Oilers push Flames to brink of elimination
Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau, right, is back-checked by Edmonton’s Connor McDavid during the first period of Tuesday night’s game. The Oilers took a 3-1series lead with a 5-3win.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his second goal of the game with 3:27 left in regulation, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Tuesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the second-round playoff series.
Evander Kane scored his NHL-leading 11th and 12th goals of the postseason, and Zach Hyman added a goal for host Edmonton. Leon Draisaitl added two assists and Mike Smith made 29 saves.
Connor McDavid also had two assists. He has 25 points in 11 playoff games for the Oilers, who earned a third straight victory over their provincial rival.
Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund scored for Calgary, and Rasmus Andersson added a shorthanded goal from his own end in the third period to tie the game at 3. Jacob Markstrom stopped 21 shots.
Calgary will look to stave off elimination on Thursday at home in Game 5.
After trailing 3-0 after the first period and 3-2 through two periods, Calgary tied the game in the third on an Edmonton power play when Andersson fired a 150-foot clearing attempt from his own end that somehow fooled Smith at 10:56.
With the Oilers wobbling, Nugent-Hopkins poked in his fourth goal of the playoffs from in front of Markstrom.
Andersson then took a four-minute penalty for high-sticking with 2:40 left to effectively kill off the game before Kane iced it by scoring into an empty net.
RANGERS 4, HURRICANES 1 >> New York got the kind of strong, all-around effort from the start it needed and stormed past visiting Carolina.
Andrew Copp had a goal and two assists, and Frank Vatrano and Adam
Fox each had a goal and an assist as the Rangers beat the Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden, evening the second-round series.
Mika Zibanejad also scored, Ryan Lindgren had two assists and Igor Shesterkin stopped 30 shots for the Rangers, who won their fifth straight at home in the postseason. In the series, New York won two at home after opening with two losses at Carolina.
“Everyone’s kind of contributing and has been over the course of the playoffs,” Copp said. “It’s not just one line, one Dpairing, it’s throughout the lineup . ... Just trying to build off some of the momentum we’ve created these last two games.”
The Rangers have won two straight against the Hurricanes after losing eight of the previous nine meetings, including a three-game sweep in the qualifying round of the 2020 playoff bubble and three of four in the regular season.
Teuvo Teravainen scored and Antti Raanta finished with 24 saves for the Hurricanes, who fell to 0-5 on the road in the postseason to go along with their 6-0 mark at home.
Carolina has scored just six goals in the series, including one in each of the last two games. The Hurricanes were 0 for 2 on the power play to fall to 0 for 9 against the Rangers.