The Colorado Avalanche picked up a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings in their Game 3 matchup. With this, the Avalanche now have a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Kings and have increased their odds of advancing to the second round significantly.
Former Montreal Canadiens forward Artturri Lehkonen certainly played a role in the Avalanche winning Game 3, as he put together a strong performance for the Central Division club.
First, Lehkonen recorded an assist on Cale Makar's second-period goal that gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead. Then, the former Canadiens winger scored the Avalanche's game-winning goal at the 7:39 mark of the third period.
After a game like this, it is clear that Lehkonen was the Avalanche's hero for Game 3. The former Canadiens forward now has two goals and three points in three playoff games for Colorado this spring. This is after he had 21 goals, 27 assists, 48 points, and a plus-32 rating in 70 games this regular season.
It will now be interesting to see if the former Canadiens forward can stay hot for the Avalanche from here. He is having a great start to the playoffs.
The Buffalo Sabres were in a precarious position trailing 1-0 in the second period and facing a penaltyshot attempt from Viktor Arvidsson, who scored a pair of goals in the Boston Bruins 4-2 victory in Game 2 earlier this week. After a loss where Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen dropped the ball by allowing a center-ice dump-in to get past him and change the momentum of the series, Lyon stopped Arvidsson and gave the Sabres the boost they needed in a 3-1 victory in Game 3 at TD Garden on Thursday to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
"(The Lyon save was) definitely a turning point,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. “I mean really bad luck, (Rasmus Dahlin) breaks a stick and can't do anything with the puck, and (Alex) came up with a huge save for us, at a crucial time of the game."
Bowen Byram tied the game soon after, and Alex Tuch scored the game winner early in the third period, with Noah Ostlund adding the empty-net insurance goal. The rookie center had a two-point night (1 goal, 1 assist) in his first NHL playoff game in relief of the injured Josh Norris.
“He's got experience, he's been in the (AHL) playoffs. Everybody's a little nervous going into a game like that, I totally understand that," Ruff said. "I thought (Noah) played a really solid game for us, a little disjointed with all the penalties, I'd like to see them play a little bit more because he was going so good. But for a first playoff game with us, you could say, gets an A plus."
The power play continues to be a sore spot for the Sabres, as they went 0 for 5 in Game 3, and are 0 for 14 in the playoffs, but unlike the first two games in Buffalo, where Boston scored with the man advantage in each game, the Sabres killed off four penalties, including a pair of minors in the final 10 minutes of regulation with the Bruins pressing for the tying goal.
"We weren't really happy with our first couple kills. We lost a little bit of our positioning, and gave him a couple big opportunities. We went through through some of those after the first period. And I thought those last two kills were, were excellent," Ruff said "I thought we got a couple great blocks. I thought especially those top four guys up front they were killing and the (Conor)Timmins block, I thought (Mattias) Samuelsson was really solid around net front and didn't really give him that second opportunity."
The Sabres have an extra day of rest in before Game 4 on Sunday afternoon, and Ruff is conveying the message to his club not to get overconfident and flush the results of the win, just as he instructed them to get past the loss in Game 2.
"You've got to get through the emotion of losing a tough game. You lose at home, and you had all this emotion after Game 1. That's the battle of the playoffs is you've got to be ready to put put away a big win, like we have to be ready to put this game away and get ready for a really desperate team on Sunday in their building, Ruff said. "Just the same way they have to put the game away and and know that they got a battle to bounce back. It's something that our guys, some of them, haven't been through, but they've got a little bit of a taste of it."
Leading up to the 2026 NHL trade deadline, Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen was a big name in the rumor mill. However, the Flyers decided to hold on to him past the deadline.
Now, the Flyers' decision to not trade Ristolainen is paying off for them.
Ristolainen has had a strong start to the postseason for the Flyers, as he has three points and a plus-2 rating in three games. This included him scoring in the Flyers' Game 3 win over the Penguins. He also had two assists for the Flyers in Game 1, which was the first playoff game of his 13-year NHL career.
With this, there is no question that he has been making a positive impact for the Flyers this postseason. Had the Flyers decided to trade him, they very well might not have had their strong finish to the regular season that got them into the playoffs.
Ristolainen is exactly the kind of big right-shot defenseman that teams need during the playoffs, and he is showing that with the Flyers right now. It will be interesting to see how he performs as the playoffs continue from here.
The rhythm of this playoff series for the Philadelphia Flyers has been built on repetition. Same lines and pairings, same opponent, same patterns sharpened and re-sharpened until something gives.
But every so often, in the throes of postseason hockey, something small can come in and disrupt that rhythm. Not enough to cause panic, not enough to demand overhaul, but just enough to force a recalibration.
For the Flyers, that recalibration may come in the crease.
Dan Vladar has been, in many ways, one of the crucial constants behind their early series control against the Pittsburgh Penguins. A stabilizer and a leading voice in the locker room, his game has been defined by both spectacle and sequence—save selection, rebound control, emotional presence. It’s the kind of goaltending that pulls focus for all the right reasons.
