The defending champion will remain at least “champion” of Florida at the end of this season. The Tampa Bay Lightning emerged victorious in their first round of play-offs against neighbors Florida Panthers. Wednesday night, the Stanley Cup holder did not detail, winning sharply (4-0), offering a shutout to Andrei Vasilevsiy (29 saves) and qualifying four wins to two. In the next round, Tampa will face the series winner between Carolina and Nashville (the Hurricanes lead 3 to 2 against the Predators).
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Same scenario for the New York Islanders, qualified (4 wins to 2) after a solid home victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins (5-3). The Islanders made the difference in the second period with three goals including a brock Nelson brace. The franchise of Long Island thus crosses the first round for the third consecutive season, a sequence more carried out since the beginning of the Eighties. In the second round, the Islanders will be opposed to the Boston Bruins. This is the first known poster at this level.
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In the West, the Vegas Golden Knights and Minnesota Wild will play a decisive Game 7 in Nevada on Friday night. On Wednesday, everything was decided in the third period to allow Minnesota to avoid elimination (3-0). Ryan Hartman opened the scoring (45th, 1-0) before Kevin Fiala doubled the power play. Cam Talbot’s defense and 23 saves did the rest.
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