Playoff hockey continued with a pair of Game 2s and one Game 3 on Wednesday night, starting with the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens.
Connor McMichael scored twice to secure a 3-1 Capitals win and a 2-0 series lead on home ice. The series moves to Montreal on Friday at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Los Angeles Kings also extended their series lead to 2-0 after routing the Edmonton Oilers 6-2. Adrian Kempe finished with two goals and two assists, while Darcy Kuemper finished with 24 saves. Edmonton will head to the drawing board and look to win Game 3 at home on Friday at 10 p.m. ET.
In Colorado, the Dallas Stars took a 2-1 series lead over the Avalanche behind a 2-1 win, thanks to a rugged defensive performance as Dallas flexed its playoff experience and an overtime goal from Tyler Seguin to snuff out the energy in Ball Arena. They’ll play Game 4 in Colorado on Saturday.
Capitals 3, Canadiens 1
(Capitals lead series 2-0)
Strome, Beauvillier clicking
Dylan Strome’s offensive instincts are impressive, and in the second period, he used them to help put Washington back in the driver’s seat. One minute after Connor McMichael’s goal tied the score 1-1, Strome scored, shooting the puck off Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault’s pads and unintentionally creating his own rebound. The net was open, and that was that.
Strome’s backhand was the capper to a slick offensive sequence by the Capitals. Montreal, after having Patrik Laine stuck on the ice for a defensive zone faceoff, failed to get the puck deep enough into the zone for a full change. The Capitals’ John Carlson retrieved the puck and sent it past a changing Laine to teammate Ryan Leonard at the blue line. Leonard gained the zone and found Anthony Beauvillier for a one-time pass to Strome alone in the slot. Beauvillier and Strome, typically with Alex Ovechkin as their left wing, have been highly effective and highly productive across both games — and that’s after only getting about 24 minutes together in the regular season.
“(Beauvillier is) smart,” Strome said before Game 2. “He knows how to score. He doesn’t give up offense for defense, which helps (Ovechkin) and I a lot.” — Arpon Basu
A momentum-shifting fall
Canadiens defenseman David Savard is playing his final NHL season. He is an inspirational leader for the team. He has mentored most of the team’s young defense corps as each player entered the NHL.
But David Savard has been used sparingly at five-on-five over the second half of the season, and shortly after the Canadiens took their first lead of the series on Christian Dvorak’s second-period goal, Savard fell.
The Canadiens had a two-on-two situation behind their net with Savard defending against McMichael. When Savard tumbled, McMichael was left alone with the puck and no one checking him. He worked his way around the Canadiens’ net, came out the other side and took a shot that Montembeault turned aside. When the rebound went right back to McMichael, he attempted a pass through the slot just as Savard was making his way back into the play, and the puck caromed off him and behind Montembeault to tie the score for the Capitals at 3:47 of the second period.
Strome scored his go-ahead goal one minute later.
Savard sat on the Canadiens’ bench for close to 10 minutes of game time after the McMichael goal and got only 48 seconds more of ice time in the second period. He played a more or less regular shift in the third, but the damage was done.
Hockey is a game of mistakes, and Savard wasn’t the only one on the Canadiens to make one in this game. But not all mistakes are created equal. This one was costly. — Sean Gentille
Kings 6, Oilers 2
(Kings lead series 2-0)
McDavid and Draisaitl together a wash
With Evander Kane back in the lineup, the Oilers loaded up their top line with their two superstars, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and veteran Corey Perry on right wing. Though they controlled play at five-on-five, the tangible results didn’t show that.
Each member of that trio was on the ice for 1:16 when Byfield gobbled up a loose puck along the boards, walked in and beat Skinner. McDavid was on when Andrei Kuzmenko scored on the power play. (He’s been getting some PK duty this series as the sixth forward with Kasperi Kapanen scratched.)
Draisaitl got the Oilers on the board and within two goals by chipping in a pass from Klingberg, who was making his playoff debut with the team and playing his first game since March 27. That extended Draisaitl’s playoff point streak against the Kings to 16 games.
The McDavid-and-Draisaitl combination probably deserved more luck Wednesday. That they didn’t get it led to the Oilers’ demise. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman
Kuemper shows his regular-season form
There isn’t any doubt that Winnipeg’s star goalie Connor Hellebuyck will take home his second consecutive Vezina Trophy and third of his career. But it’s possible Darcy Kuemper winds up as a finalist for the first time after a return to Los Angeles that’s been exceptional. He went 31-11-7 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .921 save percentage.
In Game 1, Kuemper was closer to ordinary as the Oilers put five pucks behind him on 25 shots. He’d come out victorious on Phillip Danault’s game-winning goal with 41.1 seconds left, but that was only after McDavid fueled an Oilers rally and beat him for a 5-5 tie with 1:28 remaining. Interestingly, Kuemper said he felt good about his Game 1.
“They obviously have some great players that made some great plays,” Kuemper said. “We know that they’re going to be a challenge to contain. Obviously don’t like giving up the lead like that, but I felt good about my game. Just keep doing what I’ve been doing.”
In Game 2, Kuemper showed he was dialed in early when he stoned Zach Hyman with a doorstep stop on Edmonton’s power play. If there was a decisive advantage the Kings might have over the Oilers, it would be in goal. Kuemper showed why with a steady performance. — Eric Stephens
Stars 2, Avalanche 1
(Stars lead series 2-1)
Early momentum swing
Despite all the emotion and energy in the rink with Gabriel Landeskog’s stirring return to action after nearly three years away, Colorado started slowly. Five minutes into the game, the Stars were in total control, up 4-0 in shots and owning the puck. When Ryan Lindgren was sent to the box for cross-checking Wyatt Johnston at 6:28, Dallas appeared poised to take over. But a fateful call changed the complexion of the game.
Seventeen seconds into the power play, Mikko Rantanen was called for tripping Valeri Nichushkin. Replays showed Nichushkin fell on his own, and that Rantanen’s stick never touched him. But in the ensuing four-on-four action, Nichushkin scored a beauty of a goal — stickhandling his way through the offensive zone, wheeling back and then making a sudden 180 in the high slot. Dallas defenseman Thomas Harley, who had been with Nichushkin every step of the way, ran into a pick from Brock Nelson and Nichushkin had an instant breakaway, going out wide to tuck the puck around Jake Oettinger’s skate. Just like that, Colorado had the lead, not Dallas.
The Stars still dominated the period from there — out-attempting the Avs 20-9 and outchancing them 7-4 at five-on-five — but Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 13 shots he faced to send Colorado into the locker room with a 1-0 lead. — Mark Lazerus
Rantanen remains frustrated
Rantanen is ninth all-time in postseason points per game at 1.22 — just behind Mike Bossy and just ahead of Jari Kurri. But he’s still looking for his first point of this series. After getting knocked down by Landeskog, he later whiffed on a scoring chance after Mikael Granlund forced a Nathan MacKinnon turnover midway through the first. Rantanen looked good from there, though, firing five shots on goal and routinely getting to the front of the Colorado net.
Shots are fine. But goals are better. And the Stars need goals.
“Couple good looks in the first and second period to score, just gotta stay with it, not get frustrated,” Rantanen told Hextall. “Not a lot of room out there five-on-five. When the chances come, you’ve got to try to bury them. Hopefully, I can do a better job with that.”
Rantanen picked up his first point of the series — and it was a big one — on Seguin’s game winner. — Lazerus
(Photo of Connor McMichael: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
