2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Game Recaps, Previews, How to Watch, Schedule and Day 20 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.

Thursday’s Recap

Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

New York Rangers 4, Ottawa Senators 1 (Series tied 2-2)

The New York Rangers came out on fire at home for the second straight game in this series and evened the series at two with little pushback from the Ottawa Senators. The game's final score of 4-1 was pretty reflective of how dominant the Rangers were all night.

Tanner Glass of all people came up big for New York, with assists on both of Oscar Lindberg's goals. Defenseman Nick Holden, who has had a rough postseason in his own end, opened the scoring for New York in the first period.

Chris Kreider's second goal of the playoffs came on the power play midway through the third period and put the game out of reach at 4-0. A few minutes later, Kyle Turris scored on a nice, but ultimately meaningless snipe to cut the lead to three. The Senators played the final period without Erik Karlsson, after the captain was injured late in the second period. Coach Guy Boucher indicated that Karlsson’s absence was precautionary, and he is hopeful that the defenseman will play in Game 5.

Henrik Lundqvist was strong again, turning aside 22 of 23 in the win. Ottawa will need Craig Anderson to be better if they have any hope of winning this series, as he's surrendered four or more goals in each of the last three games. Game 5 of this back-and-forth series will be tomorrow afternoon in Ottawa. -Kyle Morton

Friday’s Previews

Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

Nashville Predators at St. Louis Blues (NSH leads 3-1)

8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN

1. On the Brink: The Blues return home tonight facing elimination. In a series which has featured three one-goal games, the Blues have managed to fall behind in every game of the series to this point. To begin to climb out of their substantial, but not insurmountable, hole they must get started on time and begin to put heat on the Predators for once. With two possible home games remaining in this series the series is not over, but unless the trends change, the Blues will be in serious trouble.
2. Predators Looking to Close the Door: 3-1 leads seem to vanish at least once in every playoff season. The best way to avoid a sphincter-tightening scenariois to simply take care of business in your first opportunity to eliminate a team. The Predators snuffed out any hope the Chicago Blackhawks may have harbored when they completed the 4-game sweep in their first opportunity to eliminate a team, and the Preds need to bring the same killer instinct to the Scottrade Center tonight. The formula is simple, because it is basically the formula they have used all series with great success: Get on top early, get the Blues chasing the game, and play sound and stellar hockey in front of their tremendous and hot netminder Pekka Rinne. Execute this once more, and they will be on to the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history.
3. Blue Line Production: An additional feature of the Nashville formula thus far has been point and goal production from their defense. The top two point scorers in the series so far for the Preds are defensemen, Ryan Ellis (3 goals, 2 assists) and P.K. Subban (1 goal, 3 assists). This activation of the defense into the offense, while not sacrificing their terrific work in front of Rinne, has been key in the series. Look for the Nashville defense (as a whole, 12 points total) to continue to make an impact offensively. -Andy House

Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks (Series tied 2-2)

10:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN

1. Back to Square One: After both teams rattled off wins in consecutive games to start the series, we are now even once again. To date, the road team has won every game in this series but the Ducks certainly appear to have momentum going on their side entering Game 5 on their home rink.
2. Containing Getzlaf: Ryan Getzlaf's line has been dominant since round one, but they were largely held in check in games one and two of this series. Games three and four, however, were run through that line with Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell finding the back of the net at big times in two games in Alberta. The duo has a combined 23 points in the eight playoff games they've played. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins' line has been given the tough task of handling them, a task that will need to be carefully executed in Game 5 if the Oilers are going to have a chance of winning.
3. A Breakout Game from McDavid? A regular season to remember for Connor McDavid has led to just an alright postseason for the league's leading scorer. He has seven points in ten playoff games, which is far from bad, but he's been taken care of pretty effectively by the Ducks through four games. If the Oilers are going to win this series, they'll need a big push from McDavid in the final games to create some offense and break games open. The expectations are high from McDavid, and all things consideredbhe's lived up to them in April, but Edmonton's improbable run will have to be aided by an other-worldly performance or two from McDavid. It certainly wouldn't be the first time we have seen it from him. -Brett Finger