New York Islanders 5, Carolina Hurricanes 1
What an ending! Within only 2:18 minutes the Islanders scored four goals. Palmieri, Martin, Mayfield, Lee: never before in the history of the Stanley Cup Play-offs had a team scored four goals so quickly. A 1-1 became a 5-1. The Hurricanes could not cope with the shock.
New York was clearly the better team in the final phase. Ilya Sorokin was a safe back even before that, saving 30 of his opponent's attempts. Shortly before the final horn, there was a scuffle and five penalties were handed out. Thus, the Islanders managed to catch up in the play-offs: Carolina is now only 2-1 in front.
The atmosphere in the freshly-built UBS Arena was like a madhouse."That was pretty impressive. I didn't think it would be like the old stadium. But it comes damn close. Obviously our fans generated so much energy that we were able to tip the game," Matt Martin described his emotional state.
Los Angeles Kings 3, Edmonton Oilers 2
Two power-play goals from superstar Connor McDavid were not enough as the Edmonton Oilers gave away their advantage in the first-round series against LA. Trevor Moore scored the decisive goal in overtime to give his Kings a 2-1 advantage in the series.
Leon Draisaitl was on the ice for 23:44, fired three shots on goal and had an assist on McDavid's tying goal. The next head-to-head clash will take place on Monday.
Florida Panthers 2, Boston Bruins 4
A goal and an assist: in the absence of captain Patrice Bergeron and veteran David Krejci, Taylor Hall was the decisive factor in the second play-off win over the Florida Panthers. Superstar David Pastrnak also scored, making it 3-0 in the 49th minute.
In the series, the title candidate from Boston is again leading 2-1. With high efficiency and a disciplined performance, they reminded again of the strong team from the regular season.
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery was fittingly happy: "We saw our typical hockey. No matter who plays, we need a good performance from everyone to win. In the second game, there were some hangers-on. That wasn't the case tonight."
Minnesota Wild 5, Dallas Stars 1
"We talked a lot about what we want to do and how we want to play. It's got to be done consistently if you want to have success," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "We've got to play the way we did tonight."
That roughly outlines what the Minnesota Wild did on Friday night. They were in complete control of the Stars. They allowed only six shots on goal in the first period. For the entire game, 22 shots were blocked and goalie Filip Gustavsson had a 95.83 per cent save percentage.
Despite starting this play-off series as favourites, Dallas now trails 2-1. Norwegian Mats Zuccarello scored twice, Ryan Hartman added a goal and two assists.
