Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 12: Capitals, Panthers advance to Round 2; Jets win at home again

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop exciting action in the NHL as we witness history in another team looking to win a championship. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop of everything that happened in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.

Capitals hold off Canadiens to move on

The series between the Washington Capitals and Montreal Canadiens has been an emotional and exciting one despite the two teams sitting at opposite ends of the Eastern Conference Playoff picture.

Facing elimination, the Canadiens burst out of the gate with opportunities. However, it was the Capitals who struck first and second, as Alex Ovechkin and Jakob Chychrun a little over two minutes apart to gain control of the game.

Washington added to the lead with Tom Wilson’s second goal of the series in the second period. However, as they have shown in all series, Montreal refused to quit. Emil Heineman tipped in his first playoff goal early in the third period to give the team some life. The Habs continued to push to try and close the gap, but Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson shut the door, leading to the Capitals eliminating the Canadiens with a 4-1 win.

It was Washington’s first playoff series win since the team won the Stanley Cup in 2018. As a result, the top-seeded Caps will meet with the Carolina Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division Final.

Ovechkin was a unit in the first round for the Capitals, leading the team with four goals and five points in this series.

Panthers ride Lightning out of playoffs

With this edition of the Battle of Florida ending early, you knew the final game between these two had to be chaotic.

With their season on the line, the Tampa Bay Lightning gave the home fans a jolt, with Gage Goncalves scoring less than three minutes into the game. However, the Florida Panthers quickly answered with Carter Verhaeghe scoring his second of the series a few minutes later, with Anton Lundell giving the defending Stanley Cup champions the lead.

Yet, Tampa Bay leveled the score late in the first, sending the game into the intermission tied at two. The teams traded goals in the second period, with Florida gaining the advantage thanks to Sam Bennett’s third of the playoffs late in the middle stanza.

The Cats were able to bunker down in the third, with Eetu Luostarinen and Sam Reinhart scoring to seal a 6-3 win, marking the second straight postseason where the Panthers have eliminated the Lightning.

Along with a four-point effort from Luostarinen, Florida netminder Sergei Bobrovsky made some huge saves on Wednesday night, ending up with 26 stops in the winning effort.

The Panthers await their opponent for the Atlantic Division Final. The Toronto Maple Leafs lead the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, with Game 6 set for Thursday night in Canada’s capital.

Connor, Jets fly to win one home ice

There was concern about the legitimacy of the Winnipeg Jets after losing back-to-back games on the road against the St. Louis Blues. However, with Gabriel Vilardi back in the lineup in Game 5 as the series returned to Winnipeg, the Jets played arguably their best game of the Central Division Semifinals.

Winnipeg came flying out of the gate with Kyle Connor scoring just over a minute into the contest, immediately igniting the Canada Life Centre.

While Nathan Walker scored to tie the game, Nino Niederreiter gave the Jets the lead once again. However, doubts about Connor Hellebuyck’s play came back in the second period, as Blues rookie Jimmy Snuggerud leveled the score a two with a relatively weak goal, his second of the playoffs.

Yet, the Jets didn’t let their netminder’s woes affect them. Dylan DeMelo and Vladislav Namestnikov each scored their first of the series to put the team up by two, heading into the third.

Hellebuyck managed to make some big saves in the third period to keep his team in front, as Winnipeg regained the lead in the series with a 5-3 win. Granted, the Jets netminder didn’t have to be great, as the team in front of him held the Blues to just 19 shots on Wednesday night.

The big concern for the Jets was the absence of Mark Scheifele. One of the team’s most important players didn’t come out for the second period and didn’t play the final 40 minutes. Scheifele took a hard hit from Brayden Schenn in the first period that left him looking lost for the rest of the frame.

Game 6 is set for Friday night in St. Louis. The Jets are trying to win their first postseason series since 2018.