The NHL’s opening-round playoff offerings have given us some very long series already in most cases, but we did see one come to an end last night after ‘just’ six games as the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 at home to advance to the second round. Nick Leddy opened the scoring in the first period, but a three-goal second, where David Perron supplied two assists, gave the hosts all the breathing room they’d require. Their reward for the win? They now get the opportunity to take on the Colorado Avalanche… Elsewhere, the other three games that took place on Thursday yielded results that would force a seventh game to take place.
Most notably, two-time defending champion Tampa Bay was able to come away with a 4-3 home overtime win over Toronto to make sure they got a chance to travel across the border one more time. Tampa led 2-0 midway through the second period, but a goal from Auston Matthews and a pair by John Tavares put the visitors ahead. Nikita Kucherov, however, equalized in the third, eventually forcing OT ahead of Brayden Point’s winner 18 minutes into the extra period. Madness, and now we get to see a seventh game. The Boston Bruins also won at home, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 to book a trip back south for G7. Both Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle had a goal and an assist apiece in the triumph. And finally, the Edmonton Oilers also made sure of hosting a Game 7 as they took care of business in Los Angeles by beating the Kings 4-2. Connor McDavid had a goal and two helpers while Evander Kane scored twice, and that meant that for the fourth time the road team have won in the series. The Oilers will hope that trend doesn’t keep up back in Edmonton…
