BOSTON/ DENVER — Tyler Seguin and Logan Stankoven scored two goals each and goaltender Jake Oettinger thwarted Colorado’s high-powered offense, stanching the Colorado Avalanche’s comeback prowess in a 4-1 win that gave the Dallas Stars the upper hand in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series.
“I don’t think a coach has ever seen a perfect game, but I’ll tell you that’s as close to a perfect road game as you can play, in my mind, in this situation,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Carter Verhaeghe scored on the same Bruins double-minor, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 14 shots as the Florida Panthers defeated Boston Bruins 6-2 to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semi-final series.
Evan Rodrigues scored twice, and Brandon Montour also connected for the Panthers, who have won back-to-back games after dropping the opener at home. A 6-1 winner, Florida scored 10 straight goals before Jakub Lauko made it 4-1 early in the third and Jake DeBrusk followed with 11:31 left to make it a two-goal game.
But Boston, which played the final 20 minutes without captain and No. 2 scorer Brad Marchand, could get no closer before Sam Reinhart added an empty-netter with 1:24 left. Rodrigues scored again – Florida´s fourth power-play goal of the game – in the final minute.
Evan Bouchard, meanwhile, scored 5:38 into overtime and Edmonton Oilers beat Vancouver Canucks to even their second-round playoff series at one game apiece, AP reported.
Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid each had a goal and three assists, and Mattias Ekholm also scored for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner finished with 16 saves.
Nikita Zadorov had a goal and an assist, and Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser also scored for the Canucks. Arturs Silovs made 27 saves.
In the extra period, Bouchard got the game-winner with a shot from near the boards that skittered in past Silovs.
McDavid used his speed to tie the score 3-3 at 5:27 of the third. The elite center picked up a contested puck in the neutral zone, sprinted down the ice ahead of a pair of Canucks defensemen, and sent a shot flying under Silovs´ blocker for his second postseason goal.
Edmonton continued to press for the winner late, hemming Vancouver into its own end for extended stretches and outshooting the home side 15-2 across the third period, but had to settle for overtime.
Edmonton and Vancouver both went 1-for-3 on the power play.
The Canucks opened the scoring on an early power play. With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in the box for tripping, J.T Miller wound up and looked like he was about to launch a big shot from the faceoff circle.
Instead, he sliced a pass across the slot to Pettersson, who fired a quick snap shot past an out-of-position Skinner 4:16 into the game for his first of the playoffs.
Edmonton´s potent power play got to work before the first intermission after Tyler Myers was called for hooking.
Stationed at the goal line, McDavid sent a pass in the slot to Draisaitl, who fired it in to tie the score at 1-1 with his sixth goal of the playoffs at 10:56. Draisaitl was listed as a game-time decision earlier in the day due to an undisclosed injury.
Silovs kept the Oilers from taking a lead into the locker room with some last-second heroics at the end of the opening period.
Ekholm fired a slap shot from distance and the rookie goalie got a glove on it. He couldn´t contain the puck, however, and Hyman was there to scoop up the rebound. Silovs then drove across the net to stop the sniper from the side of the net.
The ice opened up early in the second after Edmonton´s Derek Ryan was sent to the box for interference and Vancouver´s Nils Hoglander was called for slashing, setting up two minutes of 4-on-4 hockey.
Fifty-three seconds into the period, Carson Soucy fired a shot on net from inside the blue line and Boeser tipped it in past Skinner from the middle of the slot. His fifth goal of the playoffs put the Canucks up 2-1.
The lead lasted 23 seconds.
With both sides still down a man, Draisaitl sent a pass to Ekholm from the blue line and the veteran defenseman sent a shot sailing past Silovs from the high hash marks, knotting the score at 2-2 with his second of the postseason.
Zadorov put the home side up once again with 1:43 left in the second. The bruising defenseman picked up a puck from Miller in the neutral zone, streaked down the ice and unleashed a wrist shot that soared up and under the cross bar to make it 3-2. It was Zadorov´s fourth of the playoffs.
