Avalanche, Flyers looking to snap back in series Wednesday
Colorado trying to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole vs. Dallas; Philly to face Isles
The Colorado Avalanche and Philadelphia Flyers will look to rediscover their offensive prowess to avoid falling into deep holes in their conference semifinal series.
The Avalanche go into Game 3 against the surging Dallas Stars (10:30 p.m. EDT, NBCSN) on Wednesday night after being outscored 10-5 over the first two games.
Colorado’s top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog has accounted for all of the scoring in the series, with MacKinnon (three goals, two assists) contributing to each, raising his postseason totals to seven goals and 11 assists.
“Our top line has been great all year, especially in this series,” left wing J.T. Compher said. “Our depth guys — myself included — it’s time to look in the mirror and time to produce and step up. We know our season is not completely on the line but Game 3 is a huge one for us and our guys are going to be ready to step up and be that four-line team that got us to where we are now.”
Where the Avalanche is is facing tough — though not impossible — odds as teams that take a 2-0 lead in best-of-seven series have gone on to win 328 of 379 times.
“For us, it’s a seven-game series for a reason,” said Landeskog, who has a goal and two assists in the series. “We’ve been up 2-0 before and we know how quick it can turn and all of a sudden tie series. It’s a seven-game series for a reason, and there’s no quit in this group.”
The Flyers go into Game 2 against the New York Islanders (3 p.m., NBCSN) after being shut out 4-0 in the series opener.
Philadelphia managed 15 shots on the Islanders’ Semyon Varlamov in the second period, with several good looks and scoring chances, and finished with a 25-14 edge over the final 40 minutes. Varlamov stopped everything for his second straight shutout.
“You got to score to win games,” Philadelphia center Kevin Hayes said. “You can get as many good looks as you want and pat yourself on the back but if you don’t score it’s pointless. I thought we played with speed and got pucks behind their net but ultimately we need to cash in on some of those chances.” Teammate Claude Giroux agreed. “The top players got to play better — I’m obviously one of them,” said the center, who had 21 goals and 32 assists during the season. “We got to get going here.”
Tuesday night
LIGHTNING 4, BRUINS 3 (OT): In Toronto, Ondrej Palat scored at 4:40 of overtime to give Tampa Bay a win over Boston, evening their Eastern Conference semifinal series at one game apiece.
Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy had 22 saves and became Tampa Bay’s all-time playoff leader with 22 wins as the Lightning improved to 4-0 in overtime games this postseason.