Boeser, Pettersson help top Wild 3-0 for series lead
EDMONTON, Alberta — Brock Boeser and Elias Petterson each had a power-play goal and an assist, Jacob Markstrom made
27 saves for his first postseason shutout, and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild 3-0 to take a 2-1 lead in their best-offive qualifier series Thursday.
Antoine Roussel and Elias Pettersson also scored for the Canucks, who outlasted the Wild in another penalty-filled, extra-testy matchup and moved within one game of advancing to the first round in their first appearance in the playoffs since 2015.
The teams played 33:49 without scoring, until Boeser got Vancouver going late in the second period with a falling-down backhander off the ricochet from Pettersson’s shot. Boeser, a native of Minnesota who grew up about 20 miles from the Wild’s arena, has three points in three games.
Roussel made it 2-0 just 2:18 into the third by beating Brad Hunt on a breakaway and flipping the puck over Wild goalie Alex Stalock’s left shoulder with a backhand shot.
Pettersson added the insurance goal with
1:22 left on the seventh power play of the game for the Canucks. The Wild went 0 for
7 and are 2 for 17 for the series.
The frequent whistles played to Vancouver’s advantage, putting that talented top line on the ice time after time and minimizing Minnesota’s forward depth in
5-on-5 play.
There were countless scrums, hits and shoves throughout the contest, with both Markstrom and Stalock taking a few blows around the net themselves. At one point, Minnesota’s Ryan Hartman tried to check Jay Beagle and wound up hitting teammate Carson Soucy instead midway through the second period.
Golden Knights 6, Blues 4
EDMONTON, Alberta — Mark Stone scored the go-ahead goal on a deflection with under 7 minutes left, and Vegas took a big step toward clinching the top seed in the Western Conference by beating St. Louis in round-robin play.
Vegas would be the West’s No. 1 seed with a win against Colorado on Saturday. Despite leading the conference when the NHL season was shut down in March, defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis can finish no higher than third and needs to beat Dallas on Sunday to avoid the No. 4 seed.
The Golden Knights dominated the Blues in each team’s second round-robin game, outshooting them 38-17. St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington was sharp early and made 32 saves but wound up getting shelled.
Alex Tuch and Shea Theodore each scored twice for Vegas, while defenseman Zach Whitecloud and Stone added a goal each. Tuch also had an assist on Whitecloud’s goal.
After Robin Lehner won Vegas’ first game against Dallas, Marc-Andre Fleury was solid in making 13 saves against St. Louis. Fleury figures to be the Golden Knights’ starting goalie when they start their best-ofseven playoff series next week.
Like the East’s top-seeded Boston Bruins, who they beat in the 2019 Cup Final, the Blues have some work to do before moving into an elimination series. They got two goals from defenseman Colton Parayko, David Perron’s second in two games and one from Troy Brouwer, who was inserted into the lineup amid several injuries.
Flyers 3, Capitals 1
TORONTO — Scott Laughton had two goals and an assist to help Philadelphia beat Washington.
Travis Sanheim also scored and Brian Elliott stopped 16 shots to keep the Flyers rolling as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. The Flyers won nine straight games before losing the final one before the COVID-19 shutdown. The Flyers have resumed the season with wins over Boston and the Capitals in the NHL’s playoff seeding round and can’t finish any worse than second in the Eastern Conference.
The Flyers play Tampa Bay on Saturday. The winner will earn the top seed in the East.
Laughton gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the first period after capitalizing on a turnover, beating Braden Holtby. Laughton scored again to make it 3-0 in the third.
Kevin Hayes had three assists for the Flyers for his first career three-point playoff game, and Travis Konecny had two assists.
“Great game NHLFlyers . Our depth is really showing,” retired Flyers great Eric Lindros tweeted.
Travis Boyd scored for the Capitals on a deflection in the third to make it 3-1.