Stars on Fire

Three out of a possible four teams were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday.

In the East the Boston Bruins eliminated the Carolina Hurricanes, the Tampa Bay Lightning sent the Columbus Blue Jackets packing, and in the West the Colorado Avalanche ended the Arizona Coyotes Stanley Cup dreams.

The Philadelphia Flyers had the chance to knock out the Montreal Canadiens, but lost 5-3.

The Vancouver Canucks won Game 5 to put the St. Louis Blues, the reigning champions, on the brink of elimination.

Thursday was a much quieter day, with just two games. The New York Islanders looked to knock out the Washington Capitals, and the Dallas Stars were hoping to do the same to the Calgary Flames.

Eastern Conference

New York Islanders v Washington Capitals
4-0

Anthony Beauvillier scored twice, and Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves for a shutout to help the New York Islanders defeat the Washington Capitals 4-0 in Game 5, winning their Eastern Conference First Round series and sending the 2018 champions home.

Josh Bailey had a goal and two assists, and Nick Leddy also scored for the Isles. Their opponent in the Eastern Conference Second Round is yet to be determined.

Beauvillier has nine points (6g, 3a) in nine games this postseason

Braden Holtby made 13 saves for the Capitals, who scored three goals at 5-on-5 in the entire series and have been eliminated in the first round in back-to-back seasons since winning the Stanley Cup.

The Caps were 0-for-2 on the power play.

Leddy (17:47) and Bailey (18:31) scored empty-net goals to ensure the 4-0 victory.

Nicklas Backstrom (concussion protocol) returned to the Washington lineup after missing the previous three games. He was injured in the first period of Game 1 from a hit by Islanders forward Anders Lee.

Meanwhile New York were without forward Cal Clutterbuck, who was injured from a hit by Capitals D-man Radko Gudas in the second period of Game 2. Derick Brassard was named on the scratch list as well. Michael Dal Colle and Ross Johnston took their place.

Up Next:

Islanders win series 4-1 – Advance to Second Round

Capitals – Eliminated

Capitals v Islanders – Saturday, Aug. 22 (TBD)

Western Conference

Dallas Stars v Calgary Flames
7-3

Denis Gurianov scored four of seven straight goals by the Dallas Stars in a 7-3 annihilation of the Calgary Flames in 6, that ended their Wester Conference First Round.

Gurianov scored three times in a five-goal second period after the Stars fell 3-0 behind within the first 6:34 of the game.

It’s the sixth time an NHL team has trailed 3-0 in the first period before rallying to win a series-ending game.

The 23-year-old, playing in the NHL postseason for the first time, is the first Dallas/Minnesota North Stars player to score four goals in a playoff game, and the first with four goals in a playoff game since Jake Guenztel for the Pittsburgh Penguins against the Philadelphia Flyers on April 22, 2018.

Miro Heiskanen had one goal and three assists, Joe Pavelski had a goal and two assists, Radek Faksa also scored, and Anton Kudobin made 38 saves for Dallas (No.3 seed) , who will play the Colorado Avalanche (No.2) in the Second Round.

Johnny Gaudreau, Andrew Mangiapane and Rasmus Anderson scored for the Flames, whilst Cam Talbot made 11 saves on 15 shots, and David Rittich made six saves on nine shots to end the second period.

Calgary scored three goals on their first eight shots.

Heiskanen got the Stars on the board with a power play goal at 9:36 of the first. It came 3:02 after Dallas used their timeout following Calgary’s third goal.

Gurianov scored his first of the night 59 seconds into the second period to make it 3-2, before adding his second at 3:25 to tie it 3-3. Talbot was replace by Rittich after the goal.

Faksa put Dallas in the lead at 5:47, and Pavelski made it 5-3 at 7:22.

Gurianov completed his first Stanley Cup hat trick on a 1-on-1 to extend their lead to 6-3 at 15:30 of the second, before adding his fourth, scoring once again on Talbot, who replaced Rittich to start the third period, at 9:02 for the 7-3 final.

Dallas, the No. 3 seed, will play the No. 2 seed Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Second Round. Game 1 is Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, SN, CBC, TVAS).

Up Next:
Stars win series 4-2 – Advance to Second Round

Flames – Eliminated

Game 1 vs Avalanche – Saturday, Aug. 22 (8pm ET – NBC, SN, CBC, TVAS)

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