Islanders send Florida packing with 5-1 win
The New York Islanders like to rely on defenseman Ryan Pulock’s blistering point shot to help generate offense.
Friday, they advanced to the first round of the NHL playoffs courtesy of Pulock using his stick to make a clutch defensive play and secure a preliminary round series-clinching, 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of their best-of-five series at Toronto.
Some 25 seconds after Brock Nelson scored to put the Islanders up 3-1 at the 12:01 mark of the second period, Pulock dived across the crease to prevent Panthers leading scorer Aleksander Barkov from scoring into an open net.
“To me, it was one of those defining moments,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said of Pulock managing to stretch out his stick and deflect Barkov’s backhander over the net.
“That was a 4-by-6 open net, and he was able to get his stick in there. Those are the plays, the commitment, the extra effort that wins you those inches. We had a lot of that today.”
Anthony Beauvillier scored twice in staking the Islanders to a 2-0 first-period lead, and Nelson and Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist in a game the Islanders never trailed.
Other games
Maple Leafs 4, Blue Jackets 3: Auston Matthews scored a power-play goal at 13:10 of overtime to cap Toronto’s rally from a 3-0 deficit late in the third period and keep the Maple Leafs alive with a dramatic victory against Columbus that forced a decisive Game 5 in the qualifying-round series. The Maple Leafs scored three goals in the final 4 minutes of regulation after pulling their goalie. William Nylander, John Tavares and Zach Hyman scored, with Hyman’s coming with less than 30 seconds left..
Coyotes 4, Predators 3: Brad Richardson scored on a rebound in overtime, Darcy Kuemper stopped 49 shots and Arizona advanced in the postseason for the first time in eight years with a win against Nashville in Edmonton, Alberta. Arizona was 11th in the Western Conference when the coronavirus pandemic halted the season, but earned a spot in the postseason when the bracket was expanded to 12 teams.
Blackhawks 3, Oilers 2: Brandon Saad, Matthew Highmore and Dominik Kubalik scored as Chicago beat Edmonton on the Oilers’ home ice and knocked them out of the postseason tournament. The Blackhawks won the best-of-five qualifying series, 3-1, and advanced.