Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 6: Panthers, Canes take 3-0 stranglehold on series’

That goal proved to be very important, as Nick Paul made it a one-goal game with just over five minutes remaining, and they pressed hard for the tying goal after that, knowing that their playoff lives were likely on the line. But, Tkachuk would secure the win for the Cats with an empty net goal.

With the 5-3 win, the Panthers take a 3-0 series lead in the series, which is the third time in their past four playoff series that they’ve done so. Along with Tkachuk’s two-goal performance, Lorentz, Montour, Carter Verhaeghe and Gustav Forsling all finished the night with two points to help their team to the win.

Andersen stops 29 in 3-2 Canes win to put Isles on the brink

The first two games in this series saw the New York Islanders play up to the Carolina Hurricanes surprisingly well, playing a low-scoring goalie duel showdown in Game 1 and then taking a 3-0 lead in Game 2. And yet, they lost both games, and found themselves down 0-2 in the series despite the fact that the Canes probably hadn’t played their best hockey in those two games. Would the Isles finally pull off the victory while the Hurricanes let them, especially with Ilya Sorokin back in the crease, or would Carolina step up their game and not let them get close again?

The answer? Once again, neither.

While the Isles didn’t full-on dominate the first period, they certainly played with a desperate edge that allowed them to outplay the Canes. By the time the frame was over, New York outshot Carolina 15-9, and had a 0.83-0.56 edge in expected goals. And yet, it was the Canes who had a 2-0 lead, as defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov both scored in the first.

The Isles never stayed out of the game though. Pierre Engvall scored just 2:48 into the second period to make it a one goal game, and then when Sebastian Aho made it 3-1 five minutes later, Brock Nelson responded in the final 2:21 of the frame to make it close again for the third period. Unfortunately for Sorokin though, that Aho goal ended his night, with Patrick Roy opting to put Semyon Varlamov back in the crease after Sorokin allowed three goals on 14 shots.

Only needing just one goal to tie it, New York had most of the possession in the third period, as they outshot Carolina 11-3 and out-attempted them 27-13. But the Canes didn’t concede too many chances, only trailing 0.72-0.58 in expected goals. However, that still didn’t mean that Frederik Andersen didn’t have to make the odd nice save.

Once the Isles pulled the goalie, the Canes never even let them set up in the offensive zone, so New York had no chance to tie it after that point. Carolina didn’t score to give them some breathing room, but they didn’t concede one either, and they’d take a 3-0 series lead with the 3-2 win. Andrei Svechnikov had assists on Orlov and Aho’s goals, while Andersen stopped 29 of 31 shots for the win.