Johnson lifts Lightning
Tyler Johnson scored the tiebreaking goal with 87 seconds left to lead the Lightning to a 3-2 victory against the Bruins on Wednesday and send the Presidents’ Trophy winners to their second consecutive loss in the NHL’s playoff seeding round in Toronto.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots for the Lightning, who improved to 2-0 in the three-game round-robin. The Lightning, who was second in the East with 92 regularseason points, would earn the top seed with a victory against the Flyers on Saturday.
“At this point, I don’t think anyone’s really thinking about what happened in the pandemic-shortened regular season,” Johnson said. “This is a whole new thing for us and we’re trying to play the best hockey we can.”
Tuukka Rask made 32 saves for the Bruins, who led the NHL with 100 points before the coronavirus shutdown but can now finish no higher than the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Coyotes 4, Predators 1
Conor Garland and Taylor Hall scored in the third period as Arizona took advantage of an overturned goal in topping Nashville in Edmonton, Alberta.
The Coyotes, seeded 11th in the West in the NHL’s restart, can eliminate the sixthseeded Predators in Game 4 on Friday in this best-of-five qualifying series.
Canadiens 4, Penguins 3
Jeff Petry scored 5:33 into the third period as Montreal rallied from two goals down to top Pittsburgh in Game 3 in Toronto, pushing the Penguins to the brink of elimination in the best-of-five series.
Panthers 3, Islanders 2
Mike Hoffman and Brian Boyle scored 2:07 apart in the opening minutes of the third period, and Florida avoided elimination by defeating New York in Game 3 of their preliminary round playoff series in Toronto.
Avalanche 4, Stars 0
Rookie defenseman Cale Makar connected on an early power-play goal, Pavel Francouz recorded a shutout in his postseason debut and Colorado cruised to a roundrobin victory over Dallas in Edmonton.
Leafs’ Muzzin out of hospital
Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin has been discharged from the hospital and is back at the team’s hotel, and will not return to the lineup during the team’s playoff qualification series with the Blue Jackets. Muzzin will remain in quarantine within the hotel.