Stanley Cup Playoffs wrap up: Three upsets in the making?

Throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs we’ll be keeping track of all the action around the league, and bringing you all of the results in one place.

Stanley Cup Qualifiers: No. 7 New York Islanders vs. No. 10 Florida Panthers

With the Panthers needing a win to stay in the bubble and extend their season, it was going to be a tall task against the Islanders. They got off on the right foot after a sluggish first period with an Erik Haula power play goal about four minutes into the second period. The Islanders trade deadline acquisition Jean-Gabriel Pageau would even the score though late in the second and that’s how they’d be going into the third. The Panthers’ showed enough life to fight another day as they got goals from Mike Hoffman and Brian Boyle en route to the victory.

Final: Panthers 3, Islanders 2
Series: 2-1 Islanders
SB Nation team perspective FLA l NYI
Highlights: NHL

Stanley Cup Qualifiers: No. 6 Nashville Predators vs. No. 11 Arizona Coyotes

It looked like, after a game two victory, the Predators would be on their way to a series win in four over the Coyotes. Today though, the Coyotes had other plans. They got on the board first with a goal from Christian Dvorak who picked up his second of the series. The Preds would tie it in the second with a goal from Viktor Arvidsson but that would be the last time they’d light the lamp in this one. Arizona scored three third period goals all coming from different players (Conor Garland, Taylor Hall, Carl Soderberg). They received another incredible effort from Darcy Kuemper who made 39 saves on 40 shots. They’ll look for the series win on Friday.

Final: Coyotes 4, Predators 1
Series: 2-1 Coyotes
SB Nation team perspective: NSH l ARZ
Highlights: NHL

Stanley Cup round robin: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins

After beating the Capitals in a shootout to open up their round robin schedule, the Lightning faced the team they battled the entire regular season for tops in the Atlantic. They got off to a strong start with two goals in the opening frame from Brayden Point and Alex Killorn. Boston would answer with two of their own with a goal from Charlie McAvoy in the second, and then Chris Wagner in the third. The game appeared destined for overtime, then Tyler Johnson pounced on a Yanni Gourde shot and buried the rebound. Tampa would hang on to win 3-2 and guaranteed themselves a third or higher seeding.

Final: Lightning 3, Bruins 2
SB Nation team perspective: TBL l BOS
Highlights: NHL

Stanley Cup round robin: Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche

Colorado came into this game off a thrilling buzzer-beater finish vs. the defending champs in the St. Louis Blues, meanwhile Dallas came in off a 5-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. From the jump, Colorado was in total control. Cale Makar scored just three minutes in and they wouldn’t look back from there. Joonas Donskoi added one towards the end of the period, and then Vladislav Namestnikov and Andre Burakovsky would tack on goals to seal the deal. Colorado does the same as Tampa Bay in ensuring them at the very least a third place seed.

Final: Avalanche 4, Stars 0
SB Nation team perspective: DAL l COL
Highlights: NHL

Stanley Cup Qualifiers: No. 5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 12 Montreal Canadiens

In the series that is without a doubt the most difficult one for us as Flyers fans to watch, we entered tied at one game a piece. Pittsburgh evened the series in game two and I think it’s fair to have assumed they’d be well on their way to winning this series, and to be fair, the Pens started strong. Despite the opening goal from Shea Weber of the Canadiens, the Pens answered with two in the first from Patric Hornqvist and mid-season acquisition Jason Zucker. They opened the second with a goal from Teddy Blueger (still amazed this is a real person), and it looked like the Pens had this one in the bag. Montreal proceeded to laugh in the face of that thought and score three unanswered goals to win game two and push the Penguins to the brink of elimination. Game four is Friday, and we could be in store for a massive upset.

Final: Canadiens 4, Penguins 3
Series: 2-1 Canadiens
SB Nation team perspective: PIT l MTL
Highlights: NHL

Stanley Cup Qualifiers: No. 5 Edmonton Oilers vs. No. 12 Chicago Blackhawks

The Oilers rebounded after a poor defensive showing in game one, and looked to continue that momentum heading into game three. Chicago struck first with a seeing-eye goal from Olli Maatta, but less than 30 seconds later MVP candidate Leon Draisaitl tied the game up. With just five seconds remaining in the first, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews would put his team up 2-1 with a power play goal. In the second it was the two big guns for Edmonton leading the way with Draisaitl scoring his second, and Connor McDavid giving them the lead. The Hawks would tie it late in the third period however on a goal by Matthew Highmore, and win it on a goal 18:44 into the final period by the captain Toews. Chicago is now one game away from somehow getting into the playoffs with game four coming up on Friday.

Final: Blackhawks 4, Oilers 3
Series: 2-1 Blackhawks
SB Nation team perspective: EDM l CHI
Highlights: NHL