NHL playoffs daily: Hurricanes eliminate Devils; Senators shut out Maple Leafs

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Tuesday was a night for high-stakes playoff hockey.

The Carolina Hurricanes put the New Jersey Devils’ season down for good in double overtime, while the Ottawa Senators shut out the Toronto Maple Leafs to stay alive. The Edmonton Oilers won a crucial Game 5 over the Los Angeles Kings to put the Kings on the ropes, and the Vegas Golden Knights did the same against the Minnesota Wild in OT.

(Hurricanes win series 4-1)

Hurricanes charge back in the second

The Hurricanes have controlled second periods all series, and they tilted the ice in their favor in the middle segment of Game 5. They had 61.5 percent of the expected goal share, according to Natural Stat Trick, and took advantage of three New Jersey penalties, one of which actually came late in the first.

Right after the early period power play ended, Logan Stankoven put a shot on net that got past Jacob Markström. Taylor Hall swooped in and finished off the goal. Jackson Blake and Andrei Svechnikov followed with quick goals. In just under four minutes, the Devils’ 3-0 lead evaporated.

The Hurricanes ceded the lead again when Nico Hischier scored from the slot, but it didn’t last long. The Hurricanes drew successive tripping penalties on Tomas Tatar and Erik Haula, giving the Hurricanes 55 seconds of five-on-three power play time. Carolina sustained pressure from the faceoff on, and Aho eventually ripped a Seth Jarvis pass past Markström to tie the game. — Peter Baugh

Not a power-play goal — but one right after

The Devils’ power play dropped to 0-for-13 on the series in the first period, but Stefan Noesen’s goal came moments after the man advantage expired. It essentially served as a power-play goal, even if it technically didn’t count. Noesen’s goal gave the Devils their first point from a bottom-six forward in the series.

Before Noesen came through, the power play looked like more of the same. Carolina had two short-handed rushes, and the Devils were not able to generate much. They were credited with only one shot on the power play.

Rookie Seamus Casey entered the lineup for Dennis Cholowski in Game 5, making his playoff debut. Coach Sheldon Keefe put him on the top power-play unit, hoping for a spark. He did a good job keeping the puck in the zone on New Jersey’s first power play of the third period, but after a couple of looks early in the power play, the Devils’ unit sputtered once again. Jordan Martinook exposed Seamus Casey a bit on the Devils’ third power play, bursting past him for a short-handed look. Keefe did not give Casey much opportunity at five-on-five. Casey played only 9:13, and 3:29 came on the power play.

In total, the Devils went 0-for-3 on the power play in Game 5 and finished the series 0-for-15. Special teams, a strength of New Jersey’s all season, was a key reason it lost. — Baugh

(Maple Leafs lead series 3-2)

Sanderson’s dominance

Jake Sanderson was the best defenceman on the ice for either team on Tuesday. On a night when the Senators’ offense wasn’t generating a lot, Sanderson upped his game on the defensive end. He broke up plays on the penalty kill and pushed opposing forwards to the perimeter.

Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews particularly struggled with Sanderson. Their Corsi ratings were each below 50 percent with Sanderson on the ice, according to Natural Stat Trick. Matthews’ rate hovered below 30 percent for parts of the game while Marner only had an expected goal share of 0.24 with him on the ice. The best of any Leafs forward against him. By game’s end, Sanderson led all Sens defencemen in ice time.

His partner, Artem Zub, also deserves some love with seven shot blocks.

Many Sens players deserve credit for their defending, particularly on the PK.

The Sens struggled with the Leafs’ power play in the early goings of this series. Since Game 4, the Leafs are 0-for-7 with the man advantage. When Ridly Greig took a third-period penalty, it looked dicey for the Sens. But then Adam Gaudette rushed up ice and fed Dylan Cozens for a short-handed goal — the Senators’ second in as many games. The Leafs didn’t recover. — Julian McKenzie

Leafs core comes up short

Again, stop us if you’ve heard this before: In a game that mattered, the Leafs’ stars did not take over. It’s not rocket science. Any team that is built top-heavy with some of the best offensive weapons in the league needs those weapons to fire in the biggest games.

But Matthews, Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly put together a grand total of zero points in Game 5. That’s unacceptable.

The Leafs’ top players had chances to convert and take steps toward putting this series to bed. But the lack of execution is troubling. And by this point in the series, getting chances and chances alone isn’t something this core should be proud of.