But Vladar has been asked to backstop three consecutive high-intensity, physical games against Pittsburgh, rarely getting a day off with travel and practices in between. He's stepped up to the challenge (and then some), but he's not immune from joining the banged-up brigade that makes up so many playoff hockey teams.
Head coach Rick Tocchet isn't sweating it, though, should he have to sit Vladar to avoid risking injury. He has full confidence in the other half of the Flyers' goalie tandem, Sam Ersson, to take care of business if he's called upon.
The Wear Beneath the Workload
Vladar took a knock to the hand in Game 3 on April 22. It wasn't dramatic or immediately consequential, but it was cause for a bit of worry.
He followed with a pre-planned maintenance day on April 23. Then another on April 24.
Maintenance days for Tippett, York, and Vladař. Rick Tocchet said Vladař is feeling better today after taking a knock to the hand last night, clarifying that he probably would have a maintenance day today regardless.
Rick Tocchet’s framing was careful, but not dismissive of the question of Vladar's fitness for Game 4 on April 25.
“It’s more of a maintenance thing," he said after practice on Thursday. "He was gonna probably be off [today] anyway, but he’s a little banged up. He feels better today.”
The name of the game for playoffs—especially a series as physical as this one has been—is maintenance, management, and precaution. The Flyers have admitted that they came out of the regular season banged up, but as many NHL players do, have refused to sit out games like these—especially since for most of this Philadelphia team, this is their first playoffs.
But goaltending, more than any other position, lives in the margins of physical precision. A fraction of a second in tracking, a slight hesitation in sealing the post, a rebound that travels a few inches farther than intended—small disruptions like those can compound quickly.
And Vladar has played a lot. Not just in volume, but in intensity. These have not been passive minutes. They’ve been layered, high-attention performances in games where structure has held, but still required finishing touches. The Flyers have not needed him to steal games, but they have needed him to complete them.
The Value of Readiness Over Reaction
If there is a potential shift coming for Game 4, it doesn't feel like one born of urgency. It feels like one born of preparedness.
Sam Ersson has not been an afterthought in this series. He’s been, in Tocchet’s words and actions, a parallel track—developing quietly, staying engaged, maintaining a rhythm that isn’t always visible from the outside.
Tocchet didn’t hedge when asked about the possibility of turning to him for what could be the final game of the series (Flyers currently hold a 3-0 series lead over the Penguins).
“His mental and physical game since the Olympics—I don’t think he’s had a bad start," Tocchet said on Thursday. "I’ll tell you, the Montreal game [on April 14], going in there, we have half [Lehigh Valley Phantoms call-ups], people are saying we’re throwing him to the wolves, and he was really good. So I’m not really worried if he had to play. He’s locked in, even in practice. If his number is called, he’ll be ready to go.”
Tocchet's viewpoint is clear: Should Ersson be put in net for Game 4, they have full confidence that he could slam the door on the Flyers' western Pennsylvania counterparts.
Ersson’s trajectory since the Olympic break has been defined by correction—refinement rather than total reinvention. His game has tightened in predictable ways: cleaner reads through traffic, more controlled rebounds, a steadier presence in moments where games begin to stretch.
“I think that a good finish was well needed," Ersson told media on Thursday. "I had to take a step up from how I was playing and just trying to do my best and contribute. We knew that every point during that stretch mattered. It was very important… I feel like I’m in a good spot with my game. Obviously it helps stringing wins together, makes you feel better about your game.”
The Psychological Balance of a Possible Change
Switching goaltenders in a playoff series—especially with a dominant lead—could be framed as a risk. But it can also be insulation.
The Flyers are not reacting to a breakdown. Vladar has been extremely effective, composed, and aligned with the structure in front of him. The question isn’t whether he can continue. It’s whether he should, right now, in this moment of the series.
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 22, 2026. (Megan DeRuchie-The Hockey News)
Rest, in this context, is not retreat. It’s preservation.
And if Ersson starts Game 4, the responsibility doesn’t change. The environment will.
Philadelphia will still have the advantage of home ice in this game, with a chance to sweep, yes, but also with the expectation of a response from Pittsburgh. The Penguins will push—harder, earlier, with greater urgency. The Flyers know this.
So does Ersson.
“I try to work very hard throughout the year and build day by day and just be ready at all times," he said. "I think that’s something you work on to just keep your game in a good spot so that when your name is called upon, you’re ready to go.”
Continuity, Even in Change
The most important detail in all of this is not who starts Game 4, because at the moment, we just don't know yet. It's that, structurally, very little changes regardless.
The Flyers have built their early series success on predictability—not in the sense of being easy to read, but in the sense of being internally consistent. For a goaltender, that matters.
It defines sightlines, dictates shot quality, reduces the number of situations that require improvisation. And whether it’s Vladar or Ersson, or even AHL call-ups Aleksei Kolosov or Carson Bjarnason, the expectation is not that the goaltender will redefine the game. It’s that he will fit into its existing shape.
