Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Rangers can extend lead in Eastern Final
The Stanley Cup Playoffs: The buzz is that the Rangers can extend their lead in the Eastern Conference Finals
Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers
New York Rangers lead Eastern Conference Finals best-of-seven series 1-0, and hope to extend it in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden on Friday. Game 1 of the series was won by the New York Knicks, who defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2 on Wednesday. The Rangers trailed 2-0 and 3-2 in each of their first two playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes, respectively, after the first game. A record-setting eight-game home playoff winning streak is within reach for the New York Rangers if they win their final game of the series on Sunday. There is nothing new about this situation for the Lightning; since the start of 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers, they are 17-0 in playoff games following a loss and 15-5 following a loss during the conference finals/Stanley Cup Semifinals. After dropping Game 1, Tampa Bay went on to win the Eastern Conference Finals against New York in seven games.
Avalanche's MacKinnon goes on a scouting mission
After scoring a power-play goal in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers, Nathan MacKinnon now has three points (two goals, one assist) in the series. The centre has also passed Peter Stastny for fifth place in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques playoff history with 12 power-play goals (11). However, his influence extends far beyond the numbers he generates. Jared Bednar, the Avalanche's head coach, said, "I don't think Nate is getting enough credit for what he's doing." "Nate looks to me like a guy who's totally focused on winning. The fact that he's on the scoresheet doesn't really matter. No, he hasn't cheated once in this entire series. He's getting on the right side of the puck when it comes to scoring goals. Yet he manages to contribute in some small way. A collective effort is required. Check them out with more than two people. This is something to which all five players on the ice must be fully committed."
Things need to be cleaned up by oilers
Two of Edmonton's three second-period goals came from lapses and one from a lost face-off in a span of 2:04 in the second period of Game 2. Artturi Lehkonen's deflection of Nazem Kadri's shot gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the second period. 15 seconds after the Oilers' face-off loss, Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson scored the game-winning goal. Mikko Rantanen's second goal for Colorado came on a two-on-one after Edmonton made a terrible line change. There is no point in the Oilers contributing to the Avalanche's chaos when they are capable of doing so on their own.
Colorado Avalanche 4, Edmonton Oilers 0: Last Night's Game
The Avalanche's best-of-seven Western Conference Final series lead was extended to 2-0 thanks to Pavel Francouz's 24 saves. Francouz became the third goaltender in Colorado/Quebec history to record multiple postseason shutouts, joining Patrick Roy (18) and Philipp Grubauer (2). After Darcy Kuemper suffered an upper-body injury in Tuesday's 8-6 victory over the Celtics, Francouz took over as the starter for the second time this postseason. On May 9, Francouz took over for injured teammate Darcy Kuemper in Game 4 of the first round against the Nashville Predators. A 5-3 victory by Colorado completed the sweep. The Avalanche, the Western Conference's top seed, were led by Lehkonen and Rantanen, who each had a goal and an assist, and Kadri, who had three assists. The No. 2 seed in the Pacific Division, the Edmonton Oilers, had 36 saves from Mike Smith. Forward The status of Kailer Yamamoto's upper-body injury was not immediately known Thursday.
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