DENVER (AP) — Valeri Nichushkin recorded his first career hat trick, Alexandar Georgiev turned in another strong showing and the Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-1 in Game 4 on Sunday to move a win away from advancing.
Artturi Lehkonen and Cale Makar also scored for the Avalanche, who grabbed a 3-1 lead in the first-round series. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Winnipeg.
Nichushkin added an empty-netter with 13 seconds left to give him his third goal and his first hat trick in game No. 580 of his NHL career, including regular season and postseason.
Georgiev was on the hot seat after a shaky Game 1, but his confidence keeps surging with every big save. He stopped 26 shots in the matinee game.
Vezina Trophy-favorite Connor Hellebuyck continues to struggle in net. He allowed four goals on 30 shots before being replaced by Laurent Brossoit for the third period. Hellebuyck has surrendered 19 goals in the series.
CANUCKS 4, PREDATORS 3, OT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Elias Lindholm scored 1:02 into overtime as Vancouver stunned Nashville and grabbed a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven, first-round series.
Lindolm beat goalie Juuse Saros over his stick with a wrister from just in front of the crease off a pass from Conor Garland.
Brock Boeser had his first hat trick in the playoffs and seventh of his career. He scored on Vancouver’s first shot and got the Canucks into overtime scoring twice in the final 2:49. His third came with 8 seconds left in regulation to quiet a Nashville crowd that celebrated much of the third period.
J.T. Miller had three assists. The Canucks now will have a chance to advance Tuesday night in Vancouver in Game 5.
Filip Forsberg, Gustav Nyquist and Mark Jankowski all scored for Nashville, which also blew a 2-1 lead losing Game 1 giving up three goals in the third period.
The Canucks won with Arturs Silovs making 27 saves in his NHL playoff debut as their third different starting goalie.
RANGERS 4, CAPITALS 2
WASHINGTON (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored the go-ahead goal on the power play early in the third period, Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves and New York advanced to the second round of the playoffs by finishing off a sweep of Washington with a victory in Game 4.
Trade deadline pickup Jack Roslovic sealed it with an empty-netter with 51 seconds left, and the Rangers will next face either the Carolina Hurricanes or crosstown-rival New York Islanders with a spot in the Eastern Conference final at stake. Carolina leads that series 3-1.
They’ll get the benefit of some extra rest thanks to Panarin’s goal with 16:39 left in regulation, 11 seconds after T.J. Oshie was penalized for high-sticking Vincent Trocheck, which helped them avoid overtime or this series returning to Madison Square Garden for a Game 5 on Wednesday. The Presidents’ Trophy winners for having the best regular season in the NHL needed just four to vanquish the Capitals and become the first team to advance this spring.
New York moves on thanks to another dominant performance from Trocheck, who was the best player on the ice all series. Trocheck long before drawing the crucial penalty scored on the power play and broke up a scoring chance by Alex Ovechkin, who was held off the scoresheet entirely through four games — the first time that has happened in a single postseason in the Capitals captain’s 15 trips.
But he was not Washington’s only problem, and part of the lack of offense was Shesterkin, who several times sparked chants of “Igor! Igor!” from the many Rangers fans in attendance. He turned aside Dylan Strome 14 seconds after Kaapo Kakko scored in the first minute to put them ahead and later made back-to-back saves on Tom Wilson’s point-blank chances on the doorstep.
OILERS 1, KINGS 0
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Stuart Skinner stopped 33 shots for his first postseason shutout, Evan Bouchard scored on the power play midway through the second period and Edmonton beat Los Angeles in Game 4 to move a win away from advancing.
Skinner is the eighth goalie in franchise history to record a postseason shutout and the first since Mike Smith had two in the first round against the Kings two years ago. The most recent was in Game 7 of the 2022 first-round series when Smith made 29 saves in a 2-0 victory.
It was Skinner’s 16th postseason start. It is the fifth shutout of his career after he had two during the regular season.
Edmonton has a 3-1 lead in the first-round series. Game 5 is Wednesday night in Edmonton. The Kings have dropped four straight playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014.
David Rittich got the start in goal for the Kings after Cam Talbot had a 5.31 goals-against average and .891 save percentage in the first three games. Rittich made 12 saves and Los Angeles had a 33-13 advantage in shots on goal as the Kings were aggressive on the forecheck, but the difference in the game again was special teams.
The Oilers scored on their lone power-play opportunity and are 8 of 15 in the series. Los Angeles is the only team in the postseason that hasn’t scored on the power play.
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sean Walker (26) collects the puck after checking Winnipeg Jets center Mason Appleton (22) in the third period of Game 4 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
