KANE’S HAT TRICK PROPELS OILERS
Evander Kane had three goals in a six-minute span in the second period, Leon Draisaitl set an NHL record with four assists in one playoff period and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 4-1 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Zach Hyman had the other goal for host Edmonton and Connor McDavid had three more assists. Mike Smith, who was briefly replaced by Mikko Koskinen in the third period after getting run over by Milan Lucic, made 31 saves. Koskinen wasn’t forced to make a stop in just over four minutes.
Oliver Kylington scored the lone goal for Calgary. Jacob Markstrom allowed four goals on 34 shots before getting pulled for the Flames, who have been outscored 8-1 since taking a 3-1 lead in the second period of Game 2. Dan Vladar made seven saves in relief.
McDavid now has 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) through 10 postseason games. The only players in NHL playoff history with more points in the same span are Wayne Gretzky (29 in 1983; 25 in 1985), Mario Lemieux (25 in 1992) and Rick Middleton (23 in 1983).
The Oilers will look to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series Tuesday night at Edmonton.
In the first playoff meeting in Edmonton to feature the Oilers and Flames since April 14, 1991, the Oilers scored four goals in just over 12 minutes in the second period — including Kane’s second hat trick of the month.
Hyman opened the scoring 52 seconds into the period off a setup from Draisaitl and McDavid for his sixth goal of the postseason.
Kane, who signed with the Oilers in January after having his contract terminated by the San Jose Sharks following a string of off-ice incidents, scored his first of the night at 6:58 off a feed from Draisaitl.
Kane made it 3-0 just 53 seconds later after an impressive rush by McDavid after stepping past Calgary defenseman Noah Hanifin.
Kane completed his hat trick — the seventh fastest in NHL postseason history — with his 10th goal of the playoffs at 12:58 on a 2-on-1 with McDavid.
Rangers 3, Hurricanes 1:
Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist, Igor Shesterkin stopped 43 shots, and host New York beat Carolina in Game 3 of their secondround playoff series. Chris Kreider and Tyler Motte also scored as the Rangers cut their deficit to 2-1. It was just their second win against Carolina in the teams’ last 10 meetings. Nino Niederreiter scored for the Hurricanes and Antti Raanta finished with 30 saves. The Hurricanes dropped to 0-4 on the road this postseason to go along with their 6-0 home mark. Game 4 is Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Lightning 5, Panthers 1:
Steven Stamkos scored two goals and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists and host Tampa Bay beat Florida to move to the brink of another trip to the Eastern Conference final. Corey Perry and Erik Cernak also scored, and reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy had 34 saves to help the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions take a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Panthers, who had the NHL’s best record during the regular season. Game 4 is tonight.
Notable
The Maple Leafs signed veteran defenseman Mark Giordano to a two-year contract extension. The average annual value of the contract is $800,000.
Penguins forward Bryan Rust made good on his promise to stay in Pittsburgh. Rust, 30, signed a six-year deal worth $5.125 million annually to remain with the Penguins rather than test free agency.