Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 20: Devils, Kraken make statements with blowout Game 3 wins

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell
Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 20: Devils, Kraken make statements with blowout Game 3 wins
Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Jack Hughes’ four-point night gives Devils 8-4 win despite three shorthanded goals against

After back-to-back blowouts in Carolina, the New Jersey Devils needed to make some adjustments to get things on the right track and not face a 3-0 series deficit. That’s exactly what they did heading into Game 3, not only swapping Akira Schmid for Vitek Vanecek, as well as inserting Luke Hughes into the lineup in place of Ryan Graves, who had an upper-body injury.

Whether those moves were the catalyst or not, the Devils gave the Canes a taste of their own medicine by taking a commanding 4-0 in the first 20:53. Timo Meier got his first of the postseason to open the scoring, Jack Hughes added to the lead midway through the first, Michael McLeod made it 3-0 with a shorthanded goal (keep a count of these), and then Nico Hischier got the monkey off his back as well with his first of the postseason to start the second, making it 4-0.

After that, it went a little bit more back and forth. Sebastian Aho, Damon Severson, and Jordan Martinook exchanged goals in the second, with Martinook’s being a shorthanded goal, and the Devils took a 5-2 lead into the third.

Enter the third period, and it’s a similar stretch of garbage time hockey. Miles Wood and Jack Hughes both scored a couple minutes apart to put the game out of reach, but then the Canes responded quickly with back-to-back shorthanded goals from Jordan Staal and Seth Jarvis. Ondrej Palat got the final goal to make it a blowout again, and the Devils took the game 8-4.

Jack Hughes led the way with two goals and four points, Dawson Mercer had three assists, and Luke Hughes managed to get two assists in his playoff debut. And yes, there was a total of four shorthanded goals in the game, and somehow three came from the losing team.

Reinhart’s OT winner sends Leafs into 3-0 hole

The Toronto Maple Leafs never seem to fail at making an absolute mockery of themselves. Even when they finally get that elusive series win, they managed to throw away all of their goodwill against what should have been a much better matchup for them by not showing up, especially their star players.

The Leafs did jump out to an early 1-0 lead, as David Kampf set up Sam Lafferty on a 2-on-1, but like all series, it’s the Leafs depth that’s contributing to the offense. The Panthers took over for the rest of the period, but Ilya Samsonov kept the puck out of the net.

And he would for the rest of the game. The problem was that he didn’t play the whole game, as he left early in the second period after a collision with Luke Schenn, meaning that young Joseph Woll would be going into the net, and it would be on the penalty kill.

The Leafs killed 1:59 of the penalty, but unfortunately Anthony Duclair would get one in that last second on a breakaway to tie the game. Five minutes later, another depth piece for the Leafs in Erik Gustafsson got his first of the postseason on a pass that deflected off of Marc Staal and in, but the Panthers tied it again five minutes after that with a goal from Carter Verhaeghe. The third period was a scoreless slog, and this game needed overtime to decide it.

And that lasted all of 3:02, as Sam Reinhart buried one on a great play that fooled Woll and led to a wraparound goal, and the Panthers take the game 3-2 and now lead the series 3-0. Aaron Ekblad was the lone player on either team with more than a point with two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky was great in net yet again with 22 saves on 24 shots.

12 Kraken players get on the board in 7-2 blowout win

There’s something in the water in Seattle, and it’s not a giant sea monster either, as the Kraken continue to surprise the league in these playoffs, especially with how consistent a majority of their depth has been. It didn’t show right away, as the first period was a scoreless one, but they held the edge in shots at 9-4 and expected goals at 1.27-0.64.

That work in the first would pay off in the second, as they exploded for five goals in the frame. Jordan Eberle opened the scoring just 2:10 into the period, and unfortunately for the Stars, that would be a massive turning point in multiple ways for the Kraken. Not only would that start an offensive burst from Seattle, but their top defenseman in Miro Heiskanen got hurt by a puck striking him up high, which Eberle immediately capitalized on for the goal.

Alex Wennberg, Carson Soucy, and Matty Beniers all scored in just over a six minute span after that goal, and the Kraken weren’t even halfway through the game and were already up 4-0. Mason Marchment got one back for the Stars, but Eeli Tolvanen scored with 39 seconds left in the period to give the Kraken a 5-1 lead going into the second intermission, and then Yanni Gourde made it 6-1 1:49 into the third with a shorthanded goal.

Jani Hakanpaa attempted a comeback at the seven minute mark with a goal, but that was all the Stars could muster, and after a late goal from Justin Schultz, the Kraken took the game 7-2. 12 different players got a point in the win, with Beniers, Tolvanen, Wennberg, and Schultz being the lone players to get two with a goal and an assist each, once again showcasing their incredible depth scoring.

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