Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 13: Oilers, Maple Leafs advance to second round, Rangers send series to Game 7

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell
Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 13: Oilers, Maple Leafs advance to second round, Rangers send series to Game 7
Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

We had another night of exciting Game 6 action, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. Demons were slayed, sticks were broken at inopportune times, clutch goals were scored, and series’ were tied and won, making for a great night of hockey. Let’s dive into the three games we got on Day 13 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Leafs end 19-year playoff series win drought with Tavares’ overtime winner

It’s finally happened. It took 19 years, 8 playoff series, 12 elimination games, and 7 seasons of this core to do it, but the Toronto Maple Leafs have finally won a playoff series.

They still didn’t make it easy though because, you know, this is the Leafs. It was a tightly contested game all the way through, with both Ilya Samsonov and Andrei Vasilevskiy playing out of their minds to keep their team in it. Auston Matthews scored the opening goal late in the second period to give the Leafs the 1-0 lead, but Steven Stamkos would tie it for the Tampa Bay Lightning early in the third. As the period closed out going to overtime, the Leafs seemed to be playing to not lose, while the Lightning were playing to win, something that definitely didn’t help the nerves of Leafs fans.

But, for once, those demons and fears would not be realized, as the Leafs finally did the job, and who else but the guy who risked his reputation to play for his hometown team, the captain John Tavares. It wasn’t a pretty one, but these kind of goals never are, and the Leafs don’t care as it gives them the win.

That goal advances the Leafs to the second round for the first time since 2004, where they will face the winner of the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers series. It also eliminates the Tampa Bay Lightning, who fail to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2019. Samsonov was the star of the show, stopping 31 of 32 shots in the win.

And they didn’t even need a Game 7.

For a more in-depth look on the win, and what’s to come for the Leafs now, check out Matt Larkin’s story here.

Rangers force Game 7 with another dominant win over Devils

The momentum in this series has been all over the place, but when the New York Rangers have won, they’ve made sure to win big, and Game 6 was no exception. They had a bit of a scare to start, as Curtis Lazar would open the scoring midway through the first to give the New Jersey Devils the lead, but Chris Kreider deflected one in late in the period to tie it, and the Rangers didn’t look back after that.

The stars came out to play in the second, with Mika Zibanejad and Vladimir Tarasenko both notching a goal to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. Then it was some of their depth that finished the job, with Barclay Goodrow and Braden Schneider scoring their first goals of the series, and it was a 5-1 lead and the game was pretty much over. Dawson Mercer got one in the final five minutes, but that was as close as they would get to a comeback, and the Rangers took the 5-2 win and tied the series at three a piece, sending us to a much-anticipated Game 7.

It was always going to go the distance with this series, and it will certainly make for an entertaining finale. Kreider proved to be the winning factor for the Rangers in this series yet again with three points, while Igor Shesterkin was about as good as he needed to be to help out his team, stopping 34 of the 36 shots he faced in the win.

Late goal from Yamamoto sends the Oilers to the second round in

Nothing sums up the way this series between the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings went than Game 6. When on their game, the Oilers were in control, but the Kings kept hanging around, and the Oilers needed to put more work than they anticipated to win.

To start, it seemed like the Oilers had this game in the bag, taking a 3-1 lead by the 4:06 mark of the second period thanks to goals from Connor McDavid, Klim Kostin, and Leon Draisaitl. However, no lead has been safe in this series, and the Kings managed to come back in the second thanks to goals from Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala to tie it, but Kostin’s second of the game would give the Oilers the lead again just a couple of minutes later.

And then this happened…

It’s a tough bounce for Stuart Skinner as his stick broke and gave Phillip Danault an easy one to tie the game, and suddenly it seemed like the Oilers might be rattled after that. But no worries, as Kailer Yamamoto stepped up and gave the Oilers their eventual game-winner with just over three minutes left, and that would hold as the final 5-4 score. Kostin would lead the way with three points for the Oilers, while Fiala tried his best to keep the Kings alive with three points himself.

With that, the Oilers move on to the second round for the second year in a row, and will face the Vegas Golden Knights for the first time in their franchise’s history. For the Kings, it’s now their fourth straight first round exit since their last Stanley Cup win in 2014, and their second straight at the hands of the Oilers.

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