The 2023 NHL Playoffs featured some big games on Thursday night time. The Vegas Golden Knights turned the primary group to win a sequence, the Tampa Bay Lightning staved off elimination in opposition to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the New Jersey Devils took a 3-2 sequence lead agains the New York Rangers.
The Maple Leafs haven’t reached the second spherical of the playoffs since 2004, and so they had an opportunity to finish that drought on Thursday. Nonetheless, the back-to-back-to-back Japanese Convention champs had one thing to say about that. The Tampa Bay Lightning quieted the Scotiabank Enviornment crowd with a 4-2 win to drive Recreation 6.
Within the second sport of the night, the Devils continued their stretch of dominance in opposition to the Rangers. New Jersey rolled to a 4-0 win whereas rookie goaltender Akira Schmid pissed off the Rangers with one other good displaying within the crease. New Jersey can now remove New York in Madison Sq. Backyard in Recreation 6.
The Golden Knights turned the primary group to advance to the second spherical after they blew out the Jets, 4-1, in Recreation 5. Chandler Stephenson bought the social gathering began lower than a minute into the sport, Vegas did not let its foot off the fuel pedal. The Golden Knights will now face the winner of the sequence between the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers.
For the total playoff schedule and remaining rating updates on each Stanley Cup Playoff sequence, click here. For now, observe alongside tonight because the first-round motion continues.
Lightning keep alive, drive Recreation 6 in Tampa
The Toronto Maple Leafs had an opportunity to achieve the second spherical of the playoffs for the primary time in 19 years on Thursday, however the Tampa Bay Lightning stored that drought alive for not less than yet one more day with a 4-2 win.
The Maple Leafs bought Scotiabank Enviornment rocking early when Morgan Rielly beat Andrei Vasilevskiy to present Toronto a 1-0 lead lower than six minutes into the sport.
Nonetheless, it was all Lightning after that.
Simply 26 seconds after Rielly opened the scoring, Anthony Cirelli punched dwelling a rebound to tie the sport at 1-1.That rating would maintain till 4:23 of the second interval, when Michael Eyssimont flew down the left-wing facet of the ice and tucked a shot beneath Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov for a smooth objective.
Nick Paul prolonged Tampa’s result in 3-1 halfway via the third interval, however the story of the ultimate body was the Bolts’ potential to smother Toronto’s offensive assault. Toronto could not get a lot of something going till it pulled Samsonov for the additional attacker.
Auston Matthews was in a position to make it a one-goal sport with a couple of minutes remaining in regulation, however the Lightning held on for an enormous win to drive a Recreation 6. Now, the sequence will shift again to Tampa, and there shall be plenty of strain on Toronto to recover from the hump on the highway.
Devils cruise to Recreation 5 win over Rangers
Sadly for the Rangers, the development of the highway group successful each sport on this sequence ended on Thursday night time. The Devils turned in one other dominant efficiency for a 4-0 win at dwelling, and so they have come again to guide the sequence 3-2.
For the third sport in a row, New Jersey has utterly pissed off a New York roster that’s loaded with firepower up entrance. The Rangers might solely muster 23 pictures on objective, and when the Devils did want a giant save, rookie goaltender Akira Schmid was there to make it.
On the offensive facet of issues, Ondrej Palat bought the social gathering began simply 39 seconds into the primary interval when he bought a lucky bounce on a rebound objective.
After the Rangers gained the particular groups battle in Video games 1 and a pair of, the Devils clobbered them in that division in Recreation 5. Erik Haula tallied an influence play objective within the second interval, and Dawson Mercer made it a 3-0 sport with a shorthanded objective about 10 minutes later.
New Jersey regarded useless within the water after dropping the primary two video games in Newark, however the group has utterly flipped the script within the final three video games. The Devils have merely outplayed the Rangers, and they’re one win away from disposing of their rivals and advancing to the second spherical.
Golden Knights remove Jets in dominant style
We’ve got our first handshake line of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Vegas Golden Knights had been decided to finish this sequence in Recreation 5, and the Winnipeg Jets did not present a lot resistance in a 4-1 loss.
The opening minute of this sport was a preview for issues to return. Simply 50 seconds into the sport, Vegas pressured a turnover, and a slick passing play allowed Chandler Stephenson to slip the puck behind Connor Hellebuyck for a objective.
With star defenseman Josh Morrissey out of the lineup with a lower-body damage, the Jets had main points making an attempt to get the puck out of their very own zone. The Golden Knights’ forecheck was relentless, and it resulted in one other objective simply 42 seconds into the second interval when Mark Stone capitalized on a Winnipeg mistake.
The Golden Knights would add two extra objectives within the second interval, and by that time, the sport was out of attain. Vegas did not give Winnipeg any room to breathe, and the Jets did not actually check Golden Knights goaltender Laurent Brossoit till they pulled the goalie with 8:18 remaining within the third interval.
To his credit score, Brossoit made among the best saves of the postseason up to now on one of many uncommon scoring probabilities for the Jets.
After eliminating the Jets, the Golden Knights will now advance to play both the Los Angeles Kings or Edmonton Oilers within the second spherical.
