2 years agoEdmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl put in another big performance in Tuesday's 5-3 win over Calgary, becoming the first player in NHL history to record three-plus points in four straight playoff games. He did the business with three assists, grabbing his final helper on the power play 25 seconds from the end of regulation. Draisaitl is now on 22 points for this year's playoffs and 13 of them have come in the series against the Flames. The German superstar has been in stunning form, going on a historic run despite playing through a leg injury.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

2 years agoCarolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho made history in Tuesday's Game 4 defeat against the Rangers, becoming the team's all-time leading playoff scorer. He tallied an assist in the third period on a Teuvo Teravainen goal, recording his 44th playoff point, to break a tie with Eric Staal. Aho now also boasts the most playoff assists in franchise history with 26. The Finnish star had a nice start to the series with goals in back-to-back games and he sits on nine points through 11 postseason appearances. Eight of his points have come on home ice, so Aho likely can't wait to get back to Raleigh for Game 5.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

2 years agoNew York Rangers forward Andrew Copp had a very productive outing in Game 4 against the Hurricanes, finishing a 4-1 victory with a goal and two assists. He got his night started with a power-play helper on a Frank Vatrano goal and also had an assist in the opening frame on Adam Fox's eventual game-winning goal. These are Copp's first points of the series. The 27-year-old struggled to make an impact in the first three games against Carolina, but he's actually had a solid postseason with five goals and 10 points in 11 games.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

2 years ago New York Rangers forward Filip Chytil is set to remain on the top line for Game 4 against Carolina. He replaced Frank Vatrano on the line in Sunday's Game 3 and the shakeup helped Rangers to bounce back from two defeats with a 3-1 win. The 22-year-old has had an underwhelming season with 22 regular-season points and three points in the playoffs, but skating on the first line has given him a chance to link up with the team's top goal-scorer Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, who has racked up nine points across the last five games. --Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Vince Z. Mercogliano

2 years agoCarolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta will make his 10th postseason start of the year in Tuesday's Game 4 against the Rangers. Frederik Andersen (lower body) has returned to practice, but it seems like he still needs to put in some work before he's ready to return to the crease and Raanta will continue to hold down the fort until Carolina's No. 1 is back. The Finnish netminder has performed very well in Andersen's absence, but he's having a tough time away from home and hasn't yet won a single road outing in the playoffs. His overall record stands at 5-3 with a 1.86 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage. --Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Walt Ruff

2 years agoCarolina Hurricanes defenseman Brendan Smith finds himself on a three-game point streak ahead of Tuesday's Game 4 against the Rangers. He has a chance to become only the second blue-liner in franchise history to register a four-game point streak in the playoffs. Smith posted eight points in 45 games during the regular season and is averaging only 0.21 points per game for his career, so the 33-year-old has been a very surprising offensive contributor in the second-round series against his former team. Smith boasts four points in 10 appearances for the whole postseason.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

2 years agoSt. Louis Blues winger Pavel Buchnevich picked up two points in Monday's 6-3 loss to Colorado, setting up David Perron for the opening goal 5:07 into the game and adding a power-play goal late in the second period. The 27-year-old Russian was paired with Perron and Ryan O'Reilly on the first line ahead of Game 2 in the series and he's responded by putting together a three-game point streak with one goal and four assists. Buchnevich had previously managed just four points in seven games during the playoffs. The line has found a great connection, but the Blues need others to step up as well, with the team facing elimination in Game 5 on Wednesday.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

2 years agoColorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen finally netted his first postseason goal of the year on Monday, wrapping up a 6-3 win over St. Louis with an empty-netter two seconds before the buzzer. This was his eighth playoff game of the season and he needed 19 shots on goal to light the lamp for the first time. Rantanen has enjoyed back-to-back 30-goal years in the regular season, so a lot more is expected from him in terms of goal-scoring, although he's still put in decent work offensively in the playoffs, recording a four-game point streak and piling up 10 points in total.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

