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Stars Defeat Avalanche 4-3 — Series Tied 1-1
It is fitting that a series featuring two Stanley Cup favorites is tied after two games. The 3-seed Colorado Avalanche made a statement in Game 1 with a 5-1 victory in Dallas, and they appeared ready to head back home with a 2-0 advantage after Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring with a power play goal in Game 2 — his third goal of the series. Tyler Seguin responded with a power play goal of his own 19:06 into the 1st to tie the game for Dallas, and Thomas Harley gave the Stars the lead less than four minutes into the 2nd. However, a pair of goals for the Avs left Dallas facing a 3-2 deficit heading into the 3rd. Dallas’ Evgenii Dadonov scored the only goal of the 3rd to push Game 2 to overtime, setting up Colin Blackwell to be the hero of the night. With 17:46 gone in OT, Blackwell fired a loose puck into the back of the net to knot the series at 1-1.
Jets Defeat St. Louis 2-1 — Winnipeg Leads 2-0
In Game 1, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets rallied from two deficits and ultimately claimed a 5-3 victory — outscoring St. Louis 3-0 in the 3rd period to earn the win. Last night, the Jets defended their home ice once again. Mark Scheifele’s second goal of the series gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead deep into the opening period. The Blues tied the game with two seconds to play in the 1st on a Jimmy Snuggerud power play goal. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the 2nd period, but Winnipeg wasted no time regaining the lead in the final 20 minutes. 1:43 into the 3rd, Kyle Connor scored the game-winner. Star goalie Connor Hellebuyck ended the night with 21 saves.
Capitals Defeat Canadiens 3-2 (OT) — Washington Leads 1-0
The top seed in the Eastern Conference drew first blood in their series with the Montreal Canadiens. Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring for the Caps with less than two minutes to play in the first period. The NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer assisted on Washington’s second goal — a Anthony Beauvillier goal 12:09 into the 2nd — to give his team a 2-0 lead. However, the 3rd period belonged to the visitors. Montreal scored a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation and Washington was kept off the board. 2:26 into overtime, Ovechkin scored the first playoff OT goal of his NHL career to secure the victory for the Caps.
Kings Defeat Oilers 6-5 — Los Angeles Leads 1-0
Monday night featured four good games, but Game 1 of Kings-Oilers was the star. With Edmonton eliminating Los Angeles each of the past three years, a victory on home ice was paramount for the Kings. And, LA was dominant through much of the first two periods. Goals from Andrei Kuzmenko and Quinton Byfield in the 1st period were followed by two more strikes in the 2nd — Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault — to give the Kings a commanding 4-0 lead. A fantastic play from Connor McDavid led to a Leon Draisaitl goal to cut LA’s lead to 4-1 with six seconds left on the clock in the 2nd. The 3rd period was bonkers. The teams traded goals in the first five minutes of the final period and the Kings carried a 5-2 lead with 13 minutes to play. Corey Perry made it 5-3 at 7:43, Zach Hyman scored Edmonton’s fourth with 2:04 left to play, and McDavid knotted the game at 5-5 36 seconds later. The Kings missed three empty net opportunities and blew a 4-0 lead — an Oilers win felt imminent. Instead, Danault scored his second goal of the night with 42 seconds remaining to save LA.
