Islanders go up 3-0
Mathew Barzal slipped behind the defense, swooped in front of the net and beat Braden Holtby with a backhand that put the 2018 Stanley Cup champions on the brink of another early exit.
Barzal scored 4:28 into overtime shortly after Semyon Varlamov made two saves on a breakaway, lifting the New York Islanders to a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Sunday and a 3-0 advantage in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The sixth-seeded Islanders have put Washington within a loss of being eliminated in the first round for the second straight year after hoisting the Cup.
“Obviously, for us right now it’s nothing to lose, right? So we just have to go out there and play,” Washington star Alex Ovechkin said. “Don’t think about the score in the series.”
Holtby had 32 saves for the third-seeded Capitals, who have to win Game 4 on Tuesday night to extend the best-of-seven series.
New York’s Anders Lee broke a scoreless tie late in the first period. Evgeny Kuznetsov pulled the Capitals into a tie with a powerplay goal early in the second.
Varlamov stopped 22 shots, including two in overtime when Jakub Vrana had a breakaway shortly before Barzal scored the winner off Jordan Eberle’s pass that took advantage of poor defensive positioning.
Stars 5, Flames 4 — Dallas scored 16:05 into overtime after Joe Pavelski forced the extra period by completing a hat trick in the final seconds of regulation and the Stars beat the Calgary Flames to even their Western Conference playoff series.
John Klingberg’s hard shot appeared to be tipped by Alexander Radulov before getting past Cam Talbot on the 62nd shot for the Stars.
Klingberg got credit for the goal initially, but the Stars said Radulov would get credit for it. The NHL hasn’t officially changed the scoring. Klingberg had two assists before the deciding goal.
Blackhawks 3, Golden Knights 1 — The Chicago Blackhawks were in deep trouble. That’s when Corey Crawford took over.
Crawford made 48 saves in a stellar performance, and the Blackhawks beat the Vegas Golden Knights to stay alive in their firstround playoff series.
Drake Caggiula and Matthew Highmore scored first-period goals for the Blackhawks, and Alex DeBrincat added an emptynetter with 10 seconds left. Chicago handed Robin Lehner his first loss in a Golden Knights uniform since the goaltender was acquired in a trade with the Blackhawks in February.
Flyers 1, Canadiens 0 — After getting pulled in Game 2, Carter Hart bounced back in a big way.
Hart became the youngest Flyer to record a shutout in the postseason, making 23 saves to give Philadelphia the win over Montreal and a 2-1 series lead.
Jakub Voracek scored the game’s only goal early in the first period, getting to the front of Carey Price’s crease and tipping Claude Giroux’s shot past the goaltender on his 33rd birthday.
Game 4 is Tuesday at 3.