NHL

Nick Paul brace takes Game 7 for Lightning in Toronto as Canes, Oilers advance

By Sports Desk May 14, 2022

Nick Paul scored twice, including a stunning individual goal late in the second period, as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in Game 7 on Saturday.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions came from a goal down in the previous two games, and had to do it again on the road at the Scotiabank Arena after Thursday's overtime win to level the series.

Morgan Reilly scored for Toronto but Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped an eventual 29 shots to keep the Lightning in the game, before Paul's brace secured the series win.

The Leafs were condemned to their seventh consecutive playoff series loss, and have not made the second round since 2004. After the match, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe commended the reigning champions on their series win.

"They [Tampa Bay] don’t get a lot of credit because you don’t really think of them this way, but we knew coming into this series that going into third periods down against this team was going to be a challenge," he said post-game.

"They are the number-one team in the NHL when it comes to limiting chances against when up a goal in the third period. All regular season, they were that.

"That is sort of the hallmark of their success. That is championship hockey. They didn’t give us a great deal in that third period tonight. Those are the things I take away - just how hard they defend and how they prioritise defending."

In Saturday's other results, the Carolina Hurricanes won their series-deciding game at home to the Boston Bruins 3-2, while the Edmonton Oilers claimed Game 7 against the Los Angeles Kings with a 2-0 win.

Related items

  • NHL: Surging Lightning take down Atlantic Division-leading Bruins NHL: Surging Lightning take down Atlantic Division-leading Bruins

    Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 23 shots and Nikita Kucherov scored to take over the NHL scoring lead as the surging Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Atlantic Division-leading Boston Bruins, 3-1, on Wednesday.

    Mitchell Chaffee and Brayden Point also had goals for the Lightning, who improved to 7-0-1 in their last eight games to move within two points of Toronto for third place in the Atlantic Division.

    Point, who has six goals and two assists in the last four games, and defenseman Victor Hedman both returned after missing one game with lower-body injuries.

    Danton Heinen had the lone goal for Boston, which lost its third in four games and missed an opportunity to jump over the Rangers and take over the league lead in points.

    Kucherov’s empty-net goal capped the scoring and gave him a league-leading 124 points, one more than Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon.

     

    Senators score 5 in 1st in win over Sabres

    Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists and Joonas Korpisalo stopped 34 shots as the Ottawa Senators rolled to a 6-2 rout of the Buffalo Sabres.

    The Senators scored five times in the first period to chase starter Ukko-Pekka Luukonen, who allowed the first four goals on nine shots. Devon Levi stopped 31 of 32 shots the rest of the way.

    Artem Zub, Boris Katchouk, Drake Batherson, Jakob Chychrun and Brady Tkachuk all scored in the opening period to help Ottawa win its third straight.

    JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton had second-period goals for the Sabres, who have lost three of four and remained eight points behind the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

     

  • NHL: Predators rally past Golden Knights for OT win to extend point streak to 18 NHL: Predators rally past Golden Knights for OT win to extend point streak to 18

    Roman Josi scored 40 seconds into overtime to cap a stunning comeback and the Nashville Predators extended their point streak to 18 games with a 5-4 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

    The Predators scored three times in the third period to erase a 4-1 deficit before Josi’s goal gave them their sixth straight win and a 16-0-2 mark since a regulation loss to Dallas on Feb. 15.

    Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists to reach 40 goals for the second time in his career. He has seven goals and seven assists during a seven-game point streak.

    Ivan Barbashev, Brett Howden and Shea Theodore scored first-period goals for Vegas and Mark Jankowski’s tally in the second made it 4-1.

    The Golden Knights, who had won three straight, pulled within one point of Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific Division and are six points ahead of St. Louis for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.

    Rangers clinch playoff berth

    Adam Fox scored 36 seconds into overtime after a wild third period and the New York Rangers became the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

    Alexis Lafreniere scored twice and Vincent Trocheck had a goal and two assists for the Rangers, who took over the NHL lead with their 100th point and gave coach Peter Laviolette his 800th victory.

    The teams combined for seven goals in the third period with Philadelphia’s Tyson Foerster scoring with 3:31 left to forge a 5-5 tie.

    Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers, who are winless in four straight road games (0-2-2) and have a one-point lead over Washington in the race for third in the Metropolitan Division.

    Bruins beat Panthers to move atop Atlantic

    Trent Frederic and Pavel Zacha scored late in the third period to rally the Boston Bruins to a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers, moving them into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.

    Carter Verhaeghe scored midway through the third period to give Florida a 3-2 lead but Frederic scored on a power play with 4:22 remaining and Zacha put Boston ahead just over two minutes later.

    Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak also had goals for the Bruins, who avoided a third straight loss and lead the Atlantic with 99 points, two ahead of the Panthers.

    Evan Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart also tallied for the Panthers, who dropped to 1-4-1 in their last six games since losing star defenseman Aaron Ekblad to a lower-body injury on March 9.

  • NHL: Golden Knights, Kings earn key wins NHL: Golden Knights, Kings earn key wins

    Jonathan Marchessault scored during a wild opening minute of overtime to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Monday that strengthened the defending Stanley Cup champions' bid for a play-off spot.

    Marchessault's goal came just 19 seconds after Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson denied Pavel Buchnevich on a penalty shot that the Blues were awarded when Knights' defenseman Noah Hanifin tripped Buchnevich from behind 30 seconds into overtime.

    Thompson recorded 31 saves in Vegas' third straight win, which increased the Golden Knights' lead on St. Louis to five points for the Western Conference's final wild-card berth.

    The Blues lost for just the second time in their last eight games, but still managed to pick up a point when Brandon Saad knocked in a cross-ice pass from Brayden Schenn to tie the game at 1-1 with 5:07 left in regulation.

    Vegas' Pavel Dorofeyev had the game's lone goal up to that point, a close-range attempt he powered past St. Louis netminder Jordan Binnington 5:59 into the contest.

    Binnington regrouped to stop all 12 shots he faced in the second period and finished with 32 saves.

    Kings hold on to edge Canucks for fourth straight win

    The Los Angeles Kings were able to maintain a two-point edge over Vegas for third place in the Pacific Division by hanging on for a 3-2 win over the first-place Vancouver Canucks.

    Anže Kopitar had a goal and an assist and Cam Talbot came up with 21 saves as Los Angeles extended its winning streak to four games.

    The Kings took a 3-1 lead when Blake Lizotte and Kopitar scored less than two minutes apart late in the second period, but Vancouver fought back to make it a one-goal game when Brock Boeser's shot deflected off Kopitar and trickled past Talbot with 2:53 left to play.

    Vancouver had a chance to draw even when Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty received a tripping penalty with 21 seconds remaining, but the Kings held on with the Canucks pulling goaltender Casey DeSmith for a 6-on-4 advantage.

    Kevin Fiala's 24th goal of the season gave the Kings a 1-0 lead 7:01 in, but Vancouver drew even when Sam Lafferty stuffed the puck past Talbot with 7:10 to go in the first period.

    DeSmith had 16 saves for the Canucks, who had a three-game winning streak halted.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.