Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 22: Golden Knights beat the buzzer, Hurricanes beat up Capitals

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.

Hurricanes storm Capitals to regain series lead

After splitting the series in America’s capital, the third game of the Metropolitan Division Final had the makings of being an important one.

The first period saw plenty of action, though neither the Carolina Hurricanes nor the Washington Capitals were able to find the back of the net. That all changed in the second, as the Hurricanes sprung the home crowd to life. Their persistent pressure was rewarded when Andrei Svechnikov scored his first goal of the series and six of the playoffs to give Carolina a 1-0 lead.

The Canes would extend their lead later in the middle stanza as Jack Roslovic scored on the power play, his first of the playoffs, giving Carolina some breathing room heading into the third period.

Even with the Capitals trailing by two, the Hurricanes did an excellent job limiting their rivals’ attack, holding Washington to a measly six shots on goal in the final 20 minutes. Goals from Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake put the game out of reach, with the Canes coming out on top, 4-0, giving them a 2-1 lead in the series.

It was a special night for Frederik Andersen. For all the health problems the Danish netminder has had to overcome, he posted his first NHL postseason shutout in five years, turning away all 21 shots on Saturday night.

The Hurricanes used the body to slow down the Caps, outhitting Washington 47-43. Carolina also played tough against Alex Ovechkin, making the Washington captain look mortal.

Game 4 in Raleigh is set for 7 p.m. ET on Monday night.

Smith’s buzzer-beater sends Golden Knights to victory

The Vegas Golden Knights were in desperate need of a win as they went on the road for the first time against the Edmonton Oilers…and they won in one of the strangest ways.

Early on, it looked like the Golden Knights were going to be run out of Rogers Place. The Oilers rode the energy off the home crowd to build a nice lead. Corey Perry, placed on a line with captain Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, opened the scoring several minutes into the first.

The 39-year-old doubled down just a few minutes later, putting one in on the man advantage for his fifth goal of the playoffs, becoming the oldest player in Oilers history to post a multi-goal in the postseason.

However, Vegas was able to respond. Nicolas Roy and Reilly Smith scored just 54 seconds apart late in the frame to level the score at two heading into the second.

With a renewed sense of confidence, the Golden Knights started to play their game against Edmonton, taking the lead late in the second period with William Karlsson scoring his third of the playoffs.

It looked like Vegas was going to skate to a victory as the team’s defense and goaltender Adin Hill were doing their part in keeping the Oilers’ top scorers at bay. That was until a lucky bounce gave McDavid his third of the playoffs to tie the game with just over three minutes remaining in regulation.

The game was heading to overtime. However, an innocent-looking forecheck from Karlsson led to Smith getting the puck with just a couple of seconds left. Smith was able to slide the puck by Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner, deflecting off Draisaitl and into the net.

Though the goal was initially waved off, a quick review showed that the puck crossed the line with 0.4 seconds left, giving the Golden Knights a 4-3 win and cutting Edmonton’s lead in the series to 2-1.

The win came at a cost. Golden Knights captain Mark Stone suffered an upper-body injury late in the first period, but didn’t return.

Game 4 in Edmonton is set for Monday night, with puck drop scheduled for a little after 9:30 p.m. ET.