If Vladar plays, it will be a continuation with the understanding that he’s managing more than just the opponent.
If Ersson plays, it will be an opportunity—not as a deviation, but as an extension of the same identity.
Either way, the Flyers are not approaching Game 4 as a pivot point. They are approaching it as part of a sequence they believe they control. The crease, for now, is simply the most visible place where that control might be tested.
And the most telling thing about this moment is that it doesn’t feel like this team is uncertain or panicking at a possible point of adversity. Every reaction feels considered. They trust their lineup enough to handle whatever the chaos of the postseason throws at them. Which, in a playoff series defined by structure, discipline, and emotional balance, may be the clearest sign yet of where the Flyers are—and how prepared they are for whatever comes next.
ST. LOUIS -- In a season that was blatantly obvious, at least prior to the Olympic break, that the St. Louis Blues were not a playoff team and looking more and more like a shoe-in for a lottery pick, the fan faction became divided.
On one side, you had the 'Embrace the Tank' faction, that was clamoring for a lottery pick, getting one for the first time since 2008 when the organization took defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with the fourth pick, and on the other hand, you had the loyal diehards that wanted to see the team turn things around and play competitive hockey.
And with each Blues win, when they went 17-5-3 in the final 25 games to go from second-worst in the NHL standings only to the Vancouver Canucks to now jumping all the way up to 11th from the bottom and having just a slim three percent chance (3.5 percent if it includes the first-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings the Blues acquired in the Justin Faulk trade) of winning the draft lottery and moving up, the tanksters continued to get louder and louder.
Why in the world would you double down and not only mess the season up but also mess up the chance at a lottery pick, they screamed? And when the Blues were putting together a stretch of three four-game winning streaks among their 17 wins in the final 25 games, the other side could be heard from with a collective, "finally."
So how should this be viewed? Did the Blues mess up their chance at drafting the next star in the organization or is this a steppingstone to finding a blueprint for playing the way that this group can have success moving forward and let the chips fall where they may when it comes to draft prospects?
Of course, there will be more clarity on this when the draft lottery takes place on May 5, but from the Blues' perspective, they've prepared for either scenario. But in the process, there was never a question of playing poorly just to play poorly and lose compared to playing the right way.
"Once
the season’s over, you wish you had the high pick," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "It’s the pain
of going through that to get it. I did talk to the players after the
trade deadline and I told them, our mandate (was) we’re going to
bring up younger players and we’re going to put them in positions
that reflect what we want to see them. Theo [Lindstein] came up, he never played
an NHL game and he was a top four defenseman. It’s not like we hid
him as a seven. [Dalibor] Dvorsky against the other teams’ top players a lot
of nights with Robert [Thomas]. [Otto] Stenberg came up, [Logan] Mailloux, what was his ice
time pre- and post-Olympics? I said to the players, ‘We have a plan.
Your job is to disrupt the plan. You’re professionals. This is how
you make your living. I expect you to disrupt our plan, and they did
and I give them full marks. Could we have picked (No.) 2 or 3 this
year? It would have ... I think there would be less belief in our group.
In the players that you have asked about, that you have talked about,
there would be a lot less belief in that if we just had rolled over
and just got door-matted for the last seven weeks of the season."
As it sits now, the Blues have the Nos. 11, 15 and 32 picks in the first round; they have the New York Islanders' second first-round pick from the Brayden Schenn trade, which belongs to the Colorado Avalanche, and Armstrong was asked if those picks, depending on where they align after the draft lottery and playoffs are concluded, could be part of a trade or move up.
Everything is in play.
"We’re
all going to have our amateur scouting meetings," Armstrong said. "We’re all going to
go to the U-18s, Alex [Steen] and I and the decision-makers on the amateur
side. That’s (today), we leave. We’ll be in Slovakia for 10
days. We’ll come back, we’ll go to the combine, we’ll interview
the players. After that we’ll go to amateur scout retreat with part
time, full time (scouts). We’ll get our list together and the way that I’ve
done it in the past is OK, give me lines, blocks of players. Where’s
a block? So if there’s a block of four guys and we want to get into
that block, then yeah. Yes we would, I guess that’s the long
answer. We would move up if we can. We’ll also move back if we
don’t like what we see. We can use the picks, we can use prospects,
we can use players, but every team is the same in that fashion. If
there’s somebody there that we believe is in a block outside of our
pick and we can acquire him, we’ll give it our best chance. You
also have to have someone that wants to move out of that pick too."
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Top Philadelphia Flyers prospect Porter Martone has impressed his teammates, the organization, and fans with how well he's played so far, but he's quickly earning the respect of his peers, too.
Ironically, one of those peers is an NHL star who was often the comparison for the 19-year-old forward.
Florida Panthers standout Matthew Tkachuk, on his "Wingmen with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk" podcast, had nothing but good things to say about Martone in the early goings of his NHL career.
