2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Game Recaps, Previews, How to Watch, Schedule and Day 19 Open Thread

Every day during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Canes Country recaps the night before, previews the games for that night, and gives you game times and broadcast information.

Wednesday’s Recaps

Photo by Matt Kincaid/Getty Images

Pittsburgh Penguins 3, Washington Capitals 2 (PIT leads 3-1)

The Penguins continue to find ways to win, even when everyone says they shouldn't. Another 3-2 victory makes it all four games in which the losing team has only scored twice, with the Pens earning their first home win of the series last night.

The Capitals, as they have for the majority of the series, heavily outshot and outchanced the Penguins, but to no avail. They put themselves behind the 8-ball once again, giving up a breakaway goal to Patric Hornqvist for a Penguins lead just shy of five minutes into the game. The first period didn't begin tentatively either; both teams were throwing their weight around throughout the game and it started right off the bat.

The second period saw Jake Guentzel add to Pittsburgh's lead in the form of a pass which deflected off Dmitry Orlov's skate and past Braden Holtby. Orlov will be seeing that one in his nightmares, though his teammates stepped in to alleviate the immediate pain. Evgeny Kuznetsov wired a shot over Marc-Andre Fleury's shoulder four minutes after Guentzel's tally, and Nate Schmidt tacked on another to tie the game just 1:12 later.

But once again, just as Washington thought they were right back in it, the Pens went ahead, almost toying with the Caps. Justin Schultz's bar-down blast on the power play three minutes after Schmidt tied the game seemed to cut into morale on the visitors' bench, and would stand to be the game-winner.

There was still plenty of action in the third period, which regrettably culminated in a controversial high-sticking call on T.J. Oshie with 1:52 remaining, making the Caps' last gasp that much harder to breathe. Oshie's stick never made contact with Nick Bonino, but was called nonetheless. Still, the Caps had their chances and continued to come up short of the goal they needed to tie the game.

Holtby relapsed with another shoddy performance, only mustering 15 saves on 18 shots, while Fleury was strong in net with 36 saves on 38 shots. Game 5 could see the Penguins put Washington away in this series, and will take place back in Verizon Center on Saturday night. -Peter Dewar

Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images

Anaheim Ducks 4, Edmonton Oilers 3 (Series tied 2-2)

For the fourth time in as many games in this series, the road team prevailed again on Wednesday night as the Anaheim Ducks won in the early stages of overtime to tie the series at two games apiece against the Edmonton Oilers.

Last night was a story of periods. The Oilers finished the first period strong, gaining a 2-0 lead on home ice on goals by Milan Lucic and Connor McDavid two minutes apart. They had put themselves in a prime position to take a controlling 3-1 series lead, but then the second period happened.

The Ducks scored three times, including a pair from Ryan Getzlaf as part of a four-point night for the Anaheim captain, and took the lead entering the third. Again, though, that lead was erased with under two minutes to go courtesy of Drake Caggiula's first NHL playoff goal.

Anaheim's Jakob Silfverberg potted his seventh of the playoffs just 45 seconds into overtime to tie the series at two. It was the Ducks’ 39th shot of the night, the third time in four games that they have tallied 35 or more shots on goal.

Game 5 will be on Friday at 10:30 p.m. ET in Anaheim. -Brett Finger

Thursday’s Preview

Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Ottawa Senators at New York Rangers (OTT leads 2-1)
7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN

1. 3-1 or 2-2? That’s the question on everybody's minds entering tonight's Game 4 between the Rangers and Senators at Madison Square Garden. The complexion and feel of the rest of the series hangs in the balance tonight. Either the Rangers will even things up at two, and will be seen as the favorites to claim the series, or Ottawa will come out on top and take the series back home with a chance to close it out.
2. Can the NYR defense hold up? To get this series level, New York will need to bring the level of defensive play that they did on Tuesday night, when they gave up just 27 shots, the second fewest they've surrendered in this whole playoff run. It's perhaps not a coincidence that they played so well on a night where Brendan Smith and Brady Skjei saw their ice time go up while Marc Staal and Nick Holden saw theirs go down. The Staal-Holden pairing has been somewhat of a disaster in the postseason so far, and head coach Alain Vigneault would be wise to keep their minutes limited.
3. Can Pageau be stopped? Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored 12 goals in the regular season. In the last two games, he's scored five. Obviously he's not going to continue to convert on his chances at such a high rate, but the success of the 24-year-old gives the Rangers another threat to worry about. With Bobby Ryan also significantly stepping his game up in the playoffs, the Senators suddenly look like a much deeper, more threatening team offensively than they did in the regular season. -Kyle Morton