The reigning Stanley Cup champion has picked up steam. Colorado clinched the playoff series against Seattle with a 6–4 victory on the road. Mikko Rantanen was the tip of the iceberg with his two goals.
Colorado lost the opener against Seattle, but is now back in the driver’s seat after two straight wins.
The visitors’ offense decided the fight last night. The team’s fixed stars, Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon, each had a hit at the beginning of the third period as Colorado went from 3–3 to 5–3.
Rantanen definitely punctuated the match when he scored the 6-3 goal in an empty cage at 57.46. He also played until a tub. Artturi Lehkonen was also hungry for points – he was noted for 0+2.
Thanks to his three points, Rantanen climbed to third in points among the Finns in the NHL playoffs with 3+1. Dallas Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen have five points each.
Can Toronto break the curse?
The fabled Toronto Maple Leafs took a step toward breaking their playoff curse by defeating Tampa Bay 4-3 in overtime. Toronto hasn’t won a single playoff series since 2004. Not to mention the Stanley Cup, which Toronto hasn’t won in 56 years.
The series against Tampa has been intense and it really heated up last night. Toronto’s Morgan Rielly tackled Brayden Point in the third period and the Tampa player was injured. That was the origin of a brawl – Tampa captain Steven Stamkos challenged Auston Matthews to a fight, the first of the Toronto star’s career.
Brayden Point returned to the rink a few minutes later.
Morgan Rielly who delivered the stopper against Point, was the match winner for the visitors. Ryan O’Reilly, who equalized at the end of the third period, won a draw and Rielly scored the winning goal in overtime right on the pass.
Toronto leads the series 2–1 in games.
Extra time was also required in Madison Square Garden. New Jersey defeated the New York Rangers 2–1 thanks to Dougie Hamilton’s goal to cut the series to 1–2 in games.
Winnipeg sprinted in vain
The Vegas Golden Knights appeared to be on their way to a comfortable away win over Winnipeg as they led 4-1.
The home team did not give up and tied the score at 4-4 through Adam Lowry when only 22 seconds remained in the third period.
The match was decided only in the second overtime period. Mike Amadio scored the 5–4 goal for Vegas at 83.40.
To make matters worse for Winnipeg, the team’s star quarterback Josh Morrisey was injured in the first period. The prognosis does not look promising – he will not play for the rest of the series against Vegas.
The Golden Knights lead the playoff series thanks to last night’s 2-1 overtime victory in games.
NHL Result:
Seattle – Colorado 4–6
Mikko Rantanen COL 2+1, +2, 18.19
Artturi Lehkonen COL 0+2, +1, 21.20
Eeli Tolvanen SEA 0+0, +1, 17.10
Colorado leads 2–1 in matches.
New York Rangers – New Jersey 1-2 after overtime
Niko Mikkola NYR 0+0, +/- 0, 15.14
Kaapo Kakko NYR 0+0, +/- 0, 11.46
Erik Haula NJD 0+0, -1, 19.45
New York Rangers lead 2–1 in games.
Tampa Bay – Toronto 3-4 after overtime
Toronto leads 2–1 in matches.
Winnipeg – Vegas 4-5 after overtime
Saku Mäenalanen WPG 0+0, +/- 0, 8.58
Vegas leads 2–1 in games.
Four wins are required for advancement.