"Yeah, Martone, he looks unreal. He had that snipe that ended up being the game-winner. But he looks so confident. Some of these younger players in Philly are making that team fun to watch," Tkachuk said.
"If you look at some of those forwards, man, like, they just buzz around. . . That Martone, he's solid. I haven't played against him--it's hard to say how good these guys are or what type of player they are, because I haven't played agains them yet--but watching them, this team might be for real. They might be for real. They might just be a sneaky, sneaky wagon."
Between the regular season and playoffs, Martone has scored 13 points in 12 total games, registering a point in each of the three Stanley Cup playoff games the Flyers have played against the Pittsburgh Penguins here in Round 1.
The 2025 No. 6 overall pick delivered a key assist against the Carolina Hurricanes, too, to help the Flyers clinch their playoff berth.
The big moments aren't too big for Martone despite his age and relative inexperience, and it has obviously manifested on the scoresheet as well.
For someone like Tkachuk, a player who Martone plays very similarly to despite not having quite the same level of nastiness and physicality, is a huge compliment and a testament to Martone's work ethic and talent.
Apr 20, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) stops the penalty shot by Carolina Hurricanes left wing Jordan Martinook (48) during the first overtime in game two of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
James Guillory/James Guillory-Imagn Images
No game in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs ever has ended with a goal on a penalty shot in overtime and Carolina’s Jordan Martinook was not eager to make history.
He and the Hurricanes thought they’d won Game 2 of their first-round series against Ottawa when teammate Mark Jankowski scored, but a league-initiated challenge ruled the play to be offside, took the goal off the board and rewound the clock. The very next shift, Martinook was hooked by Senators forward Warren Foegele on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot.
“I was trying to tell (the referee) we needed the power play, not the penalty shot,” Martinook said. He got turned aside by Linus Ullmark, then scored the winner in double overtime.
There have been four penalty shots already in these playoffs — more through 21 games than the previous three years’ worth combined, including zero in 2025 — and the goaltenders have saved all four.
Two more penalty shots would tie the record for the most in a single postseason. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for the uptick in refs calling for penalty shots over power plays, but there is no doubt it has added rare and must-see entertainment to a compelling first round.
“Everything’s very circumstantial,” Buffalo goalie Alex Lyon said after denying Boston’s Viktor Arvidsson in Game 3. He’s not sure if he’d rather face the 1-on-1 matchup or endure a 2-minute penalty kill.
“To be honest with you, every player in this league has the ability to score on penalty shots,” Lyon said. “So yeah, I guess it’s just more circumstantial, but I don’t really have a definitive answer one way or the other.”
Lyon stopped Arvidsson, Ullmark stopped Martinook, Philadelphia’s Owen Tippett missed the net against Pittsburgh’s Stuart Skinner, and Colorado’s Scott Wedgewood made such a highlight-reel save on Los Angeles’ Quinton Byfield that jubilant fans in Denver broke the glass behind the Kings’ bench.
“Never really seen the glass shatter behind the bench,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said following a repair process that delayed the game more than 15 minutes. “That’s a different one. Stuff happens. Fans get excited. Our guys were excited.”
Is more grabbing going on during play? More breakaways in a league that has increased the emphasis on offense in recent years? Both could be true.
The NHL’s rule 24.1 says “a penalty shot is designed to restore a scoring opportunity which was lost as a result of an infraction being committed by the offending team, based on the parameters set out in these rules.” That does provide some latitude for officials to determine what constitutes a penalty shot if a player is unimpeded by an opponent with no one between him and the net.
Still, four penalty shots before the end of the first round is unusual. The only playoffs with more penalty shots 2019 (five) and 2008 (six).
These are potentially game-changing moments and add even more pressure to a playoff game. Martinook described his experience as being the big guy on one end of a teeter-totter, acknowledging he didn’t feel good about himself after not scoring on his opportunity. The 33-year-old grinder made good on his next one to keep from being perceived as the goat.
“It was going to be a long night if that penalty shot came back to bite me,” Martinook said. “Hockey’s crazy, sports are crazy and being able to score after that, I’ll tell my grandkids about that one, that’s for sure.”
After last night’s AHL results, there is officially nothing Islanders playoff-related to discuss anymore except the past and perhaps hopes for the future.
The end of Bridgeport’s 25-year run as the Islanders’ AHL affiliate came with a frustratingly familiar, quick playoff exit. The Bridgeport Islanders (nee Sound Tigers) were swept in their best-of-three opener against Hershey, losing Game 2 Thursday night.
Their previous postseason appearance, in 2021-22, included a qualifying mini-round 2-0 sweep of Providence before quickly exiting at the hands of Charlotte, 3-1.
Prior to that, in their Sound Tigers era, they’d make the playoffs about once every three seasons with first-round exits — often to Hershey or Wilkes-Barrie — each time other than their first two appearances. The first season, when they made it to the finals under Steve Stirling, was and remains the high point.
