Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 18: Trocheck and Wood play hero in night of overtime games

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell
Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 18: Trocheck and Wood play hero in night of overtime games
Credit: © Brad Penner

What’s better than overtime? Two games with overtime and one being a double overtime, which is exactly what we got on Tuesday.

Trocheck gives Rangers 4-3 win with double OT goal

After seeing the New York Rangers get the upper hand in Game 1, they got things started off in a similar way when Alexis Lafreniere opened the scoring in the first period of Game 2. But, the Carolina Hurricanes weren’t going to let this first period end up like Game 1’s, and it started with a big moment that saw Andrei Svechnikov take out Igor Shesterkin when skating by him. While that looked like it was going to hurt the Canes by giving the Rangers a power play, Carolina killed it off and then responded with a Jake Guentzel game-tying goal and a Dmitry Orlov go-ahead goal in the last six seconds.

The second period proved to not only be true in name due to it being the middle frame of the game, but also because it was the period where both goals were the second of the game for the respective player. Lafreniere got his second off of an amazing feed from Adam Fox, and then Guentzel got his second in the final minutes to give the Canes the lead again.

Carolina had done a great job of holding off the Rangers power play through two periods, but the dam eventually burst in the third. A great scoring chance from Vincent Trocheck resulted in chaos in front of the net, and of course, Chris Kreider was there to bury the trash to tie the game six minutes into the third. The two played out the remainder of the period without another goal, and this game needed overtime to decide the winner.

The game knew it was too good to end quickly too, because it needed double overtime to give us a decision. In fact, it was the longest game of these Stanley Cup Playoffs, and it ended with a Trocheck overtime winner after 27:24 of overtime, and on the power play no less.

With that, the Rangers win 4-3 in double overtime, and they take a 2-0 series lead as they head to Carolina. Neither Guentzel or Lafreniere got to complete their hat tricks, so they finished with two goals on the night, while Sebastian Aho and Artemi Panarin got three assists in the game. To no one’s surprise, Shesterkin had another stellar night, stopping 54 of 57 shots in the win.

Wood’s scores in OT to complete Avs’ three-goal comeback

A lot of the conversation going into this series between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche was about which offense would thrive – the depth of the Stars or the high-end talent of the Avs. Turns out in Game 1, it was a bit of both.

While the Avs entered this game well rested, the Stars were riding the momentum of a big Game 7 win, and they came out storming in the first period. Ryan Suter, Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn all got on the board in the first period, and it looked like the game was already in their hands with a 3-0 lead after one period.

But the Avalanche weren’t going to let it be that easy. Before the halfway point of the second period, they’d already gotten back into the game courtesy of goals from Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar, and then just 39 seconds into the third period, Nathan MacKinnon got the game tied. No one else scored for the rest of the third period, and just like Tuesday’s earlier game, we needed overtime.

This one didn’t need double overtime though. After both teams traded chances, Miles Wood dashed to the front of the net and buried the winner, and that helped complete the three goal comeback for the Avs, finishing with a 4-3 win and taking a 1-0 series lead. Makar was the lone player in the game with three points thanks to a goal and two assists.

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