Devils burn Rangers, take 3-2 series lead

Erik Haula had two goals and an assist, Akira Schmid stopped 23 shots, and the Devils beat the Rangers, 4-0, at Newark Thursday night to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series.

Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist, and Ondrej Palat also scored to help New Jersey move one win away from advancing with their third straight win after losing the first two games at home. It was the first win by a home team in the series.

Schmid had eight saves in the first period, 13 in the second and two in the third for his first career postseason shutout while making his third straight start. He has stopped 80 of 82 shots he’s faced after Vitek Vanecek gave up nine goals on 52 shots in the first two games.

Igor Shesterkin finished with 39 saves for the Rangers, who have been outscored 9-2 over the last three games after a pair of 5-1 wins to open the series.

Game 6 is Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Lightning stay alive

Michael Eyssimont had a goal and an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Maple Leafs, 4-2, at Toronto to force Game 6 in their firstround playoff series.

Anthony Cirelli also had a goal and an assist and Nicholas Paul and Alex Killorn also scored for Tampa. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.

Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews scored for Toronto, which got 34 stops from Ilya Samsonov. John Tavares had two assists.

The Leafs lead the best-of-seven series 3-2. Game 6 goes Saturday in Tampa. Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday back at Scotiabank Arena.

Toronto, which has failed to advance in the postseason since 2004 and was eliminated by the Lightning in seven games in last spring’s first round, is now 0-10 since 2018 with a chance to eliminate a postseason opponent.

Kraken have Avalanche on ropes

The most surprising team on the brink is Colorado, down 3-2 to the Kraken with the series going back to Seattle.

All eyes now are on the Avalanche, who are one loss away from being the first reigning Stanley

Cup champion to lose to a team making its first playoff appearance in franchise history after a 3-2 loss Wednesday night.