Every day during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Canes Country recaps the night before, previews the games for that night, and gives you times and broadcast information.
Friday’s Recaps
St. Louis Blues 3, Nashville Predators 2 (Series tied 1-1)
For the first time in the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Nashville Predators have tasted defeat. After once again climbing out to an early 1-0 lead, and later a 2-1 3rd period lead, the Preds were unable to secure the victory and their 2-0 series lead, and now the St. Louis Blues have officially made this a series.
Having to again scramble out of an early hole, the Blues were able to get over the hump this time with the help of two third period goals including the winning tally inside the final 4 minutes by Vladimir Tarasenko, who snapped a wrister underneath Pekka Rinne for the game winning goal.
Shots were at a premium on Friday, as neither team reached 25 shots on goal in the game.
As the series shifts to Nashville, expect the close contests to continue as each of the first two games have been decided by a single goal. -Andy House
Edmonton Oilers 2, Anaheim Ducks 1 (EDM leads 2-0)
A big offensive outburst to end Game 1 certainly didn't carry over to Game 2 of the Oilers and Ducks series. Edmonton squeaked out a 2-1 win on the back of Cam Talbot, who stopped 39 of 40 Anaheim shots.
The Ducks controlled the play and poured the shots on Talbot, outshooting the Oilers 40 to 23. The home team also won 64% of the faceoffs and played a very heavy game.
An early first-period goal from former Hurricanes breakout player Andrej Sekera got the Oilers on the board first, and Patrick Maroon added the only insurance Cam Talbot would need early in the second period. Ducks forward Jakub Silfverberg was the only one who was able to find the back of the net after that.
Talbot stopped all 16 shots he saw in the third period, securing a 2-0 series lead.
The Oilers are riding high. After winning two straight on the road, they have a chance to put the Ducks against the ropes in Game 3 up in Alberta, slated for Sunday night at 7:00 pm ET. -Brett Finger
Saturday’s Previews
New York Rangers at Ottawa Senators (OTT leads 1-0)
3:00 p.m. ET, NBC
- Brassard/Zibanejad: The two centers who were traded for each other a summer ago have been the best forwards on their respective teams so far this postseason. Derick Brassard is tied with T.J. Oshie for the postseason lead in points among all skaters not named Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and Mika Zibanejad is tied with Mats Zuccarello for the most points by a Ranger so far. They were both quiet on Thursday, but look for one of them to make a difference tonight.
- Can Anderson Outplay Lundqvist Again? One reason that most prognosticators felt that the Rangers had an edge in this series was the advantage they had in goal with Henrik Lundqvist against Craig Anderson. But in game one, Lundqvist got beat twice and Anderson got beat once. Both goalies were fantastic, making several stellar saves throughout the game, and Lundqvist faced a heavier workload, but Anderson was the better goalie nonetheless. If that happens two games in a row, the Rangers will be facing a serious uphill battle to win the series.
- McDonagh vs Karlsson: Similar to how the Rangers were viewed as having the edge in goal, the Senators were seen as the team with the best defenseman in this series. Erik Karlsson is a better player than Ryan McDonagh, but if McDonagh can outplay an injured Karlsson, the Rangers chances in this series look a lot better. Both players were dynamic offensively on Thursday and they each scored a goal. If one of them gets on the scoreboard again tonight, it's a huge edge for their team. -Kyle Morton
Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals
8:00 p.m., NBC
- Holtby's Response: Washington's Vezina-nominated netminder was severely outplayed by Marc-Andre Fleury in game 1, with the latter nearly doubling the saves of the former and putting on a stellar performance in the third period to seal the win. The Capitals defense certainly needs to tighten up (*cough* Shattenkirk/Orpik), but Braden Holtby will need to be at his best if his team is to retaliate in game 2.
- Stopping Sid: Speaking of the Caps' defense, their 64-second breakdown at the outset of the second period which saw Sidney Crosby net two goals was, uh, probably not what they wanted to do. Granted, the offense returned fire, but the damage was done. The Penguins have plenty of weapons, but if you're going to give up multiple goals to Crosby, you're going to have a bad time.
- Crunch Time: This series is going to come down to bounces and capitalizing on opportunities, as any series between two incredibly evenly matched teams will be. Said opportunities become exponentially more important during the third period, when making the most of a chance can win or lose the game for you. Pittsburgh scored in the form of a Nick Bonino partial breakaway, while the Capitals squandered the below chance with three minutes to go. Suffice it to say, scoring chances lost like this one will haunt the team that fails to put one home. -Peter Dewar