Raise a glass to Mike Fornabaio, Alan Fuehring, Brent Thompson, Steve Stirling, Jason Shaya and so many others https://t.co/aiTk5ltGn3
By the way, Cory Schneider has been doing some unofficial goalie coaching with the Baby Islanders. [THN]
Meanwhile, in the NHL playoffs, there are some good series…and some laughers.
The Stanley Cup favorite Avalanche have the Kings on the brink at 3-0, which is no surprise to anyone — honestly, the Kings have done well with their vaunted defense to keep each game close.
The Hurricanes likewise have the Senators’ backs against the wall after winning Game 3 in Ottawa. That included an amazing sequence where the Senators couldn’t get the puck out of their half of the ice with a sixth attacker. It was a remarkable display of incompetence for a playoff team, and great work by the Canes.
The other 3-0 series is the Battle of Pennsylvania, but the Penguins get an extra day to complain about officiating and stew over their doomed fate in Philadelphia, as that series resumes on Saturday.
Friday night’s games span the time zones, with three 1-1 series shifting venues: The Lightning in Montreal, the Knights in Utah and the Oilers in Anaheim.
Meanwhile, in Detroit, the man who has been in charge of getting players for the Wings for most of their decade-long playoff drought says they need to get better players. [TSN]
Apr 23, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson (11) and center Parker Kelly (17) celebrate an empty net goal during the third period of game three of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
LOS ANGELES — Cale Makar scored the tiebreaking goal, Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche moved to the brink of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen scored on fortunate deflections for the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche, who went up 3-0 in the series with another narrow win over the persistent Kings.
With Wedgewood backstopping the defense in his first playoff series, Colorado has allowed just four goals in three games by defense-minded Los Angeles, which has held superstar Nathan MacKinnon without a goal so far.
“It’s been tough sledding to create offense, but we have different guys stepping up on different nights and scoring in different situations,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “That’s been able to make the difference.”
Trevor Moore and Adrian Kempe scored and Anton Forsberg stopped 19 shots, but the Kings are a loss away from being eliminated in the first round for the fifth consecutive season.
Game 4 is in Los Angeles. A loss would end the 20-year career of Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who is retiring after the season.
Los Angeles scored two goals for the first time in the series, but couldn’t find a tying goal after Kempe scored on a power play with 4:03 to play. Instead, Brock Nelson scored into LA’s empty net with 2:18 left.
“We’ve just got to continue to find ways to break them down,” Makar said. “I feel like tonight, we got a lot of chances and capitalized on a few. Still, I feel like there’s areas for improvement, for sure.”
Los Angeles hasn’t won a playoff round in six previous tries since raising the Stanley Cup in 2014, and this loss was the Kings’ seventh straight postseason defeat dating to last spring.
After grinding out a pair of 2-1 victories in Denver, the Avalanche again took care of business in LA with fundamentally sound hockey — and a good bit of luck this time.
Landeskog put the Avs ahead in the opening minutes with a fluke goal when his wrist shot hit the end boards and caromed back perfectly to deflect in off Forsberg’s skate.
Colorado then got another fortunate bounce during a Kings power play in the third period. When Lehkonen and Logan O’Connor broke out on an odd-man rush, Lehkonen’s pass deflected off the back of Kempe’s skate and ricocheted through Forsberg’s legs with 12:21 to play.
Offense remains the fatal flaw of the Kings, who were the only team in the bottom third of the NHL in scoring to make the playoffs. Los Angeles has four goals on 76 shots against Colorado.
“We’ve got to find ways to score,” Kings interim coach D.J. Smith said. “I mean, we had looks. You can give them credit, but we missed the net 13 times leading into the third period.”
Makar put Colorado ahead in the second, dangling just inside the blue line and firing a brilliant wrist shot through traffic. The perennial Norris Trophy candidate has 23 playoff goals — second-most among active defensemen — in 82 career games, memorably scoring eight in his Conn Smythe Trophy-winning performance during the Avs’ championship run in 2022.
Colorado defenseman Josh Manson left Game 3 early with an upper-body injury. He’ll be re-evaluated before Game 4, Bednar said.
Apr 23, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Carolina Hurricanes center Logan Stankoven (22) celebrates with team his goal scored in the first period against the Ottawa Senators in game three of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn
Marc DesRosiers/Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
OTTAWA, Ontario — Jackson Blake broke a tie late in the second period, Frederik Andersen made 21 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.
The top team in the Eastern Conference in the regular season, the Hurricanes can wrap up the series in Ottawa.
“You just want to keep taking steps,” Andersen said. “That was a really good grind.”
Logan Stankoven also scored for Carolina, and Taylor Hall had two assists.
Hall and linemates Stankoven and Blake have combined for 13 points in the series.
“They’ve been really special,” Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “They’re contributing and putting goals up for us.”
Drake Batherson scored for Ottawa, and Linus Ullmark stopped 25 shots.
