Global Courant 2023-04-27 07:41:48
Matthew Tkachuk scored six minutes into overtime to help the Panthers defeat the Boston Bruins 4-3 on Wednesday night and force their first-round playoff series back to Florida for a sixth game.
A game after Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark tried to fight Tkachuk, the Panthers forward took advantage of Ullmark’s sloppy puck play behind the net to cut the lead of the Presidents’ Trophy winners in the best-of-seven series to 3 -2.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 44 saves for Florida, which won back-to-back games in Boston but lost twice at home. Anthony Duclair, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored – each giving the Panthers a lead.
Patrice Bergeron scored on his return from injury and Ullmark stopped 21 shots for the Bruins. Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall had the other goals for Boston, who recovered from 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 deficits to force overtime.
THE ONLY ONE
MATTHEW TKACHUK pic.twitter.com/94EcMrAOyg
It was 2-1 in Florida when Bergeron tied the score for five seconds on a Boston power play that sent Marchand’s shot into the net. Seconds later, Tkachuk drew a hooking penalty on Jakub Lauko, and Reinhart quickly put the Panthers back in front.
With about 10 minutes left, Hall fought for a puck in the slot, turned and wristed it into the net to tie the game at 3–3. The Panthers earned a faceoff in the Boston zone with 8 seconds remaining, but Marchand prodded the puck and chased it down, breaking free of the ice.
Bobrovsky brushed him aside with 1 second left on the clock.
Kraken takes the lead in series vs. Avalanche
Tye Kartye scored in his NHL debut and the Seattle Kraken edged a victory away from clinching their first playoff series after beating the reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Wednesday night.
The Kraken take a 3-2 lead in the first round series at home to Seattle, where they can advance Friday night in front of their raucous home fans.
Yanni Gourde and Morgan Geekie added goals for the Kraken, who scored first in all five games. Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 shots against his former team.
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and Evan Rodrigues added another to make it 3-2 with 3:37 to go, but the Avs couldn’t tie it.
FILLY FILLY.
Grubi has been a force of nature this series and it shows in the pic.twitter.com/NacAc2FY1l
The Kraken were without forward Jared McCann, who was injured on a hit by Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar in Game 4. Makar could only watch as he pulled a one-game suspension from the competition. Makar was the previous year’s Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the playoff MVP.
Alexandrar Georgiev had 26 stops for Colorado.
According to NHL Stats, Kartye became the eighth player since 1927 to score a goal in his NHL playoff debut. Before Kartye, Makar was the last to accomplish this feat in Game 3 of a first-round series in 2019.
Kartye’s goal gave the Kraken a 2-1 lead in the second period and came shortly after MacKinnon cut off the skates with Will Borgen. MacKinnon was also enraged and hit the glass with his stick as the Kraken descended the ice. Jordan Eberle delivered a surefire pass to Kartye that made it a memorable night.
Kartye, who turns 22 on Sunday, had 28 goals and 29 assists this season with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds.
MacKinnon’s goal in the second period tied the game at 1. It was playoff point No. 98 for MacKinnon, putting him just two away from Joe Sakic (188) and Peter Forsberg (159) as the only players in the franchise history that record 100 postseason points.
Geekie opened the scoring by tapping in a loose puck early in the second period. It was quite a challenge for Geekie, who missed Game 3 to be with his wife for the birth of their daughter.
