NHL Playoffs: Penguins edge Rangers in triple overtime, Capitals take down Panthers, Flames and Avs win
Anthony Scultore
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NHL Roundup for May 3, 2022 recaps Day Two of the NHL Playoffs as the remaining four series opened with a triple overtime classic.
The Pittsburgh Penguins grabbed Game 1 by outlasting the New York Rangers thanks to an Evgeni Malkin tip past Igor Shesterkin, who made 79 saves. In other East action, the Washington Capitals led by T.J. Oshie claimed Game 1 of their series against the Florida Panthers.
Over in the West, the Calgary Flames got a strong performance in goal by Jacob Markstrom to shutout the Dallas Stars. And the Colorado Avalanche did what many expected and blew out the Nashville Predators with a 7-goal Game 1.
NHL Roundup: Penguins 4 vs Rangers 3 (3OT)
Evgeni Malkin scored 5:58 into the third overtime as the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins outlasted the New York Rangers 4-3 on Tuesday night in the opener of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
In a game that had a combined 151 shots on goal, Malkin capped the four-hour, 38-minute marathon by scoring on a deflection. The winning play started when Kasperi Kapanen pressured New York’s Filip Chytil into a turnover behind the net. Kapanen moved the puck from behind the net and found John Marino, whose wrist shot from the right point was tipped in over Igor Shesterkin’s left shoulder.
Malkin’s dramatic goal capped the 54th game in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to require at least three overtimes. It also was Pittsburgh’s first triple-overtime playoff game since Game 5 of the 2010 first round against the Ottawa Senators.
“I just think so highly of our players and our leadership,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I just think believe these guys are capable of so much and we have a high-character group, and I think that was on display on a game like tonight.”
Adam Fox and Andrew Copp scored in the opening 23-plus minutes for the Rangers, who held a 2-0 lead early in the second. Chris Kreider netted a short-handed goal that gave the Rangers a short-lived 3-2 lead late in the second.
Shesterkin’s 79 save effort set a Rangers franchise record and is second all-tie in NHL history behind Joonas Korpisalo’s 85 save performance set in 2020 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Flames 1 vs Stars 0
Elias Lindholm’s goal early in the first period held up for the game-winner because of Jacob Markstrom’s shutout performance as host Calgary beat Dallas in the opener of their Western Conference first-round series.
Markstrom made 16 saves to earn his second career playoff shutout. He collected nine shutouts in the regular season. Markstrom also had some good luck, as Miro Heiskanen’s shot late in the second period rang off the post, about as close as the Stars came to beating him.
“He was really solid,” Flames’ Erik Gudbranson said. “There were moments in the game when he needed to be sticky and he was sticky and got a whistle for us. I mean, we trust him. He’s a great goaltender.”
In his first NHL playoff start, goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 25 shots for Dallas, which had claimed the first Western Conference wild-card spot.
Capitals 4 vs Panthers 2
T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period and Washington rallied for a victory against Florida in the opener of their Eastern Conference playoff series in Sunrise, Fla.
“It looked like it was going to be a 2-on-2 right away,” Oshie said. “And you know typical [Nicklas Backstrom] fashion, sauced it through a guy’s legs and right to my tape. I just redirected it, didn’t see it go in, so he had to come tell me that I scored.”
Tom Wilson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller also scored for the Capitals — the latter an empty-netter with 49 seconds remaining. Goaltender Vitek Vanecek made 30 saves.
Sam Bennett and Claude Giroux scored for Florida, which blew a 2-1 lead entering the third period. The Presidents’ Trophy winners had been 39-0-1 in the regular season when leading after two periods. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 34 of 37 shots.
Avalanche 7 vs Predators 2
Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Cale Makar had a goal and two assists, and Colorado beat Nashville in Game 1 of their first-round series in Denver.
Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup, Artturi Lehkonen and Devon Toews also scored, Mikko Rantanen had three assists and Darcy Kuemper stopped 23 shots for the Avalanche. Andrew Cogliano had a goal before leaving the game with an upper-body injury in the second period.
“We talked about it beforehand, about coming out to a fast start and playing our game, and that was us getting rewarded,” Landeskog said. “Nobody was cheating.”
Matt Duchene scored two goals for the Predators, and Mikael Granlund had two assists and Connor Ingram had 30 saves in relief of David Rittich. Nashville’s top goaltender, Juuse Saros, is out with an ankle sprain.
–Field Level Media contributed to this article