Stanley Cup playoffs daily: Senators on the brink, while Avs, Knights, Bolts try to punch back

1 month ago 26

ESPN staffApr 26, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

All but 1 NHL squad volition extremity the play connected a bitter note, arsenic determination tin beryllium lone 1 Stanley Cup champion. But connected Saturday, we could person our precise archetypal playoff elimination of the 2025 playoffs.

The Ottawa Senators are connected the brink heading into Saturday's game. Despite taking the heavy favored Toronto Maple Leafs to overtime doubly successful a row, the Atlantic Division champs person scored the crippled victor each clip successful the other session. Can the Senators triumph 1 successful beforehand of the location assemblage to widen the bid to 5 games?

Elsewhere successful the Atlantic bracket, the Florida Panthers won some of the archetypal 2 games successful the Tampa Bay Lightning's building. Will this beryllium a shorter bid than galore expected? And retired West, the Minnesota Wild volition look to widen their shocking bid pb implicit the Vegas Golden Knights, and the Clash of the Western Titans continues successful the Centennial State, arsenic the Colorado Avalanche look to adjacent things up with the Dallas Stars.

Read connected for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down successful Friday's games, and the Three Stars of Friday Night from Arda Öcal.

Matchup notes

Tampa Bay Lightning astatine Florida Panthers
Game 3 (FLA leads 2-0) | 1 p.m. ET | TBS

Having served his suspension for performance-enhancing substances, Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad is eligible to instrumentality for this game. The well-rounded blueliner skated 23:30 per crippled during the regular season, scoring 3 goals and 30 assists successful 56 games.

The Panthers person different defenseman who has been delivering this postseason; Nate Schmidt scored a extremity successful Games 1 and 2, becoming the archetypal defenseman successful franchise past with 2 game-winning goals successful a azygous postseason -- and they're lone 2 games in!

All eyes volition beryllium connected the presumption of Aleksander Barkov, who was knocked retired of Game 2 via a deed from Brandon Hagel; Hagel was assessed a five-minute large punishment for the play and suspended for Game 3.

Tampa Bay needs its stars and its scoring extent to get rolling to complaint backmost into this series, with conscionable 2 goals full successful 2 games. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has not been up to his typical, superhuman standards frankincense far, allowing 7 goals connected 39 shots (.821 prevention percentage).

In Stanley Cup playoff history, teams that commencement 2-0 successful a best-of-seven bid person won 86% of the time; that fig rises to 98% if a squad starts 3-0.

Vegas Golden Knights astatine Minnesota Wild
Game 4 (MIN leads 2-1) | 4 p.m. ET | TBS

If thing else, this bid has been a unsocial 1 from a starting-time perspective; each of the archetypal 4 games volition person had a antithetic scheduled commencement clip erstwhile the puck is dropped Saturday -- 10 p.m. ET for Game 1, 11 p.m. ET for Game 2, 9 p.m. ET for Game 3 and 4 p.m. ET for this one.

Most observers didn't judge the Wild were going to triumph this series. Nor did galore foretell that Minnesota players would beryllium each implicit the scoring leaderboard midway done Round 1. Kirill Kaprizov is tied for the playoff scoring pb with Adrian Kempe and Cam Fowler (seven points), and is tied with teammate Matt Boldy for the goal-scoring lead, with four. The existent playoff assists leader? Wild blueliner Jared Spurgeon.

This has been an uncharacteristically unsmooth opening circular for Adin Hill. He's allowed 10 goals connected 57 shots, generating a .825 prevention percent and 3.78 goals-against average. Those rates were .932 and 2.17, respectively, successful Hill's 16 games played during the Knights' 2023 Stanley Cup run.

While "Playoff" Tomas Hertl has shown up this bid -- to the tune of 2 goals and an assistance -- immoderate of the Knights' different violative standbys person been quiet. Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev -- who combined for 212 points successful the regular play -- each person a goose ovum frankincense far.

Toronto Maple Leafs astatine Ottawa Senators
Game 4 (TOR leads 3-0) | 7 p.m. ET | TBS

The Maple Leafs person been led by a consistently beardown show of their Core Four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares; the quartet leads Toronto successful scoring done 3 games. Perhaps a communicative is being rewritten earlier our eyes, aft years of playoff disappointment for that group?

One circumstantial country wherever Toronto has been ascendant is the powerfulness play; their 55.6% conversion complaint is tops successful the league this postseason (and makes up, somewhat, for a punishment termination that is conscionable 77.8% effective).

The Senators person had 5 antithetic extremity scorers this series, including Brady Tkachuk, who has been giving his each successful his archetypal playoff experience. Ottawa's skipper has 2 goals -- and 4 punishment minutes, arsenic helium has kept himself successful the premix whenever the enactment has gotten rowdier.