Only four teams in NHL history have overcome a 3-0 series deficit.
“Pretty frustrating, but we’ve got to find a way,” Ottawa captain Brady Tkachuk said. “We’ve never quit all season … got to step up to the occasion.”
Ottawa defenseman Jake Sanderson left in the second period after taking an illegal check to the head from Hall.
Stankoven opened the scoring at 5:13 of the first period with his third goal of the series. He beat Ullmark with a one-timer from the left side.
Batherson tied it with 3:54 left in the second, taking a pass from Nick Cousins in the slot, moving left and flipping a backhander past Andersen.
Blake countered 1:23 later, putting the puck in the open right side off a feed from defenseman K’Andre Miller.
Ottawa was 0 for 5 on the power play and generated just four shots on target — including 1:38 of 5 on 3 when Andersen had to make a solitary save — on the way to falling to 0 for 12 in the series.
“Didn’t really create anything, no momentum, nothing,” Senators center Tim Stutzle said. ”(We’ve) got to make quicker plays.”
In Game 2 in Raleigh, Jordan Martinook scored in the second overtime in a 3-2 victory. The Hurricanes won the opener 2-0.
Apr 23, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Buffalo Sabres right wing Alex Tuch (89) reacts after scoring a goal against the Boston Bruins during the third period of game three of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
Brian Fluharty/Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
BOSTON — Bowen Byram scored a minute after Boston missed a penalty shot, and Alex Tuch broke a third-period tie to help Buffalo come from behind and beat the Bruins 3-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Alex Lyon stopped 24 shots in his first start of the postseason and the Sabres, who snapped an NHL-record 14-year playoff drought by winning the Atlantic Division, regained home-ice advantage in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 in Boston, with the Bruins needing a win to assure themselves of another home game.
Jeremy Swayman made 25 saves, and Tanner Jeannot scored early in the second period for the Bruins as they opened the scoring for the third straight game. But they missed a chance to go up 2-0 when Viktor Arvidsson’s penalty shot went wide.
“Definitely a turning point,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
Boston had a chance to go up 2-0 when Mattias Samuelsson’s stick broke right in front of the Buffalo net, for a turnover that gave Arvidsson an open lane on the net. Rasmus Dahlin took him down, leading to a penalty shot.
Arvidsson circled wide and came in slowly but Lyon left him no opening.
“I try not to overthink the penalty shot too much,” Lyon said. “Kind of the same situation as the shootout and just try to kind of be in the moment. That’s when practice comes through. So you’ve just got to trust your instincts and lean on those.”
About a minute later, Byram one-timed a shot past Swayman to tie it.
“Yes, it was a big swing. Absolutely,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said. “The bench was not the same, let’s put it that way.”
Tuch made it 2-1 when he grabbed a loose puck and fired it past a screened goalie, and Noah Ostlund added an empty-netter with 1:24 left.
The teams split the first two games in Buffalo, with Boston taking the lead both times before Buffalo rallied in the last half of the third period. In Game 1, the Sabres came back to win 4-3, but they were too far back after a 4-0 deficit in Game 2 and lost 4-2.
The early struggles doomed Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to backup. He won the playoff starting job by closing the regular season 12-2-1 but was pulled after allowing the fourth goal early in the third period on Tuesday night.
Lyon went 20-10-4 during the season.
“I think getting in for a few minutes of the last game was really helpful,” he said. “Before that, it was probably two weeks since I had played. So just to get the feel of the game, I think that set me up nicely for today.”
Buffalo continued to struggle on the power play. After failing to score on the last 22 chances in the regular season, the Sabres have misfired on their first 13 man advantages in the series, including four Thursday.
“Our power play let Swayman off the hook,” Ruff said. “But there was some good stuff there. And both goaltenders made some big saves at key times.”
Up next
Game 4 is Sunday before the series shifts back to Buffalo for Game 5 on Tuesday night.
With a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 on Thursday, the Kings now face elimination and could get swept on Sunday in Game 4.
Los Angeles, which was a heavy underdog against Colorado going into this series, has put up a respectable fight so far. They've been able to shut down the Avs' star players for the most part, but haven't been able to execute on the other side of the ice.
One reason for that could be that the Kings have been one of the least threatening teams offensively all season long, finishing with the fourth fewest goals scored in the regular season. But another glaring problem stands in the Avalanche's crease, goaltender Scott Wedgewood.
Wedgewood has been incredibly sound in this post-season so far. Across those first three outings, he's statistically been the second-best goaltender in the NHL.
The 33-year-old netminder recorded three victories, as well as a .946 save percentage and a 1.28 goals-against average.
Scott Wedgewood stopping Quinton Byfield (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images)
Among goaltenders who have made more than one start in these Stanley Cup playoffs so far, only Frederik Andersen of the Carolina Hurricanes has been more impressive.
Wedgewood has had an answer to nearly every single question the Kings have thrown at him and the Avalanche, and that's why they're one win away from moving on to the second round. Meanwhile, Los Angeles is still looking for its first victory of the post-season.
