 5-3 with an empty net goal by Barclay Goodrow, his third of the playoffs, set up by K'Andre Miller. The three stars were Kreider, Panarin, and Trocheck, while Roslovic, Aho, and Svechnikov get the honorable mentions. The Rangers won the series 4-2 and will play in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Out west, the Vancouver Canucks bring in the Edmonton Oilers. Calvin Pickard and Arturs Silovs are the backups in goal. Edmonton led off in the first period with an Evander Kane goal, his third of the postseason, assisted by Leon Draisaitl and Vincent Desharnais. Vancouver tied it on a Carson Soucy goal, going in unassisted. The Oilers retook the lead on a Mattias Janmark goal, helped along by Connor Brown and Brett Kulak. The Canucks tied it in the second period with a Phillip Di Giuseppe goal, an unassisted goal. Vancouver took the lead in the third period on a J.T. Miller goal, his third of the playoffs, via Elias Lindholm and Elias Pettersson. This held for a 3-2 win, with the three stars being Miller, Di Giuseppe, and Soucy. The Canucks are ahead 3-2 in the series. 

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NHL Playoffs 2024 - Day 26

There's just one game on today, as the Dallas Stars host the Colorado Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev and Jake Oettinger guard the cages. Dallas kicked off the scoring in the first period with a Joe Pavelski goal, via Matt Duchene and Jason Robertson. Colorado tied it on an Artturi Lehkonen power play goal, his sixth of the postseason, powered by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. The Stars retook the lead in the second period with a Miro Heiskanen power play goal, his fifth of the playoffs, with assists provided by Robertson and Pavelski. The Avalanche retied it on a Makar power play goal, his fourth of the postseason, made possible by Jonathan Drouin and Mikko Rantanen. Colorado pulled ahead in the third period with a Casey Mittelstadt goal, his third of the playoffs, guided in by Zach Parise and Samuel Girard. The Avalanche added on with a Makar goal, his second of the game and fifth of the postseason, going in unassisted. Dallas got one back with a Logan Stankoven goal, his third of the playoffs, fueled by Esa Lindell. Colorado replied with a MacKinnon goal, his fourth of the postseason, passed from Lehkonen. This stood for a 5-3 win, with the three stars going to Makar, MacKinnon, and Lehkonen, while Pavelski and Robertson get the honorable mentions. The Stars remain ahead 3-2 in the series. 

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NHL Playoffs 2024 - Day 25

We've got two games this Tuesday. First up...

The Florida Panthers welcome the Boston Bruins. Jeremy Swayman and Sergei Bobrovsky protect the nets. Boston opened in the first period with a Morgan Geekie goal, his fourth of the postseason, via Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy. Florida tied it in the second period with a Sam Reinhart goal, his fifth of the playoffs, going in unassisted. The Bruins retook the lead with a McAvoy goal, passed from Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic. The final stood from here at 2-1, with the three stars being McAvoy, Swayman (28 for 29 in saves), and Geekie. The Panthers remain ahead 3-2 in the series.

Across the continent, the Edmonton Oilers bring in the Vancouver Canucks. Arturs Silovs and Calvin Pickard are the backups in goal. Edmonton started in the first period with a Leon Draisaitl power play goal, his eighth of the postseason, powered by Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard. The Oilers added on in the second period with a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins goal, his second of the playoffs, coming off Mattias Ekholm. Vancouver got on the board in the third period with a Conor Garland goal, his second of the postseason, via Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. The Canucks tied it on a Brock Boeser goal, his eighth of the playoffs, assisted by Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson. Edmonton retook the lead with a Bouchard goal, his fourth of the postseason, helped along by Evander Kane. This stood for a 3-2 win, with the three stars being Bouchard, Draisaitl, and Nugent-Hopkins. The series is tied at 2-2 heading back to Vancouver. 

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NHL Playoffs 2024 - Day 24

There's two more games today, beginning with...

