Isles take series lead with victory in Boston
With five minutes left and his Islanders bleeding away their threegoal lead against the Bruins in Boston, head coach Barry Trotz called a timeout and told his players to breathe.
“He just calmed everyone down,” said forward Josh Bailey, who had a goal and an assist in the 54 victory that gave New York a 32 lead in the secondround series. “He told us to apply pressure, not sit back. Just getting everyone focused. You need that at certain times, and I thought that was a good time.”
Mathew Barzal scored one powerplay goal and assisted on another, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 40 shots Monday night, when the Islanders opened a 52 lead and held off Boston to move one win shy of the Stanley Cup semifinals.
New York would reach the NHL’s final four for the second straight season with a victory in Game 6 at home Wednesday.
“We’re excited to go back to the Coliseum,” forward Jordan Eberle said. “You’ve seen how loud it is. It gives us some juice.”
Barzal scored for the third straight game, and Kyle Palmieri, Bailey and Eberle all had goals in the second period, when the Islanders opened a 42 lead. Brock Nelson made it 52 just two minutes into the third, after Jeremy Swayman replaced Tuukka Rask in Boston’s goal.
David Pastrnak scored his second of the game two minutes later, and David Krejci cut Boston’s deficit to one goal with 5:19 left in the third period. That’s when Trotz used his timeout.
The Bruins pulled Swayman in the final two minutes for an extra skater, but didn’t threaten before the fans pelted the ice with cups and giveaway towels after what could be the final horn of the season in Boston.
Canadiens 3, Jets 2: Tyler Toffoli scored at 1:39 of overtime, lifting host Montreal over Winnipeg and a fourgame sweep of its secondround playoff series.
Erik Gustafsson and Artturi Lehkonen scored in regulation for Montreal, which has won seven straight playoff games since trailing Toronto 31 in the opening round. Toffoli, who scored 28 times in the regular season, also had an assist.
The Canadiens improved to 340 alltime when leading a series 30, and added to their NHL record with the franchise’s 23rd sweep.
Rookie defenseman Logan Stanley had two goals for Winnipeg, which was coming of a sweep of Edmonton in the first round.
Panthers’ signing: Florida agreed to terms with prospect Anton Lundell on a threeyear, entrylevel contract. Lundell, 19, was taken 12th in the first round by the Panthers in 2020. He won a silver medal with Finland at the world championship last weekend, scoring four goals in 10 games.