TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — J.J. Moser scored 12:48 into overtime to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night, tying the first-round playoff series at 1-1.
The series shifts to Montreal for two games, with Game 3 set for Friday night. Game 4 is Sunday.
Brandon Hagel had a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, assist and a fight, and teammate Nikita Kucherov also scored for Tampa Bay. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots.
The Lightning had lost four consecutive home playoff games and 10 of the past 11, dating to Game 4 against Colorado in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.
Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson scored for the Canadiens. Jakub Dobes finished with 31 saves.
BRUINS 4, SABRES 2
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Morgan Geekie bounced in a shot from beyond center as part of Boston’s three-goal second-period surge and the Bruins beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 to even their first-round playoff series at 1 on Tuesday night.
Viktor Arvidsson scored twice and Pavel Zacha also scored. David Pastrnak had two assists to give him five points in the series and tie Bobby Orr for eighth on the Bruins career playoff list with 92 points.
Jeremy Swayman stopped 32 shots, and this time Boston managed to not blow a multigoal third-period lead.
Bowen Byram and Peyton Krebs scored 1:14 apart to cut Boston’s lead to 4-2 with 4:52 remaining in regulation before being stymied by Swayman, who stopped the final eight shots he faced.
The series shifts to Boston for Game 3 on Thursday night.
MAMMOTH 3, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Logan Cooley scored off a rebound with six minutes left to give the Mammoth a victory over Vegas, and they will head back to Utah with a split of the first two games in their first-round playoffs series.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Cooley, a 21-year-old from Pittsburgh, is the youngest U.S.-born player to scored a goal in each of his first two playoff games.
It’s the first playoff victory for the Mammoth since the organization relocated from Arizona two years ago.
This was the Golden Knights’ first regulation defeat under coach John Tortorella (8-1-1).
Dylan Guenther had a goal and assist for the Mammoth, MacKenzie Weegar scored and Kailer Yamamoto finished with two assists. Karel Vejmelka recorded 19 saves.
AVALANCHE 2, KINGS 1, OT
DENVER (AP) — Nicolas Roy scored on a rebound 7:44 into overtime and Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves, including a penalty shot, as Colorado beat the Los Angeles to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Roy put the winner through the legs of defenseman Brandt Clarke and into the net to set off a wild celebration.
The game was halted for roughly 17 minutes in the second period when a pane of glass shattered behind the Kings bench, sending pieces raining on interim coach D.J. Smith. The incident occurred right after Quinton Byfield was stopped on a penalty shot by Wedgewood and fans began to celebrate by pounding on the glass. It gave way as Smith covered his head and then brushed the glass off his suit.
Colorado is 17-2 in playoff series when taking a 2-0 lead since relocating to Denver before the 1995-96 season. Los Angeles is 3-12 in postseason series when facing an 0-2 hole.
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood (41) makes a save against Los Angeles Kings right wing Alex Laferriere (14) during the second period of Game 1 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo Jack Dempsey)
The first six games in this season's playoffs all had something in common. The home teams all prevailed, winning by an average of 18.5 points per game.
And since then, chaos. Road teams figured out how to avoid being pushovers.
Of the six first-round series that have completed two games, only two higher-seeded teams — Cleveland and the Los Angeles Lakers — have managed to hold serve at home and take 2-0 series leads. Oklahoma City could join the Cavaliers and Lakers in that club if it beats Phoenix in Game 2 of that series on Wednesday.
Otherwise, that home-court advantage teams spent 82 games of regular-season basketball trying to obtain? It's already gone, meaning a whole bunch of Game 3s are coming up later this week with lower-seeded teams feeling pretty good about their chances at springing an upset.
— East No. 8 Orlando beat No. 1 Detroit in Game 1 of their series on Sunday. The Pistons will try to salvage a split when the series resumes Wednesday.
— East No. 6 Atlanta beat No. 3 New York on Monday, while West No. 6 Minnesota beat No. 3 Denver later that night.
— And on Tuesday, East No. 7 Philadelphia beat No. 2 Boston, and West No. 7 Portland beat No. 2 San Antonio in a game in which the Spurs saw Victor Wembanyama depart with a concussion in the first half.
Cleveland is up 2-0 on Toronto, while the Lakers are up 2-0 on Houston.
“It's the playoffs,” Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said after his team — which beat the 76ers by 32 points in Game 1 — lost by 14 points in Game 2. “They've got ballplayers over there and they came to play. On any given night, you can lose a game if you don't come out with the right mindset.”
Road teams getting wins isn't uncommon. It's been a trend in recent years.
Over the last six postseasons, not counting the 2020 playoffs held inside the bubble at Walt Disney World because of the pandemic, home teams have won only 58% of playoff games — a steep dip from what used to be the norm. In the 15 seasons before that, home teams won playoff games at a 69% rate.
“Whatever story you told yourself during the regular season, that story is done,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “And now it’s the playoffs, so it's an entirely new season.”
It's not like the Pistons, Celtics, Spurs — with or without Wembanyama — or Nuggets will be intimidated by the notion of now having to win at least one road game if they're going to eventually prevail in these opening-round series. They all made road wins look routine this season.
Oklahoma City had the best road record in the NBA. The next four winningest road teams, in order, were San Antonio, Detroit, Denver and Boston.
“You have to just keep your temperament where it's at, understand these games ebb and flow," Denver coach David Adelman said after the Game 2 loss to Minnesota. “And we can play better. We know that.”
And Houston's 30 home wins tied for the fourth-most in the league, so the Lakers — even after they were one of the clubs defend home floor and take a 2-0 lead — know their matchup with the Rockets is far from over.
“It's the postseason. So, it's the first to four," Lakers forward LeBron James said. “It's never the first to one. It's never the first to two. Our whole mindset now is focused on Game 3. We know we're going into a hostile environment. Guys tend to play better at home than they do on the road, so we have to be ready for that.”
In the current playoff format, higher-seeded teams win conference quarterfinals series 77.4% of the time, and that goes up to 92.5% of the time when those higher-seeded clubs start with 2-0 series leads. The road warriors so far — Orlando, Atlanta, Minnesota, Portland and Philadelphia — have at least put a good-sized dent in those odds.
That said, they all know there's a ton of basketball left to be played.
“It's 1-1. Who cares?” 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey said. “Now we've got to go home and try to protect home court.”
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Philadelphia 76ers guard Vj Edgecombe is congratulated by fans after defeating the Boston Celtics following Game 2 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Bones Hyland (8) celebrates on the bench against the Denver Nuggets during the second half in Game 2 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Monday, April 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Orlando Magic guard Desmond Bane (3) celebrates with forward Paolo Banchero (5) after a win over the Detroit Pistons in Game 1 of a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
