NEW YORK (AP) — Mathew Barzal scored his second goal of the game on a deflection 1:24 into the second overtime and the New York Islanders beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in Game 4 on Saturday to avoid a sweep in their first-round playoff series.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored and Semyon Varlamov stopped 42 shots — including 18 in the overtimes — to help the Islanders stave off elimination.
Seth Jarvis and Stefan Noesen scored and Frederik Andersen finished with 33 saves for Carolina, which is seeking to advance to the second round for the fifth time in six years.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.
LIGHTNING 6, PANTHERS 3
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos scored his fourth and fifth goals of the series and Tampa Bay avoided elimination with a victory over Florida in Game 4 of the first-round playoff matchup.
Game 5 is Monday night at Florida. Only four times in 206 tries has an NHL team rebounded from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.
Stamkos opened the scoring during the Lightning’s three-goal first period and helped ease Florida’s sustained pressure during the opening half of the third period with his goal at 9:34 that gave Tampa Bay a 5-3 lead. Nicholas Paul added a goal during a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 3:38 to go.
Brandon Hagel had two goals and an assist, and Brayden Point added a goal and two assists for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves, with Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman both getting three assists..
BRUINS 3, MAPLE LEAFS 1
TORONTO (AP) — Brad Marchand broke the Boston playoff goals record with his 56th and the Bruins beat Toronto in Game 4 to move within a victory of advancing to the second round.
Marchand also had an assist, James van Riemsdyk and David Pastrnak scored and Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves. Boston can wrap up the series Tuesday night at home.
Mitch Marner scored for Toronto. Auston Matthews, the NHL goals leader in the regular season with 69, sat out the third period. He missed practice Friday. Fellow forward William Nylander played after missing the first three games of the series because of an undisclosed injury.
Ilya Samsonov started in goal for the Maple Leafs, stopping 14 of 17 shots in the first two periods, and Joseph Woll made five saves in the third.
STARS 3, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2, OT
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Wyatt Johnston scored his second goal of the game in overtime to give Dallas a victory over Vegas, cutting the defending champion Golden Knights’ series lead to 2-1.
Johnston, who had a team-high eight shots, dragged the puck down the left side to the goal line, drawing goalie Logan Thompson into a low position, and beating him with a high shot 16:23 into the extra period.
Miro Heiskanen also scored for the Stars, and Jake Oettinger made 32 saves. The Stars had lost six straight against Vegas.
Brayden McNabb and Jack Eichel scored for Vegas, and Thompson stopped a career-high 43 shots. Dallas, which averaged 31.5 shots per game during the regular season, held a whopping advantage of high-danger shots, 27-4.
Game 4 is Monday night in Las Vegas.
CORRECTS GOAL SCORER TO MATHEW BARZAL, NOT BORTUZZO - New York Islanders Robert Bortuzzo (41) shoots the puck before teammate Mathew Barzal (13) tipped it past Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) for the game-winning goal during the second overtime period of Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
BERNBEUREN, Germany (AP) — Despite the threat of dislocated fingers and strained muscles, over 150 Bavarian men came together Sunday to compete in Germany’s unique national championship of “Fingerhakeln,” or finger wrestling.
The “finger wrestlers” met in a big beer tent in the small southern village of Bernbeuren. Around 1,000 visitors cheered on the all-male contestants as they gulped down their national beer and world-famous German sausages while Bavarian live music filled the air.
Finger wrestling, a well-known competitive sport in Germany’s Alpine region and neighboring Austria, originated as a way to settle disputes.
In each round, two competitors sit on opposite sides of a solid table and each hooks one finger — usually the middle finger — through opposite sides of a small leather loop. As soon as a referee signals the start, a contestant tries to pull the other across the table swiftly. The whole thing usually lasts a few seconds, and digits put out of their joints are common. The winner moves to the next round.
“This tradition has been popular for a very long time in beer houses and pubs across the region,” said Marie-Therese Eierstock, the head of the Fingerhakler Gau Auerberg association, founded in 1961 and organized this year’s championship.
Customarily, only men are allowed to participate in finger-wrestling competitions.
At Sunday’s tournament, the youngest competitor was 15 years old and the oldest 70, Eierstock said.
A man dressed in traditional clothes tries to pull his opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A competitor warms up for his bout at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A young boy in traditional clothes watches a bout at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Competitors in traditional clothes warm up for their bouts at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A competitor warms up for his bout, at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
People dressed in traditional clothes attend the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A competitor stretches his fingers as he prepares for a bout at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Competitors stretch their fingers as they prepare for a bout at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln_finger wrestling_ in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A competitor stretches his fingers as he prepares for a bout at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
People dressed in traditional clothes attend the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A man dressed in traditional clothes tries to pull his opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
New champions Luis Koegel, right, and Thomas Hipp celebrate winning at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
Men dressed in traditional clothes try to pull the opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A referee monitors the leather ring held by two competitors with their middle fingers at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A man dressed in traditional clothes tries to pull his opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A man dressed in traditional clothes tries to pull his opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
A man dressed in traditional clothes tries to pull his opponent over the table at the German Championships in Fingerhakeln or finger wrestling, in Bernbeuren, Germany, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Competitors battled for the title in this traditional rural sport where the winner has to pull his opponent over a marked line on the table. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
