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.
New York Rangers vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Round 2 began on Sunday, with one game coming in on the schedule before Round 1 had even completely wrapped up (more on that later). This new matchup came between the Rangers and the Hurricanes, and it certainly got off to an interesting start.
It began with the Rangers, the more rested of these two teams, getting off to a hot start and jumping out to an early lead, as Mika Zinanejad scored inside the first three minutes of play, and we were off. The Hurricanes struck back quickly, though, tying the game up just a minute later, care of a goal by Jaccob Slavin on a slap shot from the point that found its way through traffic and in. But through the rest of the period, the Rangers really started to take over — they seemed to get the better of the chances on the whole, and two power play goals (Zinanejad again, then Vincent Trocheck) allowed them to run away with the lead, heading into the first intermission.
The Hurricanes didn’t go away quietly in this one, and early in the third period, Martin Necas scored to bring them back within one goal of the Rangers. Artemi Panarin restored that two-goal lead for the Rangers just before the halfway point of the period, but it still wasn’t over for the Hurricanes. Seth Jarvis scored with under two minutes to go, with the goalie pulled, and there looked like the Hurricanes might have a late-game surge in them to force overtime, but ultimately, they fell just short. And the Rangers took Game 1 at home.
Final: 4-3 Rangers
Series: 1-0 Rangers
Highlights: NHL
Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights
And after all of that, we still had to see the first round wrapped up. Back in Dallas, we saw what felt like, in some ways, a fitting conclusion to a series that really tightened up as we went, with another close game to wrap it up.
It began with the scoring opening up on a goal by Wyatt Johnson — his fourth of the playoffs already, he’s been everywhere for the Stars — late in the first period, giving the Stars their first lead of the game. Despite that early breakthrough on the scoring front, though, this game still felt pretty even. The Golden Knights were matching the Stars well in terms of chances created, in terms of pace, and when they finally tied things up late in the second period (their goal from Brett Howden), it felt like it was a long time coming.
So the series, it would seem, was coming down not just to one game, but to one period. And the Stars wasted no time pulling back into the lead in that final period, as they jumped ahead again on a nifty little goal on a backhand shot by Radek Faksa just 44 seconds into the frame. And the Golden Knights pushed back from here, but the Stars didn’t make it easy on them — indeed, when they could have just parked the bus for the final period and played only defense, instead they let their offense keep rolling, and actually ended up out-chancing the Golden Knights through those final 19 minutes and change. In the end, the Golden Knights couldn’t get any of their chances past Jake Oettinger, and that Faksa goal held as the game-winner, and the Stars, after some real drama to start the series, secured their place in the second round.
Final: 2-1 Stars
Series: 4-3 Stars
Highlights: NHL
