The Philadelphia hockey players also defeated Montreal with the assistance of Jakub Voráček 2: 0, they lead 3: 1 in the series and one win separates them from advancing to the semifinals of the Eastern Conference of the NHL playoffs. Dominik Kubalík, who lost to Vegas 3: 4 with Chicago and the season ended, also scored the pass. The highest-placed Western Conference team dominated the 4: 1 series of matches and is the first to advance to the 2nd round.
Washington averted the elimination when he turned from 0: 2 to the final 3: 2 in the match with the New York Islanders and reduced the state of the series to 1: 3. Dallas defeated Calgary 2: 1 and leads 3: 2 in matches.
Voráček scored the only goal of the match in the last match, this time assisting in the seventh minute with a winning shot. Kladno’s offspring on the offensive blue line transferred the game from the left side to the right, where Sean Couturier exchanged the puck with Michael Raffle, who swept the upper corner of the goal. Philippe Myers added a second goal at the end of the middle period. Flyers goalkeeper Carter Hart covered 29 shots and caught the second clean sheet in a row.
“We don’t play perfect hockey, we make mistakes. But if we do any, Carter will take a great intervention. He is a very important part of our team, there is no doubt about that,” Philadelphia coach Alain Vigneault said of the young goalkeeper. Hart, 22 years old five days ago, is the second youngest goalkeeper in NHL history to keep a zero in the playoffs in two consecutive games.
Montreal, who eliminated Pittsburgh in qualifying, drove Hart out of the series in the second game on the substitute. He can’t beat him since then. “It’s not pleasant if you don’t score two matches. We had chances, but we didn’t change them. I feel that as soon as we break it, we will shoot. We just have to be hungrier around the goal,” said Tomáš Tatar, who scored two goals in the series.
In the previous duel, Chicago extended the series by winning 3: 1 and started the fifth match well, leading 2: 0. Kubalík assisted the first goal, with Jonathan Toews arriving. Vegas equalized at the turn of the first and second periods, but soon lost again when his defense forgot about Patrick Kane. The more active Golden Knights turned, the winning goal was scored in the 42nd minute by Alex Tuch.
“We are happy that we have finished the series and that we have it behind us. They made it very difficult for us, they forced us to work hard,” said Vegas coach Peter DeBoer, whose charges earned three points for winning by goal, including one overtime.
Tomáš Nosek took part in the Vegas promotion with one goal, but he was injured in the second match of the series and has not played since. In his first NHL playoffs, Kubalík scored eight points (4 + 4) in nine games, collecting most of his memorable debut (2 + 3).
The Islanders started sharply, already in the tenth minute they led 2: 0 and after two of their actions, the pole still rang. Washington coach Todd Reirden took a break after the second goal scored and his charges equalized at the beginning of the second period. After a nice penetration, Yevgeny Kuznetsov reduced and in an overpowering game with his typical shot from the left circle without preparation, Alexandr Ovechkin equalized. The Russian striker completed a turnaround in the 44th minute from the renumbering.
Reirden praised himself for seeing another Washington on the ice after the time out. “We forced our opponents to play our style a bit more, we stayed in the offensive zone more. We also started to play with more commitment. If we don’t fight like in the last fifty minutes, we can’t think of success. It can’t be done without it,” the coach said.
In NHL history, only four teams have turned the series from 0: 3 into matches. “If we play the same, we have a chance,” said Ovechkin, who moved up to 18th place ahead of Sidney Crosby and Gordie Howe in the playoffs’ table with a winning goal. He has 69 hits on his account. Jakub Vrána did not score a goal or a pass in the seventh match after the NHL restart, moreover, in the series with the Islanders he has +/- six negative points in the statistics.
The Islanders are in a good position despite the loss. “We got them into the match with unnecessary exclusions, they equalized from one power play. It kicked them, then it was a one-shot match,” said Islanders coach Barry Trotz, whose trustee Cal Clutterbuck did not finish the match after a collision with Radek Gudas. “He didn’t have to attack him like that in the position he was in. But Cal should have gotten rid of the puck sooner,” the coach commented on the clash.
Dallas opened the game with Calgary in the 11th minute after a nice combination of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, who ended up in an empty goal. In the first period, Mikael Backlund equalized with a shot from behind the right circle. John Klingberg decided the match in 41:12. The Swedish defender beat Cam Talbot with a shot from the blue line, whom the coaches again preferred to David Rittich even after five goals from the last match.
Play off NHL – 1. kolo:
Eastern Conference (Toronto) – Matches 4:
Montreal – Philadelphia 0:2 (0:1, 0:1, 0:0)
Goals: 7. Raffl (Voracek), 38. Myers. Shots on goal: 29:22. Played without spectators. Match Stars: 1. Raffl, 2. Hart, 3. Myers (all Philadelphia). Series condition: 1: 3.
NY Islanders – Washington 2:3 (2:0, 0:2, 0:1)
Goals: 4th Pageau, 10th Barzal – 26th and 44th Ovechkin, 24th Kuznetsov. Shots on goal: 26:29. Played without spectators. Match stars: 1. Ovechkin, 2. Kuznetsov, 3. Carlson (all Washington). Series status: 3: 1.
Western Conference (Edmonton) – Match 5:
Dallas – Calgary 2:1 (1:1, 0:0, 1:0)
Goals: 11. Jamie Benn, 42. J. Klingberg – 20. Backlund. Shots on goal: 32:29. Played without spectators. Match stars: 1. J. Klingberg, 2. Chudobin (both Dallas), 3. Talbot (Calgary). Series status: 3: 2.
Vegas – Chicago 4:3 (1:2, 2:1, 1:0)
Goals: 20. Pacioretty, 21. Mark Stone, 28. Martinez, 42. Tuch – 11. J. Toews (Kubalík), 19. DeBrincat, 25. P. Kane. Shots on goal: 39:26. Played without spectators. Match stars: 1. Pacioretty, 2. Tuch, 3. Martinez (all Vegas). Final score of the series: 4: 1.
–
