Stanley Cup Daily 5/1: Knotted Up

Monday’s Recaps

Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Tampa Bay Lightning 4, Boston Bruins 2 (Series tied 1-1)

The Lightning came out last night hot, flying around on the ice as many expected them to. The Bruins had a characteristically slow start, allowing the Bolts to dominate the first period of play. If it wasn’t for strong goaltending from Tuukka Rask, this game could have gotten out of hand early. Despite being drastically outplayed, the Bruins managed to go into the first intermission tied thanks to a late Charlie McAvoy goal.

Tyler Johnson gave the Lightning a one goal lead that they carried into the second intermission, then Ondrej Palat put the game almost out of reach 14 minutes into the third period. Torey Krug answered quickly to make it a 3-2 game, but Brayden Point played spoiler as he scored the empty netter to ice the game.

The MVP in last night’s contest was definitely Brayden Point, who was tasked with keeping the Bergeron line in check for the second game in a row. Unlike Game 1, when the Bruins’ top line ran rampant, his line held their own, and he was able to notch three assists and an empty net goal in the process.

The Lightning were definitely playing with some desperation last night trying to avoid going to Boston trailing by two games. These two teams were evenly matched for most of the regular season, and they look to be carrying that into the postseason. This is going to be a very good series. They’re back in action for Game 3 in Boston tomorrow. - Andrew Ahr

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Vegas Golden Knights 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (OT) (VGK leads 2-1)

William Karlsson tallied his fourth goal of the playoffs at 8:17 of overtime to push the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center Monday night. Vegas now holds a 2-1 series lead after handing San Jose its first home loss of the postseason.

Karlsson skated down the wing on a rush and rifled a wrist shot over Martin Jones’ shoulder into the top corner on the far side from the top of the circle. With an assist earlier in the contest, Karlsson now boasts multiple points in each of Vegas’ three second round games against San Jose thus far.

After a scoreless first period, Timo Meier put the Sharks ahead almost seven minutes into the middle frame, but the Golden Knights responded with three consecutive strikes from Colin Miller, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith to send Vegas into intermission up 3-1.

Evander Kane halved the deficit early in the third period, and Tomas Hertl forced extra time with a late tying effort at 18:03, but Marc-Andre Fleury’s 39 total saves kept San Jose at bay through overtime. Jones stopped 29 pucks in the opposite crease.

Game 4 is set for Wednesday night in San Jose. - Peter Dewar

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Tuesday’s Previews

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Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins (Series tied 1-1)

7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN

1. Pittsburgh Injuries: Evgeni Malkin, Carl Hagelin, and Brian Dumoulin are all game-time decisions for the Penguins heading into game three. All three have been practicing with the team, though Dumoulin has been a non-contact participant. If Dumoulin is unable to play, Matt Hunwick will get his first start of the playoffs. Malkin was close to a return on Sunday, and seems to be the closest to returning to the lineup out of the three injured players, which would be huge for the pivotal Game 3.
2. Road Warriors: The Capitals have a perfect record on the road during these playoffs. In their three road wins, they outscored their opponents by a score of 13-6. The Caps now look to keep their record perfect and take back home-ice advantage with a win in either game 3 or 4 in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has struggled a bit at home, with their only two losses in the series against Philadelphia coming at home.
3. Quick out of the Blocks: The Penguins’ biggest weakness so far in this series has been slow starts. In Game 1 they allowed two goals in the first minute of periods. The first came just 17 seconds into the game and the second came 28 seconds into the third. Then in Game 2, they conceded another goal on the first shot of the game, this time 1:26 into the game. The Caps eventually got their third goal of the game two minutes into the second period. Out of the Caps’ five non-empty net goals, four of them have come less than two minutes into a period. The Penguins will need to limit the quick goals if they want to win Game 3. - Zeke Lukow

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Nashville Predators at Winnipeg Jets (Series tied 1-1)

8:00 p.m. ET, CNBC