It's a shame because the Kings have outdone themselves defensively. Game 3 was the first time they gave up more than two goals, and one of them was an empty-netter by Brock Nelson.
The Kings' goaltender, Anton Forsberg, also deserves his flowers for his performance in this series and the season overall. He's posted a .922 SP and a 2.28 GAA in three playoff games.
With that, Nelson, Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas and Nazem Kadri all have just one point after three games. Wedgewood has truly been the team's MVP to this point if one had to be named.
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Colorado Avalanche left wing Artturi Lehkonen, right, celebrates with right wing Logan O'Connor after scoring a short-handed goal during Game 3 of their first-round series against the Kings Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Kings coach D.J. Smith gave his team the day off Friday, but he sent his players home with a message: if they don’t show up for work Sunday, they’ll have the rest of the spring and summer off, too.
Players don’t like to call any game a “must-win” because of the pressure it brings, but there’s no other way to look at Sunday’s game for the Kings. After losing the first three games of their best-of-seven playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche, the Kings are one loss away from being eliminating in the first round for a fifth consecutive season.
“Must-win game,” agreed defenseman Drew Doughty, who hasn’t played on a winning team in a playoff series since the Kings last won the Stanley Cup in 2014. “Everyone's going to give everything and we’ve got to win that one. And then hopefully go back to Denver.”
The most recent loss came Thursday when the Avalanche scored two fluky goals on pucks that bounced in off the skates of Kings players and put another one into an empty net in a 4-2 victory that pushed the Kings to the brink of elimination.
“You don’t like the result,” Smith said. “And it’s tough to swallow.”
For Colorado, the best team in the NHL during the regular season, it hasn’t been the most stylish of postseasons. But after a pair of hard-fought 2-1 wins at home, the Avalanche have a chance to sweep a playoff series for the first time since 2022, when they won their last Stanley Cup.
“All the games have been tight. We’re right there,” forward Quinton Byfield said. “Each guy, including myself, we just have to give a little bit more.
“We're doing the right things, we just have to dig in a little bit more."
It’s hard to say how. The Kings’ power play has been good, scoring a goal in each of the three games, and their penalty kill even better, shutting out the top-scoring team in the NHL on nine tries with a man advantage.
The Kings have been physical and fast and goaltender Anton Forsberg has been brilliant in his first career playoff series, making 90 saves in the three games. Yet none of that has paid off with a win.
“Sometimes you play real well for stretches and you don’t get the results. And then you’ll win a game you don’t deserve to win,” Smith said. “Maybe we didn’t stay with it long enough.”
“Those games are over with,” a frustrated Byfield added. “You can’t look back at those games. It’s just on to the next one, that’s our focus.”
Doughty said the Kings need to wear down the Avalanche, something they clearly couldn’t do in the two games played in Denver’s mile-high altitude. They might have a better chance Sunday at sea level.
“I don’t think we’re creating enough Grade-A chances,” he said. “They’re statistically one of the best teams in the neutral zone. So for us to beat them, we’ve got to wear them down in the D zone, make them tired and score goals that way. We haven't done that enough.”
Every team has its kryptonite and for the Kings that appears to be the first round of the playoffs. Over the past dozen seasons, the team has gone 9-27 in the postseason, taking a series to a seventh game just once in six tries. Along the way they’ve changed general mangers twice, changed head coaches five times and even changed their opponents, facing the Avalanche this year after losing four straight series to the Edmonton Oilers.
None of that has changed the results.
Smith, in fact, is an interim coach, having taken over for Jim Hiller with 23 games left in the regular season. He figures to be coaching for his future Sunday since a playoff sweep won’t look good on his resume.
“There’s no quit in there,” Smith said of the Kings’ locker room. “We’ll get reset with practice [Saturday] and I think you’re going to see our best effort.
“Now we’ve got to make a few changes and see if we can spark something.”
If that works, the Kings will be heading back to Denver. If it doesn’t, they’ll be heading home for another long summer.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 22: Owen Tippett #74 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his empty net goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Three of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena on April 22, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Flyers defeated the Penguins 5-2. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Pittsburgh Penguins face their first truly must win game of the season tomorrow night in Philadelphia. If they can do that, they would have another in Pittsburgh on Monday. If they won that, it’d be another must win situation setup for Game 6 in Philadelphia. If somehow they won that too, then there would be a Game 7 back in Pittsburgh.
As we all know the odds of that happening, realistically, are grim right now. Perhaps even non-existent. The Pens have been outplayed in any and every facet over the first three games, and the only time they were leading a game got thrown away due to a post-whistle scrum that quickly put them back behind. The goaltending has been spotty, and certainly much better for the other club. The adjustments made have made little difference. We could go on and on, but you probably get the picture and have already accepted that Pittsburgh’s impressive season is coming to a shockingly ugly end.
