Soupy’s shutout streak comes to an end
TORONTO The third day of NHL playoff action featured a bloodied goaltender, another goalie redeeming himself with a shutout, and another penalty-filled tilt.
Here are five things to know heading into Thursday’s National Hockey League post-season action:
Dented Campbell’s can
Maple Leafs goaltender Jack (Soupy) Campbell’s playoff shutout streak came to an end with three seconds left in the first period of Toronto’s 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Campbell had a 24-save shutout in Toronto’s 5-0 shutout victory in Game 1 on Monday.
His strong play continued into the first period of Game 2 until the puck found its way to an unmarked Victor Hedman on a Tampa power play in the dying seconds of the first period.
The Lightning defenceman took his time, waiting until Campbell was out of position before snapping the puck into the net right before the horn sounded.
Lighting it up on special teams
Special teams were the difference in Toronto’s 5-0 Game 1 romp over Tampa Bay, going 1 for 6 on the power play and adding David Kampf’s short-handed goal as the Lightning were 0 for 5 with the man advantage.
The Lightning flipped that script Wednesday night, scoring three times on seven power plays and keeping Toronto from scoring on its four power plays. Alex Kerfoot did have a short-handed goal for the Leafs in the 5-3 loss, but special teams were once again the decider.
Smith recovers
Oilers goaltender Mike Smith took the blame after his fatal puck-handling mistake led to Edmonton’s 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of their series Monday.
He bounced back with a 30-save shutout in Game 2 as the Oilers blanked L.A., 6-0.
Jonathan Quick stopped 30-of-36 shots for the Kings.
The series now moves to L.A. for Game 3 on Friday, with the Kings also hosting Game 4 on Sunday.
Canes down to third-string goalie
The Carolina Hurricanes had to put their third-string goalie into the net in Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins.
Top goaltender Frederik Andersen missed the first two games of Carolina’s post-season with a lower-body injury he suffered in a game against Colorado on April 16.
Antti Raanta was between the pipes for the Hurricanes’ 5-1 win on Monday night, but he went down to injury early in Wednesday’s game after a controversial hit.
Bruins forward David Pastrnak struck Raanta in the head with a gloved hand at the 7:47 mark of the first period, laying the goalie out.
Raanta went down with blood coming from near his nose or mouth after the play in Game 2 and was replaced by rookie Pyotr Kochetkov.
No surpri-zov
Kirill Kaprizov’s scoring touch has not escaped him in the playoffs.
Kaprizov had a hat trick as the Minnesota Wild downed the St. Louis Blues, 6-2, to even their firstround best-of-seven playoff series at one game apiece.
Kaprizov, the precocious Russian star who set franchise records this season with 47 goals and 108 points, made it 5-2 with a slick tap-in of Mats Zuccarello’s pass on the rush.
He also had a power-play goal and added an empty-netter with 7:08 left after the Blues pulled goalie Ville Husso in their last-ditch effort.
For the results of Thursday night’s playoff games and more hockey news, visit our website.