NHL playoffs daily: Oilers, Blues tie series; Hurricanes, Caps take control

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Sunday’s NHL playoff action saw two teams take command of their series while two others were knotted up.

The Washington Capitals routed the Montreal Canadiens and the Carolina Hurricanes dominated the New Jersey Devils, with both victors taking commanding 3-1 leads in their series.

Meanwhile, the St. Louis Blues battled back to tie their series against the Winnipeg Jets at 2-2 with a 5-1 blowout. Finally, in Sunday’s nightcap, the Edmonton Oilers rallied to edge the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in overtime and forge a 2-2 series tie. It was the seventh straight day that NHL fans were able to catch some overtime hockey.

Here’s how Sunday’s four-game NHL playoff slate went down across the league:

(Series is tied 2-2)

Line changes spark the Oilers’ third-period charge

The Oilers switched their top six during the second intermission. Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry moved up to Connor McDavid’s line, whereas McDavid’s wingers, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman, were bumped to the second trio. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins centered Zach Hyman and Evander Kane.

The shuffle worked out while the Oilers pressed to try to tie the game.

McDavid and Draisaitl got assists on Evan Bouchard’s first goal, a shot that pinballed off Drew Doughty before it slid by Darcy Kuemper. They were both in on Bouchard’s tying marker, too, after Quinton Byfield failed to clear the zone.

Draisaitl finished the game with a goal and three helpers as he extended his playoff point streak against the Kings to 35 points (17 goals and 18 assists) in 18 games. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman

Kings’ inability to hold leads remains problematic

Byfield will want a do-over. As the Kings tried to defend against Edmonton and a sixth Oilers attacker after Calvin Pickard was pulled, Byfield got the puck and appeared to have time to get the puck out of his zone to kill more of the waning seconds left on the clock.

Instead, Byfield took two strides first rather than immediately chip the puck off the wall or flip it into the air. Bouchard took the puck away from Byfield to keep offensive possession and eventually got it back to fire in his game-tying blast past Kuemper on the stick side.

That made for the third blown lead in the third period for the Kings in the first four games. The Oilers rallied from a 5-2 deficit in Game 1 to forge a tie before losing late in regulation. The Kings also couldn’t finish in Game 3 as Kane tied the game with 6:42 remaining and Bouchard provided the lead 10 seconds later on the power play after a failed challenge for goalie interference. — Eric Stephens

(Capitals lead series 3-1)

Playing the line chess game

One of the main factors at play in Game 2’s 6-3 Montreal win was the utter lack of production from Washington’s top line; Dylan Strome, Alex Ovechkin and Anthony Beauviller had no answer for Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovský.

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery, asked about it pregame, said it was a balancing act, a question of finding the sweet spot between trusting deployments that were successful in the regular season and adapting to the moment.

“There’s a lot of ways that I can get Dylan Strome’s line away from Nick Suzuki’s. A lot of ways,” he said. “But now, does it become a distraction for our group? ”

In Game 4, Strome’s line was significantly more successful — and perhaps not coincidentally, they saw significantly less time against Suzuki. Part of that was due to the amount of power plays; Suzuki typically comes out after Canadiens’ penalty kills, which is when Strome typically is off the ice, and vice versa. Whatever the reason, it led to a much more successful five-on-five game for Washington. — Arpon Basu

A momentum-altering penalty kill

When Christian Dvorak took a minor penalty for high-sticking at 4:54 of the second period and Joel Armia was called for hooking Tom Wilson — a questionable call to say the least — at 6:11, the Capitals had an excellent opportunity to build on their 1-0 lead.

The Canadiens at that point had not generated a whole lot offensively, the game appeared on the verge of tilting in the Capitals’ favor, and the Bell Centre crowd had been somewhat muted — or at least a bit less of a factor.

That penalty kill changed that for the Canadiens.

It was a momentum shift in the game and it brought the Bell Centre back to life, with the crowd roaring its approval as the final seconds ticked away on Armia’s penalty.

Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson was particularly effective in killing the two-man Capitals advantage, and as he finally made his way to the bench after a shift that lasted nearly four minutes, Suzuki, the Canadiens’ captain, skated up behind him and gave Matheson two big taps on the shoulder. — Sean Gentille

(Hurricanes lead series 3-1)

Brind’Amour lineup change works early

Coach Rod Brind’Amour moved Andrei Svechnikov to the Sebastian Aho-centered line to start the game, and it paid off almost immediately. Less than a minute into the game, Brent Burns passed a puck from high in the zone to Svechnikov. He whipped around and put a shot on the Devils’ net. The puck found its way through traffic and into the net. Svechnikov stayed hot with a power-play goal in the second period, then finished an empty-net goal for his second career playoff hat trick. — Peter Baugh

Devils defense remains short-handed

Johnathan Kovacevic left Game 3 with an injury and wasn’t able to go Sunday. Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon, both injured in Game 1, remained out, as well. Dennis Cholowski re-entered the lineup in Kovacevic’s place and played 8:46 in his second career playoff game.

Even the Devils’ playing defensemen aren’t in prime form. Coach Sheldon Keefe said Brett Pesce is not 100 percent healthy and has sat out of the team’s recent skates. Jonas Siegenthaler returned from a lower-body injury for Game 3, but he had previously been out since Feb. 4. Keefe said he’s still regaining his conditioning. Dougie Hamilton missed more than a month before returning for the regular-season finale. — Baugh

(Series tied 2-2)

Maroon gives the Blues a boost

Pat Maroon, who won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, recently announced his retirement from the NHL. With his free time, the native St. Louisan wore a Blues’ jersey and waved the team’s rally towel before Game 4.

Maroon has always been a fan favorite, so the loud reaction Sunday was no surprise, especially when Maroon grabbed his beer and chugged it.

A few weeks ago, Maroon played his final game in his hometown as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, who are the Blues’ biggest rival. So all seemed right with the world again to see him back in Blues’ colors. — Jeremy Rutherford

Winnipeg’s lack of secondary scoring has become a problem

Gabriel Vilardi was a “gametime decision,” as per Scott Arniel, and even took the warmup, although it was clear at Jets practice on Saturday that Vilardi was unlikely to play. Nikolaj Ehlers remains out week-to-week and will not be an option for the Jets in Round 1.

Vilardi alone won’t be able to turn the tide of this series but somebody other than Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor needs to contribute to Winnipeg’s offence. Scheifele and Connor have five points each; the Jets’ next highest scorers are Cole Perfetti, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Josh Morrissey, Mason Appleton and Morgan Barron — a five-way tie with two points each after four games.

Winnipeg could survive without offense or saves. However, it’s in trouble heading into Game 5 because it’s not getting either. — Murat Ates

(Photo: Codie McLachlan / Getty Images)

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