Will Ottawa instrumentality with Linus Ullmark successful extremity for Game 4? The seasoned has an .815 prevention percent done the archetypal 3 games -- and an .874 people successful his postseason career.

Dallas Stars astatine Colorado Avalanche
Game 4 (DAL leads 2-1) | 9:30 p.m. ET | TBS

Game 3 was each astir the instrumentality of Avalanche skipper Gabriel Landeskog aft an lack of 1,032 days. Landeskog skated 13:16 successful the game, but did not grounds a constituent oregon a changeable connected goal.

While different teams are generating historical numbers connected the powerfulness play this postseason, the Avs person struggled to a 15.4% conversion complaint (fourth worst). This is successful stark opposition to the regular season, erstwhile the Avs' 24.8% complaint was eighth successful the league.

Tyler Seguin's overtime extremity sealed the woody for Dallas successful Game 3. it was conscionable the 2nd OT crippled victor successful his career, aft a span of 13 years (April 22, 2012).

The different bully quality connected the Dallas beforehand is that Mikko Rantanen -- erstwhile Av, who was acquired connected March 7 -- yet picked up his archetypal constituent of the series, an assistance connected the OT crippled winner. Have the floodgates opened?

Arda's 3 stars from Friday night

1. The Oilers-Kings series
LA up 2-1 | 30 goals successful 3 games

The archetypal 3 games person been bonkers. Game 1 astir had an all-timer comeback, past the Kings rocked Edmonton successful Game 2, portion Game 3 saw aggregate pb changes, speedy back-to-back goals, a failed coaches situation by L.A. connected an Edmonton extremity -- which led to an Oilers' power-play extremity to instrumentality the lead. Just incredible.

2. Simon Nemec
D, New Jersey Devils

Nemec scored the overtime victor successful Newark to triumph the crippled for the Devils implicit the Canes -- and debar going down 0-3 successful the series. This came aft stints successful the AHL this season, and being a steadfast scratch earlier successful the series.

3. Cole Caufield
RW, Montreal Canadiens

"Goal" Caufield had a extremity and an assistance successful Montreal's emphatic 6-3 triumph implicit Washington successful Game 3.

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Cole Caufield scores with a one-timer for Montreal

Cole Caufield scores connected a one-timer to springiness the Canadiens the pb precocious successful the 2nd period.

Friday's scores

Montreal Canadiens 6, Washington Capitals 3
WSH leads 2-1

The Bell Centre was electrical for the Canadiens' archetypal location crippled successful rather immoderate clip -- and the fans were sent location rather blessed connected Friday nighttime aft a chaotic game. The 2 teams traded goals done astir of the archetypal 2 periods earlier Cole Caufield enactment Montreal up 1 astatine the extremity of the 2nd -- and a brawl ensued that spilled into the Washington bench. Although Alex Ovechkin scored 2:39 into the 3rd to necktie the crippled 3-3, the Habs poured it connected thereafter with 3 consecutive goals, sending the "Olé!" chants to unforeseen decibel levels. Recap.

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0:45

Christian Dvorak helps Canadiens regain the lead

Christian Dvorak finds the nett successful the 3rd play to assistance the Canadiens to retake the pb vs. the Capitals.

New Jersey Devils 3, Carolina Hurricanes 2 (2OT)
CAR leads 2-1

Down 0-2 successful the series, the Devils went up 2-0 successful their archetypal crippled backmost home, connected goals from Nico Hischier and Dawson Mercer. But a brace of third-period, power-play goals -- from Seth Jarvis and Sebastian Aho -- knotted things up, and the crippled went to overtime. Scoreless aft 1 other period, the crippled was ended by Simon Nemec, the 2nd wide prime successful the 2022 draft, who had been a steadfast scratch antecedently successful the series. Recap.

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Simon Nemec's wrister wins it successful 2OT for the Devils

Simon Nemec finds the winning extremity arsenic the Devils outlast the Hurricanes successful treble overtime.

Edmonton Oilers 7, Los Angeles Kings 4
LA leads 2-1

It takes a full-team effort to get up disconnected the proverbial canvas erstwhile down 0-2 successful a series, and that's conscionable what the Oilers got connected Friday. Ten antithetic Oilers deed the scoresheet successful this one, including superstars similar Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, arsenic good players further down the lineup similar Connor Brown and Evander Kane. The Oilers besides made the power successful extremity to Calvin Pickard for this game, and helium responded with 24 saves connected 28 shots. On the Kings' side, Adrian Kempe had his 4th extremity and 5th assistance of the playoffs, putting him into first successful the points race and tied for archetypal successful the goals race. Recap.