2 years agoColorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri came up with his first career playoff hat trick and added an assist as the team rolled to a 3-1 series lead against St. Louis with a 6-3 victory in Game 4. He scored twice in the second period to help turn a 1-0 deficit into a comfortable lead and bagged another one in the third before wrapping things up with an assist on Mikko Rantanen's empty-net goal. This was a huge response from Kadri to death threats and racial abuse he received after being involved in an incident in Game 3 where St. Louis' netminder Jordan Binnington suffered a series-ending injury. Kadri has notched six points across the last two games, upping his tally to 10 points for the postseason.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

2 years agoTampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy kept up his amazing record of shutouts in series-clinching games, stopping 49 shots in a 2-0 victory over Florida Monday night. He now has six shutouts in series-clinching games, the most in league history. Patrick Roy is the only goalie with more saves in a series-clinching game since 1955-56, having pushed away 63 pucks in Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup, which was ironically also against the Panthers. Vasilevskiy limited the opposition to just three goals in the series, and the reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner should be oozing with confidence ahead of the Eastern Conference Finals, entering the action with an 8-3 record, a 2.23 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoTampa Bay Lightning right wing Corey Perry has turned back the clock in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs and has a chance to match his career-high postseason goal streak Monday against Florida. The 2011 MVP has scored in each of the first three games in the series against the Panthers. He set his record with a four-game streak all the way back in 2009. Perry also has an opportunity to tie Teemu Selanne and Brendan Shanahan for the longest playoff goal streak in NHL history by a player aged 37 or older. The veteran winger has tallied five goals in total during the postseason, which puts him tied for the team lead with Ross Colton.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoColorado Avalanche defenseman Bowen Byram is set to replace Samuel Girard (sternum) on the second power-play unit. Girard has been ruled out for the rest of the playoffs, which gives Byram an opportunity to step into a more significant role. The 20-year-old has shown a lot of upside and will hope to have a much bigger impact for the rest of the way after going for just one point in seven postseason games. Girard's spot in the lineup appears to be going to Jack Johnson, who will make his first playoff appearance of the year in Monday's Game 4 against the Blues.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Mike Chambers

3 years agoSt. Louis Blues goaltender Ville Husso will be between the pipes in Monday's Game 4 against Colorado. The Finnish netminder is taking over from Jordan Binnington (lower body), who has been ruled out for the rest of the series after getting injured in Saturday's Game 3. Husso started the postseason as St. Louis' No. 1 and had a great Stanley Cup Playoffs debut with a 37-save shutout against Minnesota, but he went on to allow nine goals in two starts before Binnington replaced him. Husso also made an appearance Saturday night and that didn't go well either as he gave up four goals on 23 shots. The Blues badly need him to regain his regular-season form, which resulted in Husso going 25-7-6 in 38 starts. Charlie Lindgren has been recalled from the AHL to be Husso's backup.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com

3 years agoCarolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta produced a solid performance in Game 3 against the Rangers, saving 30 of 32 shots, but he still had to settle for a loss in a 3-1 game. The former Ranger has lost all three postseason outings on the road this season, recording a 3.44 goals-against average with a .891 save percentage. His home and road performances have been like day and night, as Raanta has gone 5-0 on home ice with a 0.97 goals-against average, a .968 save percentage and one shutout. The veteran netminder faces another road contest on Tuesday.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoNew York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad logged his first points of the second round in Sunday's Game 3 against Carolina, finishing a 3-1 victory with a goal and an assist. He opened the scoring in the first period with a power-play goal and helped Chris Kreider to tally the eventual game-winner in the second. Zibanejad had an amazing finish to first-round action when he recorded seven points across the final two games against Pittsburgh, but Carolina managed to limit the Rangers to just one goal in the first two contests of the second round and Zibanejad failed to make an impact. He certainly started to heat up again on Sunday, and Zibanejad will try to add to his team-high 13 points in Game 4 on Tuesday.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN