On Monday, April 15, the Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames 6-2 to take game three of the series. Center Nathan Mackinnon scored two early goals in the first period to put the Avalanche up 2-0. Defenseman Cale Makar made his NHL debut after losing in the NCAA National Championship for the University of Massachusetts. He scored his first NHL goal in game three giving Colorado the 3-0 lead in the game. Left wing Matt Nieto made it 4-0 scoring his second goal of the series with eight minutes left in the second period. Center Sam Bennett scored his first goal of the series for the Flames to cut the lead to 4-1. Right wing Mikko Rantanen closed out the second period with his first goal of the series, reestablishing the Avalanche’s four-goal lead. Defenseman Erik Johnson made it 6-1 scoring one minute into the third period. Flames defenseman TJ Brodie answered with one of his own 20 seconds later making it 6-2, but it was not enough for the Flames to get past the Avalanche.
On Wednesday, April 17, the Colorado Avalanche outlasted the Flames 3-2 in overtime to take a 3-1 series lead. Defenseman Elias Lindholm scored on the powerplay to give the Flames a 1-0 lead early in the second period. Center Derek Ryan made it 2-0 for the Flames scoring seven minutes into the third period. Left wing J.T. Compher answered one minute later making it a 2-1 game with 11 minutes to go in game four. Rantanen tied things up at two, scoring on the powerplay with three minutes to go in the game. In overtime, Rantanen picked up his second goal of the game and the game-winner to help the Avalanche take a 3-1 series lead.
On Friday, April 19, the Avalanche took the series 4-1 after beating the Flames 5-1 in game five. Rantanen scored his fourth and fifth goal of the series. Left wing Gabriel Landeskog scored his first of the series while center Colin Wilson picked up his first two goals of the series to help the Avalanche move on to the second round. Colorado will play the winner of San Jose and Vegas in the second round.
Vegas up 3-2 in series versus San Jose
On Sunday, April 14, the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Sharks 6-3 and took a 2-1 series lead. Right wing Mark Stone of the Golden Knights picked up a hat trick for his fourth, fifth and sixth goal of the series on Sunday. Center Paul Stastny scored two goals to help Vegas while left wing Max Pacioretty grabbed his second goal of the series. Center Logan Couture, right wing Timo Meier and right wing Kevin Labanc all collected goals for the Sharks but it was not enough as the Sharks fell 6-3 to the Golden Knights.
On Tuesday, April 16, the Vegas Golden Knights beat the San Jose Sharks 5-0 and took a 3-1 series lead. Pacioretty scored his third and fourth goal of the series on Tuesday. Right wing Alex Tuch, center Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Shea Theodore each collected a goal to help Vegas win 5-0 and take a 3-1 series lead.
On Thursday, April 18, the Sharks took game five 5-2 to stay alive in the playoffs. Center Tomas Hertl and Couture both scored their third goals of the series, giving the Sharks an early 2-0 lead. Right wing Reilly Smith for the Golden Knights scored with 30 seconds to go in the first period to cut the lead to 2-1 going into intermission. Right wing Ryan Goodrow for the Sharks had the lone goal in the second period to make the lead 3-1. Marchessault scored on the powerplay with nine minutes to go in the game to cut the lead to 3-2. Hertl scored his second of the game, this time on the powerplay with five minutes to go in the game. Captain and center Joe Pavelski extended the Sharks’ lead to 5-2 scoring with under two minutes to play. The Sharks took the game and to stay alive in game five as the series is 3-2 in favor of the Golden Knights.
Dallas up 3-2 versus Nashville
On Monday, April 15, the Nashville Predators defeated the Dallas Stars 3-2. The game started out slow as neither team could find the back of the net in the first period. Center Rocco Grimaldi for the Predators opened up the scoring four minutes into the second period and center Filip Forsberg scored as well to make it 2-0 Nashville. Left wing Mats Zuccarello scored for the Stars with three minutes left in the second period to make it 2-1. Center Tyler Seguin scored eight minutes into the third, tying the game at 2-2. Center Mikael Granlund scored the game winner with eight minutes left in the third and gave the Predators a 2-1 series lead.
On Wednesday, April 17, the Dallas Stars scored four goals in the first period to tie the series up at 2-2. Left wing Roope Hintz, right wing Alexander Radulov, center Andrew Cogliano and Zuccarello all picked up tallies, giving the Stars’ a commanding lead less than 20 minutes into the game. Hintz scored his second goal of the night in the second period to make it 5-0. Stars captain, defenseman Roman Josi, scored his second goal of the series and put the Predators on the board. Dallas won 5-1 and tied the series 2-2.
On Saturday, April 20, the Dallas Stars beat the Predators 5-3, taking a 3-2 series lead. Radulov and center Jason Dickinson scored twice for the Stars while Seguin added one goal to help beat the Predators 5-3. For Nashville, centers Ryan Johansen, Kyle Turris and Grimaldi all picked up goals, but it was not enough to beat the Stars.
Blues win series 4-2 over the Jets
On Tuesday, April 16, the Winnipeg Jets beat the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in overtime of game four to tie the series at two. There were no goals in the first two periods as neither team could put the puck in the other’s net. Only 35 seconds into the third period, right wing Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Blues on a powerplay to give them a 1-0 lead. Center Mark Scheifele tied it back up at one seven minutes later. In overtime, left wing Kyle Connor scored his third goal of the series and the game-winner for the Jets to even the series at two.
On Thursday, April 18, the Blues defeated the Jets 3-2 with three third period goals. Immediately following the faceoff, left wing Adam Lowry scored for the Jets to give them an early 1-0 lead. Right wing Kevin Hayes also scored in the first period giving the Jets a 2-0 lead. Centers Ryan O’Reilly and Brayden Schenn of the Blues both scored in the third to tie the game at two. Center Jaden Schwartz scored the game-winner for the Blues with 15 seconds to go in the game.
On Saturday, April 20, the Blues took the first round series versus the Jets 4-2 after winning game six by a final score of 3-2. Schwartz continued his goal scoring for the Blues with a hat trick and picked up three of his four goals in the series on Saturday. For the Jets, both of their goals came late in the game as defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and right wing Bryan Little both picked up goals, but it was not enough to overcome Schwartz’s hat trick. St. Louis will play the winner of Nashville and Dallas in the second round.
