Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist and the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers held on to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series. Jack Roslovic and K’Andre Miller also scored for the Rangers, and Erik Gustafsson and Alexis Lafreniere each had two assists. Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped a shot with his mask, then made a diving, no-look save that they’ll remember in Florida for a long time. And Carter Verhaeghe made sure his goalie’s highlight-reel work came in a win. Verhaeghe — making some history of his own — lifted a backhander just under the crossbar 2:59 into overtime, and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their NHL first-round playoff series.
Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and assist and the Colorado Avalanche scored four goals in the second period in a 5-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night to tie the first-round playoff series at a game apiece. Miles Wood, Zach Parise, Josh Manson and Valeri Nichushkin also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves for Colorado, a bounce-back effort after allowing seven goals on 23 shots in the series opener.
Filip Forsberg scored a goal and had an assist, and the Nashville Predators beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Tuesday night to level their best-of-seven playoff series at 1-1. Anthony Beauvillier — a former Canuck — also had a goal and an assist for the Predators, Colton Sissons and Kiefer Sherwood had goals, and Juuse Saros made 17 saves. Nikita Zadorov scored for a Vancouver team that struggled to get shots on net and experienced a series of unlucky bounces.