On another daily batch of four NHL playoff games, the New York Rangers tie things up with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The other winners of the day: Washington Capitals, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks take a 2-0 lead in their series. The Sharks won both of the games on the road, now having a huge advantage over the Los Angeles Kings.
New York Rangers 4 Pittsburgh Penguins 2 (Series tied at 1-1): Despite their form lately the Penguins reintroduced Evgeni Malkin into the lineup and that move seemed to backfire. Meanwhile, the Rangers got Henrik Lundqvist back and didn’t complain. The Rangers scored three times in the second period after Phil Kessel put Pittsburgh in front. Keith Yandle, Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider scored four consecutive goals to take home ice advantage.
Philadelphia Flyers 1 Washington Capitals 4 (Capitals lead 2-0): Braden Holtby was fantastic with 41 saves and the Capitals were terrific on the Power Play with goals from John Carlson and Alex Ovechkin. Nicklas Backstrom scored one goal too, adding two assists as they protected home ice without too many problems.
Minnesota Wild 1 Dallas Stars 2 (Stars leads series 2-0): The Stars took the lead in the second period with a very weird Antoine Roussel goal, hitting his skates and not his puck, which gave Dallas the edge moving forward. Jamie Benn gave them a 2-0 lead well into the third period, and all the Wild could do was come back a little through Marco Scandella on the Power Play. Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves.
San Jose Sharks 2 Los Angeles Kings 1 (Sharks lead series 2-0): The Sharks take both games on the road (first team in these playoffs to do so) as Joe Pavelski scored his third goal of the postseason, followed by Logan Couture scoring on the Power Play and making sure the Kings won’t be able to catch up. Martin Jones had 26 saves for the Sharks.