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Three play-off games, three wafer-thin wins, each for the away team – and also the meaningless main round game of the North Division went to the visiting team after extra time.
Pittsburgh Penguins – NewYork Islanders 3:4 (OT)
Series status: 0: 1
“It’s the little things that make the difference” is a popular phrase in the play-offs. But it also applies again and again: three and a half minutes before the end of the first extension, Kyle Palmieri, signed to replace the long-term injured Anders Lee from New Jersey Devils, fueled himself on the right wing, brought Pens defender John Marino briefly in a duel off balance and thus created the decisive space to accept JG Pageau’s pass and to maneuver the bouncing disc high into the short corner over the shoulder of Tristan Jarry in the Penguins’ goal for a decision into the net.
Palmieri’s assault row was responsible for two of the Islanders’ three hits in regular time. Each with shots over the shoulder or the catching hand of Jarry – if the Isles had previously identified this as a weakness of the pen goalie, they used them consistently. Brock Nelson’s goal to make it 3-2 for the visitors came through after a concealed shot by defender Kris Letang, who had more than 32 minutes of ice time. For the Penguins, Evan Rodrigues, captain Sidney Crosby scored with a remarkable one-handed deflector out of the movement and Kasperi Kapanen, who equalized Nelson’s opening goal just 31 seconds later to make it 3-3 after 60 minutes.
Vegas Golden Knights – Minnesota Wild 0:1 (OT)
Series status: 0: 1
The only one who should have been at least a little happy about the botched home start of the Vegas Golden Knights in the finals was goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury. It was not clear whether he would be allowed to go into the finals as a starter. He was allowed to – and justified this trust with some spectacular parades. In the crucial scene in the first overtime, however, he was powerless: Marcus Foligno fought for the disc behind the Golden Knights goal, passed it in front of the goal on Joel Eriksson Ek, who pulled immediately. Vegas defender Alec Martinez faked the disc with his skate so unhappily from the Knights’ point of view that she slipped “Flower” through the schooner – game decided. Even more bitter for the hosts from the desert state: Striker Max Pacioretty was canceled at short notice, as was Zach Parise on the side of Wild.
Nico Sturm played around eleven minutes for Minnesota, two of which were outnumbered. The Augsburg player recorded a shot on goal and four hits.
Florida Panthers – Tampa Bay Lightning 4:5
Series status: 0: 1
If there is any need for further proof of Nikita Kutcherov’s class, then he did it impressively in his first game after a long injury break: with two overpaid goals in the middle section, each on pass from Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos, he converted a 1: 2 – Backlog in a leadership for his team. “We can too” – the Panthers may have thought and turned the game around in just two and a half minutes with goals from Jonathan Huberdeau and striker Owen Tippett, the Panthers’ first rookie scorer in the finals for more than 24 years.
And who else but the play-off monster 2020 Brayden Point could have decided the game in favor of the reigning champions? Outnumbered, he equalized after exactly 53 minutes before making the decision 74 seconds before the end: It started in his own zone when Bolts defender Ryan McDonagh blocked a shot and sent Point off with a long pass. It should be the journey in luck, because Point exploited the pass in a skillfully played solo with the backhand.
This marked the end of a spectacular game in which the lead changed four times. This has only happened three times in a play-off encounter in NHL history.
Vancouver Canucks – Calgary Flames 5:6 (OT)
The Flames gambled away a 5: 1 lead in the final section – Brock Boeser equalized to 5: 5 two minutes before the end – and still walked off the ice as the winner. Elias Lindholm made the decision for the guests from Alberta in overtime in this insignificant North Division game.
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