Maple Leafs win 4-3, push Lightning to brink of elimination
TORONTO (AP) — Auston Matthews scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:06 left in the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Tuesday night and take a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
William Nylander added a goal and two assists for Toronto, which is a victory away from advancing in the postseason for the first time since 2004. John Tavares had a goal and assist, and Morgan Rielly also scored. Jack Campbell stopped 32 shots.
Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh scored, Nikita Kucherov had two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves for the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning, who will try to avoid elimination in the best-of-seven series in Game 6 at home on Thursday night.
Game 7, if necessary, would be in Toronto on Saturday.
KINGS 5, OILERS 4, OT
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Adrian Kempe scored 1:12 into overtime to give Los Angeles a win over Edmonton for a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Kempe muscled his way past his defender and wrapped a shot around Edmonton goalie Mike Smith to secure the victory.
The result means the Oilers need a win in Game 6 in Los Angeles on Thursday to stave off elimination.
Kempe also scored and had an assist for the Kings in regulation. Troy Stecher, Andreas Anthansiou and Phillip Danault also scored.
Leon Draisaitl scored twice for Edmonton. Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists and Zack Kassian added a goal for the Oilers, who were coming off a 4-0 loss in Game 4 on Sunday.
Jonathan Quick made 24 saves for the Kings. Smith stopped 38 of 43 shots.
HURRICANES 5, BRUINS 1
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Rookie Seth Jarvis scored twice and Antti Raanta finished with 34 saves to help Carolina beat Boston for a 3-2 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Tony DeAngelo scored first-period goals for the Hurricanes, and Vincent Trocheck added an empty-netter.
The series has yet to see a team secure a road win. With the Game 5 win, the Hurricanes have two chances to close out the Bruins. Game 6 is Thursday in Boston, and Game 7, if needed, on home ice Saturday.
Connor Clifton scored and Jeremy Swayman made 33 saves for Boston.
BLUES 5, WILD 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Vladimir Tarasenko had three goals in the third period to break open a tied game and series, and St. Louis pushed Minnesota to the edge of elimination.
Ryan O’Reilly scored for the fourth time in the series and Brandon Saad got the tying goal late in the second period. Jordan Binnington made 30 saves for his second straight win.
Wild star Kirill Kaprizov scored twice on Minnesota’s previously sluggish power play in the first period. Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 27 shots.
The series returns to St. Louis for Game 6 on Thursday night. If the Blues win, Game 7 would be back in Minnesota on Saturday. The top-seeded Colorado Avalanche, fresh off a sweep of the Nashville Predators, are waiting in the second round.
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