With that dose of reality out of the way, why not dream a little? It’s Friday, there’s no game today and 0-3 comebacks (completed or attempted) are on the rise in hockey. It’s still a fact that the series is almost a foregone conclusion – teams up 3 games to 0 have ended up winning 209 out of 213 times in NHL history in a stat from the Tribune Review, but that doesn’t necessarily mean all the drama has to be over just yet.
No one would know that better than Stuart Skinner. In 2024, the Edmonton Oilers fell down 3-0 to the Florida Panthers. Skinner, of course, was the goalie for the Oilers back then. Edmonton won the next three games to force a Game 7. They’d lose 2-1 to come so close to the ‘reverse sweep’ of winning four straight games after falling into a big hole.
“Playoffs are intense,” Skinner said. “There’s a lot of pressure, a lot of noise going on everywhere. I feel like when you go down 3-0, what really helped me in my experience was it kind of just frees you up. You don’t really have anything to lose. And we’re in a spot where we don’t have anything to lose, and they do. If we catch them a couple times — just talking about momentum — you can change momentum, and when that happens, things can go in your favor.”
By the way, Skinner’s performances in Games 4-7 of the ‘24 Stanley Cup Final were outstanding. He only allowed seven goals over the four games (1.76 GAA) and posted a .935 save%, he played some extremely great hockey with his back to the wall, so his words about getting freed from the pressure sound like they worked. It’s not like the first round against the Flyers carries the same burdens of playing for a Canadian team in the SCF where every question is built around if Connor McDavid can ever win ‘his’ Cup, so who knows how much that will change the performance this time around. At this point that sounds like one of the best straws to grasp at that at least the Penguins have a goalie who has been in this exact situation before and handled it extremely well.
The most recent time for a 0-3 series comeback in the NHL dates back to 2014, when the Los Angeles Kings pulled the trick against the San Jose Sharks in the first round. The Kings would go onto win the Stanley Cup that year. It’s crazy to think how close that was to going out the window in the very opening games of the playoffs, which goes to provide yet another instance of just how thins the margins are in the NHL this time of year between winning and losing.
Back in 2011, there were two close calls: the Sharks almost blew a 3-0 lead against Detroit, but SJ held on and earned a Game 7 victory. In that very same year and round, the then-defending Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks dropped an overtime Game 7 to fall just short of making an 0-3 comeback of their own against Vancouver at the very same time the SJ/DET series was going on.
The year prior, in 2010, Philadelphia was able to overcome a 0-3 deficit to the Boston Bruins in the conference semifinals and advance. There must have been something in the water during that 2010-14 time frame with a couple close calls (Detroit and Chicago in ‘11) and then a pair of successful comebacks (LA in ’14 and Philadelphia in ‘10) all happening in the same period.
For historical completion, the Penguins have been involved in a 0-3 series comeback, albeit on the wrong end. The NY Islanders made the massive comeback in 1975, serving as a sore spot for the franchise for many years, especially considering that ‘75 series made for a recurring trivia note since it was the only time from 1943-2009 that an NHL team blew a 3-0 series lead. The time before that, in 1942, was the Stanley Cup Final where Toronto pulled the comeback against Detroit.
It sounds daunting to even consider the Penguins joining those groups of teams to make a run. Based on the numbers (209 out of 213) it’s obvious a lot of these series are bound to conclude in four or five games when it gets to this situation. Just call it some Friday morning optimism that just because the vast majority of these instances are foregone conclusions doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unprecedented.
“We have to win a hockey game,” Dan Muse said. “So, we’ll have a practice [Friday], get ready for that game. Then, we’ll go into that game, we need to win a game. And so, that’s entirely where the focus is right now.”
Climbing out of an 0-3 hole is sort of like that old saying about eating an elephant. It has to be done one bite at a time. Game 4 is that first bite. Win that, extend the season and earn the chance to take that next bite in Game 5. It’s easier said than done but the Penguins still have an opportunity available to go down a path that exists for teams to at least make a run at pulling the reverse sweep.
Ahead of the 2026 NHL trade deadline, the Chicago Blackhawks acquired forward Andrew Mangiapane and a 2027 first-round pick from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Jason Dickinson and Colton Dach. Mangiapane was thrown into this deal for salary cap purposes.
It was a tough 2025-26 season for Mangiapane. In 52 games with Edmonton before being traded to Chicago, he had seven goals and 14 points. He then had one goal and one assist in 10 games for the Blackhawks. With this, he finished the season with eight goals and 16 points in 62 games, which is far below expectations from the 30-year-old forward.
While Mangiapane had a tough year, the possibility of him bouncing back next season, whether he remains with the Blackhawks or plays elsewhere, should not be ruled out. In 2024-25 with the Washington Capitals, he had 14 goals and 28 points in 81 games. He also recorded at least 40 points from 2021-22 to 2023-24.
With this, Mangiapane has shown many times during his career that he can provide solid secondary offensive production when playing at his best. It is going to be interesting to see what kind of season Mangiapane can have in 2026-27 from here.
