Caps rout Panthers, take 2-1 series lead
Samsonov makes 29 saves, Ovechkin spurs offense in win
Ilya Samsonov rebounded after allowing an early goal, and the Washington Capitals bounced back on Saturday to show they can very much hang with the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Florida Panthers.
Samsonov made 29 saves, Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal and assisted on another and the Capitals blew out the Panthers 6-1 in Game 3 to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series. Chants of “Sammy! Sammy!” gave way to “Ovi! Ovi!” in the third period of the convincing victory.
Game 4 is Monday in Washington.
T.J. Oshie deflected Ovechkin’s shot for one power-play goal, and Marcus Johansson, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Garnet Hathaway also scored for the Capitals, who shook off a 5-1 loss in Game 2 and an early deficit in Game 3 behind the play of their new starting goaltender and a stingy effort that stymied the NHL’s best regular-season offense.
Samsonov got the nod to replace Vitek Vanecek in net after stopping all 17 shots in relief Thursday. He got off to a rough start, giving up a goal to league MVP candidate Jonathan Huberdeau less than three minutes in, then stopped every shot he saw the rest of the way.
Avalanche 7, Predators 3:
Gabriel Landeskog scored twice in the second period, and topseeded Colorado beat Nashville for a commanding 3-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference series. Landeskog also had two assists. Nazem Kadri and Devon Toews each added a goal and an assist, and Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon scored a power-play goal apiece as Colorado went 4for-5 on the man advantage to push Nashville to the brink of elimination. Cale Makar had three assists. Valeri Nichushkin added an empty-net goal with 2:46 left. The Avs had a couple missed opportunities once Nashville pulled goalie Connor Ingram with more than four minutes remaining. Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper was hurt with a minute left in the first period. Pavel Francouz replaced him and made 20 saves in his seventh playoff appearance.