Mathew Barzal scored 4:28 into overtime to give the New York Islanders a 2-1 win over Washington and a commanding 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series in Toronto.
Anders Lee scored in the first period and Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves for the Islanders, who are up 3-0 in the first round for the second straight year. They swept the Pittsburgh Penguins last April.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored in the second for the Capitals, who now must try to become the fifth team in NHL history to come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a series. Braden Holtby recorded 32 saves.
Barzal’s goal came seconds after Varlamov turned back a breakaway opportunity and a subsequent putback by Capitals left winger Jakub Vrana. On the next trip down the ice, Barzal took a pass from Jordan Eberle, swooped in on Holtby and backhanded a shot into the left corner of the net.
Blues 3, Canucks 2 (OT)
Brayden Schenn scored on a breakaway at 15:06 of overtime as St. Louis won for the first time in the postseason, defeating Vancouver in Edmonton, Alberta to pull within 2-1 in the best-of-7 Western Conference first-round series.
Schenn took the puck at center ice and outskated the Canucks’ Troy Stecher, beating goaltender Jacob Markstrom into the right top corner of the net with a wrist shot from between the faceoff circles.
Justin Faulk and David Perron also scored for St. Louis, and goaltender Jake Allen, inserted into the lineup for Game 3, made 39 saves. J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson tallied for Vancouver, and Markstrom made 46 saves.
Flyers 1, Canadiens 0
Jakub Voracek scored in the first period and goaltender Carter Hart protected that by stopping all 23 shots he faced as Philadelphia moved back on top 2-1 in its first-round series against Montreal in Toronto.
Hart, who got pulled during a 5-0 loss in Game 2, picked up his first career postseason shutout and, at 22 years, 3 days, is the youngest Flyers goalie to record a playoff shutout.
Canadiens goalie Carey Price, playing on his 33rd birthday, made 19 saves coming off a shutout in Game 2.
Stars 5, Flames 4 (OT)
Alexander Radulov was the hero as Dallas scored late in regulation and then beat Calgary in overtime in Edmonton to even their opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series at 2-2.
Seconds after his team rang a shot off the post, John Klingberg, who collected three assists, rifled a point shot that Radulov deflected for the game winner on his team’s 62nd shot.
Joe Pavelski collected his first career playoff hat trick — capped by a game-tying tally with 11.9 seconds left in regulation — and goalie Anton Khudobin made 36 saves for the Stars, the biggest against Johnny Gaudreau early in overtime.
Blackhawks 3, Golden Knights 1
Corey Crawford made 48 saves and Chicago avoided elimination with a win over Vegas in Game 4 of their Western Conference first-round series in Edmonton.
Drake Caggiula, Matthew Highmore and Alex DeBrincat scored for Chicago, which trails 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Shea Theodore scored and Robin Lehner made 22 saves for top-seeded Vegas.
–Field Level Media
