NHL Playoffs: Oilers blowout Kings, Bruins back in it, Wild and Maple Leafs win
Anthony Scultore
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NHL Playoffs recap for May 6, 2022 features the Boston Bruins battling back to stay in their series, plus the Oilers demolish the Kings. After all the intense action was over on Friday night, each series hit a 2-1 advantage.
In Los Angeles, Evander Kane led the offensive charge with a hat trick to give the favored Edmonton Oilers the lead in their series over the Kings. Also in the West, Kirill Kaprizov kept his hot streak going as the Minnesota Wild beat the St. Louis Blues.
Over in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins led by Jeremy Swayman in goal doubled up the Carolina Hurricanes to get back into their series. And finally, the Toronto Maple Leafs won an important swing game against the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
NHL Playoffs: Oilers 8 vs Kings 2
Evander Kane collected his first career playoff hat trick, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins both scored twice in three-point outings and the visiting Edmonton Oilers routed the Los Angeles Kings 8-2 in Game 3 of their Western Conference first-round series on Friday.
Leon Draisaitl collected a goal and an assist for the Oilers, while Cody Ceci had three assists and Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid notched two assists apiece. Edmonton goalie Mike Smith made 44 saves, 19 of them in the first period.
“We’re just finding ways to win games,” McDavid explained. “That’s all that matters this time of the year. It doesn’t matter how it looks or how it happens.”
Anze Kopitar produced a goal and an assist and Phillip Danault also scored for the Kings. Starting goalie Jonathan Quick was pulled after surrendering four goals on 17 shots. Cal Petersen stopped 16 of 20 shots in relief.
Edmonton now hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 on Sunday in Los Angeles.
Maple Leafs 5 vs Lightning 2
Morgan Rielly, Colin Blackwell and David Kampf scored the first three goals of the game as Toronto defeated host Tampa Bay to take a 2-1 lead in a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Toronto’s Ilya Mikheyev added two empty-net goals in the third period, and Pierre Engvall had three assists. Jack Campbell made 32 saves for the win.
“Coming into this rink, it’s a tough rink,” Campbell said. “Their fans are into it and their team is always buzzing. We did a great job of having a strong start tonight.”
Ondrej Palat had a goal and an assist for the Lightning, and Ross Colton also scored. Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 shots.
Toronto will look to try and grab a commanding lead in this series on Sunday in Game 4 on the road.
Bruins 4 vs Hurricanes 2
Brad Marchand had a goal and two assists as Boston used a three-goal spurt during the second and third periods in a victory over Carolina to narrow the Hurricanes’ lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference first-round series.
“I think it felt good to know that we can come back in these situations and we can respond the way we have in the past,” Marchand said. “I think it’s the most I’ve felt engaged. It had kind of been a little while since I’ve felt that into a game.”
After Carolina’s Vincent Trocheck opened the scoring 9:17 in, Boston went on a four-goal run thanks to Charlie Coyle, Marchand, David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall. Coyle and Pastrnak compiled multiple-point nights by adding assists.
Both goaltenders made their Stanley Cup playoffs starting debut. Boston’s Jeremy Swayman was composed all night as he totaled 25 saves. Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 24 shots and Jaccob Slavin also scored for Carolina.
“You do everything you can to win,” Swayman said. “It was a great team effort.”
Game 4 is set for Sunday in Carolina with the Bruins looking to even their best-of-seven series.
Wild 5 vs Blues 1
Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek each had a goal and an assist as visiting Minnesota defeated injury-depleted St. Louis to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.
Jordan Greenway, Mats Zuccarello and Jonas Brodin also scored for the Wild on Friday, and Marcus Foligno and Ryan Hartman had two assists apiece.
“He’s one of those players that finds a way to score from everywhere, and it’s nothing new for us,” Zuccarello said about Kaprizov. “It’s good to see. You work hard and you get the bounces, and today we got bounces.”
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves to earn 92nd career playoff victory, which tied him with Grant Fuhr for third place in NHL history. Ryan O’Reilly scored for the Blues, and Ville Husso made 28 saves.
Minnesota will be try to keep the Blues at bay and grab a 3-1 series lead on Sunday in St. Louis.
–Field Level Media contributed to this article.