NHL playoffs daily: Leafs, Knights, Oilers advance; Avalanche force Game 7 vs. Stars

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Four NHL teams entered Thursday night’s playoff action with a chance to advance to the second round with series-clinching victories. Three of them came through.

First, the Toronto Maple Leafs advanced with a 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators, winning their best-of-seven series 4-2. William Nylander scored twice for Toronto, including a game-clinching empty-netter with 19 seconds left.

The Leafs’ triumph was quickly followed by a similar result for the Vegas Golden Knights, who also advanced after closing out the Minnesota Wild with a 3-2 victory. Mark Stone played the role of hero for Vegas, batting a pass out of the air and into the net for the game-winning goal with just less than four minutes to go.

Later, the Edmonton Oilers ended the series against the Los Angeles Kings with a Game 6 win of their own.

Of the four games, only the Dallas Stars missed a chance to close out their series, losing 7-4 to the Colorado Avalanche. Game 7 will be Saturday in Texas.

Here are the key takeaways from Thursday’s games.

(Vegas wins series 4-2)

Adin Hill saves his best for last

Early in the first period, Vegas goalie Adin Hill stretched out his left skate just far enough to get a piece of Marcus Foligno’s one-timer from point-blank range, robbing the Wild forward of what looked like a sure goal.

It was the start of what would be Hill’s best game of the series, and by a considerable margin. The Comox, British Columbia, native stood on his head for the Golden Knights, stopping 29 of 31 shots to close out the first-round series.

Hill had been pedestrian at best for Vegas over the first five games, especially on high-danger shots, which he stopped at only a .690 percentage prior to Thursday. In Game 6, though, Hill made several key saves from in tight.

Midway through the third period, Kaprizov found Hartman streaking to the net with speed, but Hill made a big save to preserve the Golden Knights’ 2-1 lead.

In Hill’s first two postseason runs, he was excellent, with a .932 save percentage over his first 19 games. Perhaps Thursday’s stellar outing in a close-out game is what he needed to rediscover that form. — Jesse Granger

Long shift proves costly for Wild’s top line

The Wild played a terrific second period and got great pressure from their top line and top defensive pair late in the period.

But because of that long shift, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov didn’t have the gas to retreat after Brock Faber didn’t win a 50-50 puck on a pinch, then didn’t immediately backcheck once Vegas gained possession.

Kaprizov, at the end of a 75-second shift, tried to dive in a desperate attempt to stop Stone’s pass from reaching Jack Eichel. The Golden Knights’ star caught up to the puck and buried his first goal of the series on a breakaway for a 2-1 lead.

The Golden Knights’ stars were quiet over the first half of the series, but came to life in Game 4 on Tuesday and kept it rolling Thursday night. The breakaway goal was Eichel’s first of the playoffs and set up by Stone’s best play of this postseason (at least until his game-winning goal that followed). The newly formed line of Eichel, Stone and William Karlsson turned out to be a great decision by coach Bruce Cassidy. The two speedsters around Stone allowed the cerebral winger to send area passes on breakouts, such as the one that sprung Eichel for his goal.

Vegas was without Pavel Dorofeyev, who led the team with 35 goals in the regular season but was injured in Game 5. Victor Olofsson took his place in the lineup, playing for the first time since he was scratched for Tanner Pearson following Game 3. Olofsson had one shot on goal in 12:39 of ice time. — Joe Smith

(Toronto wins series 4-2)

Leafs avoid historic collapse

For the Leafs, the most important takeaway from Game 6 was that it won’t be followed by a Game 7.

The “Sens in 7!” chant crept up again and again from the Canadian Tire Centre crowd. Few would have been surprised had the Leafs played tight and tense through Game 6 and allowed another opportunity to close out a series slip through their fingers. Heading into Thursday, the Leafs were 1-13 in possible series-clinching games since 2018.

That statistic has been brought up constantly over the last 48 hours.

Seven games felt possible. But it didn’t happen, and in the short term, the Leafs deserve credit for silencing the growing anxiety around them and playing a better game than the Senators. The Leafs consistently strung together decent chances and locked things down in their end more often than not.

Getting a clutch goal from a veteran in Max Pacioretty late in the third period is likely part of what general manager Brad Treliving had in mind when he added all the veterans he did ahead of this season.

The Leafs looked like they did through the regular season, when they would take a lead and rely on their defensive structure to close out a game. They did that without overthinking where they were in the playoffs. For this Leafs team, that matters. — Joshua Kloke

Tkachuk’s first playoffs

Brady Tkachuk’s first-period penalty ultimately put the Senators in some trouble after Auston Matthews converted on the power play afterward.

The Sens were further down in the hole after a Nick Jensen turnover led to the Nylander goal. But Tkachuk found a way to make up for his earlier mistake by redirecting a Thomas Chabot point shot past Anthony Stolarz, sending the Canadian Tire Centre faithful into madness. Fans could barely contain their excitement once the jumbotron flashed the Sens’ captain.

Tkachuk will always say he provided his best when needed in his first playoffs. One goal, eight hits and 18:46 time on ice in an elimination game was what his team needed to have. Four goals and seven points through six games for the series. It was worth the wait to have Tkachuk in the playoffs, though he probably would like to have that first-period penalty back. — Julian McKenzie

(Edmonton wins series 4-2)

Nurse rebounds in a big way

Darnell Nurse was the subject of criticism over the last two playoffs. After an impressive regular season, he’s had his share of struggles again. The Oilers were outscored 6-2 with him on the ice at five-on-five before Game 6, while he’s been forced to step up and play alongside Evan Bouchard in Mattias Ekholm’s absence.