The once-white-hot Leafs power play has cooled off. The Leafs were given a gift when Greig took a needless holding penalty early in the third period. They sent that gift back by allowing a short-handed goal.

Not good enough to win a game. And now it’s worth wondering if it’s good enough to win a series against a wild-card team. — Joshua Kloke

(Golden Knights lead series 3-2)

Hartman’s would-be game winner called back after two reviews

Ryan Hartman thought he won the game for Minnesota late in regulation, scoring on a drive to the net in transition, but it was eventually ruled a no-goal after two different reviews.

First, the play was reviewed by officials to determine if Hartman had kicked the puck into the net, but they determined it bounced off his leg without a kicking motion, so it was a good goal. Seconds later, Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy challenged the play for offside, and after a second review, it was determined Minnesota forward Gustav Nyquist entered the offensive zone just ahead of the puck, and the goal was taken off the board.

The last-minute play, and ensuing reviews, sent the sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Arena on an emotional roller coaster, ending with a deafening roar when it was ultimately ruled a no-goal.

Nyquist has struggled offensively since getting acquired at the trade deadline for a 2026 second-round pick. He has just two goals in 27 games (including playoffs) with the Wild, and just one shot in this series (which came in Game 1).

Wild coach John Hynes indicated there were things other than production that he brought to the lineup.

“I think with Gus, he’s a veteran player,” Hynes said. “I think he understands how to play in these environments. He plays a strong two-way game,” Hynes said. “He’s very responsible and he adds to our penalty kill. I know he hasn’t gotten out the last few times on it, but he is a good penalty kill for us. So I think there’s lots of value to having a player like him in your lineup.” — Michael Russo

Eichel and Karlsson combo yields results

Cassidy opted to move William Karlsson up onto Jack Eichel’s wing midway through Game 4, and stuck with the combo Tuesday night in Vegas. It was only Karlsson’s 11th game on the wing in 455 games with the Golden Knights, but he and Eichel found immediate chemistry and played Minnesota’s top line better than any combination had up to this point.

Eichel and Karlsson connected for the opening goal of the game while killing a penalty. Eichel intercepted Kirill Kaprizov’s centering pass, charged down the ice and found Karlsson for a backdoor goal to make it 1-0.

Later in the first period, the line struck again, but at even strength. Eichel recovered the puck deep in the Minnesota zone, fended off defenders with his off hand, then found Mark Stone for a one-timer at the point. Meanwhile, Karlsson screened Filip Gustavsson in front of the Wild net, and Stone’s shot found room underneath the goalie’s pads to make it 2-1.

Eichel and Karlsson were strong defensively throughout the game, and were almost exclusively matched up against the line of Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy. In regulation, Eichel matched up with Kaprizov for 7:52 of even-strength ice time, and Vegas held edges in shots (6-3) and goals (1-0) during that span. — Jesse Granger

(Oilers lead series 3-2)

Janmark comes through in the clutch

Mattias Janmark played in all but two of the Oilers’ 82 regular-season games this season. He scored all of two goals. He has equaled that total in this series.

Suffice it to say the one he scored in Game 5 was the biggest yet.

Janmark deposited a rebound off a shot from Arvidsson, the former Kings winger, during a rush to give the Oilers their first lead of the game. Vasily Podkolzin picked up the second helper as part of a revamped fourth line to close out Game 4.

Janmark’s campaign and playoffs appear to be mirroring last season. He was disappointed with his four-goal, 12-point output, but responded by playing an integral role in the Stanley Cup Final run. He recorded four goals and eight points while providing near-flawless penalty killing. That earned him a three-year, $1.45 million average annual value contract with a partial no-movement clause. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman

Kings have difficulty getting through neutral zone

For the first time in the series, the Kings looked discombobulated on the offensive attack. Passes that had connected between teammates and led to numerous quality scoring chances in the first four games often didn’t in Game 5.

The Oilers deserve credit for breaking up more plays in the neutral zone and keeping more pucks in the L.A. end with an effective forecheck. But the Kings often had trouble getting pucks out of their zone when they had chances to break out cleanly. Even the normally sure-handed Anže Kopitar had trouble keeping pucks or receiving passes.

Add in the Oilers’ natural ability to possess the puck when they had Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the ice, and the shot counter widened in Edmonton’s favor throughout the first two periods. At one point, the Oilers had a 33-11 advantage late in the second.

Whatever goal they had of testing Calvin Pickard wasn’t fulfilled. — Eric Stephens

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

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