The New York Rangers welcoming the Carolina Hurricanes. Frederik Andersen and Igor Shesterkin patrol the creases. New York got going in the second period with a Jacob Trouba shorthanded goal, going in unassisted. Carolina tied it in the third period with a Jordan Staal goal, via Dmitry Orlov. The Hurricanes pulled ahead with an Evgeny Kuznetsov goal, his fourth of the postseason, assisted by Brady Skjei and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Carolina added on with a Jordan Martinook goal, his second of the playoffs, fueled by Jack Drury and Martin Necas. The Hurricanes iced it at 4-1 with a Necas empty net goal, his third of the postseason, set up by Jalen Chatfield and Drury. The three stars were Andersen (20 for 21 in saves), Necas, and Drury. The Rangers are still ahead 3-2 in the series. 

Out west, the Colorado Avalanche bring in the Dallas Stars. Jake Oettinger and Alexandar Georgiev protect the nets. Dallas struck first in the first period with a shorthanded Wyatt Johnston goal, his sixth of the postseason, set up by Sam Steel. The Stars added on with a Johnston power play goal in the second period, his second of the game and seventh of the playoffs, powered by Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen. Dallas extended the lead as Heiskanen scored his fourth of the postseason, thanks to Logan Stankoven and Robertson. Colorado got on the board with a Casey Mittelstadt goal, his second of the playoffs, helped along by Jonathan Drouin. The Stars fired back with an Evgenii Dadonov goal, his third of the postseason, coming off of Mason Marchment and Heiskanen. Dallas iced it at 5-1 with a Steel empty net goal, with helpers from Johnston and Tyler Seguin. The three stars were Johnston, Heiskanen, and Robertson, while Steel gets an honorable mention. The Stars head home ahead 3-1 in the series. 

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NHL Playoffs 2024 - Day 23

We're back with a two-game Sunday. First up...

The Boston Bruins welcome the Florida Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky and Jeremy Swayman man the nets. Boston led off in the first period with a David Pastrnak power play goal, his fourth of the postseason, powered by Jake DeBrusk and James van Riemsdyk. The Bruins added on with a Brandon Carlo goal, his third of the playoffs, going in unassisted. Florida got on the board in the second period with an Anton Lundell goal, via Evan Rodrigues and Aaron Ekblad. The Panthers tied it in the third period with a Sam Bennett goal, his second of the postseason, with assists provided by Lundell and Rodrigues on the power play. Florida pulled ahead with an Aleksander Barkov goal, his fifth of the playoffs, guided in by Kyle Okposo and Vladimir Tarasenko. This held for a 3-2 win, with the three stars being Lundell, Rodrigues, and Barkov. The Panthers head home with a 3-1 series lead. 

Out west, the Edmonton Oilers bring in the Vancouver Canucks. Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner are in the blue paint. Edmonton began in the first period with a Mattias Ekholm power play goal, his third of the postseason, powered by Evander Kane and Darnell Nurse. Vancouver tied it on an Elias Lindholm power play goal, his fourth of the playoffs, with assists provided by Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes. The Canucks took the lead with a Boeser goal, his sixth of the postseason, via J.T. Miller and Tyler Myers. Vancouver added on with a Boeser goal, his second of the game and seventh of the playoffs, helped along by Pius Suter. The Oilers got one back with a Leon Draisaitl power play goal, his seventh of the postseason, courtesy of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Evan Bouchard. The Canucks fired back with a Lindholm power play goal, his second of the game and fifth of the playoffs, fueled by Miller and Hughes. Calvin Pickard replaced Skinner in goal in the third period. Edmonton got one back on a Bouchard goal, his third of the postseason, with helpers from Ekholm and Draisaitl. This only made it 4-3, the final, with the three stars going to Boeser, Lindholm, and Miller, while Hughes, Draisaitl, Ekholm, and Bouchard get the honorable mentions. The Canucks grabbed a 2-1 series lead. 

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