He’s prone to some up-and-down play, which was apparent in Game 5.

Nurse wasn’t the only culprit on the opening goal as each member of the top line — Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Corey Perry — was caught up ice, but he was the most obvious. Nurse left the middle of the ice, allowing Quinton Byfield to walk right in and beat Calvin Pickard just 1:19 into the game.

But Nurse responded at the other end, helping Edmonton take control of the game.

First, his point shot was tipped in by Zach Hyman to put the Oilers ahead 3-2 at 12:49 of the first period, their first advantage of the game. Then, he ripped a pass from Vasily Podkolzin past Darcy Kuemper on a four-on-three rush at 14:59 of the second. His reaction said it all.

Overall, Nurse put forth a solid effort at both ends after he settled in from his initial mistake. — Daniel Nugent-Bowman

Lots of goalies, not enough saves

Darcy Kuemper is the fifth starting goalie the Kings have thrown at the Oilers in four playoff rounds during this era. And while the 34-year-old Vezina Trophy finalist had some admirable efforts in Games 4 and 5, stopping a combined 87 shots, he still couldn’t come up with enough saves.

That’s the case with these four consecutive losses. No matter what the goaltending may be like in the regular season, it still isn’t enough against the potent Oilers. Jonathan Quick had the best numbers in 2022 as he managed a .904 save percentage and 3.43 goals-against average with the only shutout in that span.

Joonas Korpisalo had the net in 2023, but after an auspicious start to his lone Kings playoff gig following an arrival at the trade deadline, he recorded a .892 save percentage and 3.77 goals-against average. Cam Talbot had a strong solo season, but it ended in 2024 with him being pulled for David Rittich in Game 4. Talbot only won one of three starts and had a .861 save percentage and 5.40 GAA. Rittich lost both starts but was slightly better with an .872 save percentage.

The Kings have used seven goalies in total, and Cal Petersen (2022) and Pheonix Copley (2023) each did a mop-up job for one game in relief. Kuemper, who still has two years left on his contract, finished with a .889 save percentage and a 3.70 GAA over the six games. Rittich, who was working on a one-year deal and struggled throughout the second half, was never needed. — Eric Stephens

(Series tied 3-3)

One odd bounce changed everything

The Stars had exactly the kind of start they wanted. There were seven whistles in the first 68 seconds, and Dallas seemed to have early control of the game. The crowd’s enthusiasm was waning, and the Avalanche looked a little tense, a little tight.

One fortunate bounce changed everything.

At 6:29 in the first period, Gabriel Landeskog had a clean zone entry and left the puck for Brock Nelson, who slung a cross-slot pass to a charging Valeri Nichushkin. Esa Lindell made a good play on Nichushkin’s shot, getting a stick on it and sending it well wide of the net. But on its way, the puck ticked off Ilya Lyubushkin’s skate and past Jake Oettinger for the first goal of the game. It was reminiscent of Game 1, when the Avalanche broke the ice with a similarly fluky goal when Artturi Lehkonen inadvertently kicked it in while being dragged to the ice by Mavrik Bourque.

From there, the Avalanche took over, all those pregame nerves evident in a tense and quiet post-skate locker room instantly melting away. Cale Makar started dancing, Marty Necas did spin-o-ramas, and Nathan MacKinnon went on the attack. By the time Lehkonen beat Cody Ceci to a rebound — Oettinger was particularly springy in the first period — to make it 2-0, the Avalanche were in complete control.

Colorado finished the period with 20 shots on goal — and held a ridiculous 10-1 edge in high-danger scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick — and Oettinger and the Stars were somewhat fortunate to only be down two. — Mark Lazerus

A spectacular second

Where to even begin?

The entire tenor of the game changed with a sequence in the opening minute of the second period. Cale Makar, the Norris and Lindsay finalist still looking for his first goal of the series, walked in on Oettinger and fired from point-blank range. But Oettinger made the save, and Brock Nelson promptly took a foolish tripping penalty in the offensive zone seconds later. Then, 23 seconds into the ensuing power play, Hintz’s rebound attempt was knocked past Mackenzie Blackwood, who had lost his stick, by a sliding Charlie Coyle. What could have been a 3-0 game was now 2-1, and one of the most frantic periods imaginable was on.

By the end of the period, Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen each had two goals and two assists. Counting Mikael Granlund’s equalizer less than three minutes after Hintz’s power-play goal, the Finns had nine points for the Stars in the second period. Rantanen, in particular, was sensational against his old team. He made maybe the best play of a period full of brilliant plays from center ice.

Three minutes after Martin Necas scored a backdoor goal off a beautiful one-touch feed from Makar, Rantanen got the puck along the wall between the benches and then muscled his way to a primary assist. First, he shoved aside Samuel Girard with one arm without losing the puck, and then didn’t even move as Samuel Girard tried to can-opener him between the legs. He then feathered a slick little pass between Girard and MacKinnon to Hintz, who beat Lehkonen down the ice and sniped it to tie the game at 3-3. Hintz and Rantanen combined on another goal late in the period, sending a shell-shocked Colorado team into the locker room.

There isn’t enough bandwidth on the internet to list all the scoring chances both ways. Oettinger was magnificent, stopping 15 of 16 shots in the period. His swatting of a point-blank chance by Jack Drury at the 11:30 mark was a highlight. It was a breathless, track-meet style of play. In theory, it’s a style that Colorado would probably welcome and Dallas would prefer to avoid. But the Stars embraced the chaos and beat the speedy Avs at their own game. — Lazerus

(Photo of Golden Knights celebrating: Ellen Schmidt / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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