Florida succeeded in Tampa Bay, Necas had a pass in Carolina’s win

In the NHL night games, both Florida and Carolina confirmed their roles as favourites by winning on the opponent’s ice. Both Tampa Bay and the Islanders are in danger of being eliminated after 4 games.

Tampa Bay hasn’t found a way to beat Florida at home

The game Tampa Bay vs Florida Panthers (3:5) had the same start as in the previous games. Florida scored first again, this time it was Tkachuk who was the successful goal scorer at 10:39, beating goalie Vasilevskiy.

Tampa Bay, knowing that they already had to win, pushed hard in the game. At the end of the opening period, they tied the game with a goal by Cirelli, but it was disallowed and the players went into the locker room with a 1:0 score. Stamkos struck right at the beginning of the second period after a pass from Hedman and Kucherov.

Just 132 seconds later, Motte put the Lightning in the lead. However, the Panthers’ answer came soon after. At 9:58, Florida’s top scorer Reinhart got the puck back in the net and before the end of the second period, defenseman Montour turned the score in his team’s favor.

The game-winning goal was scored by Lorentz, who increased Florida’s lead to two goals in the 50th minute. Tampa Bay was only able to correct the situation with a goal by Paul. The Panthers sealed their third win of the series with a second goal from Tkachuk, who scored into an empty net.

Florida can celebrate in the next game to advance to the next stage of the playoffs, where they can repeat last year’s series with Boston. We all know that the Panthers surprisingly eliminated the favored Boston in 7 games last year.

The Hurricanes are on their way to the playoffs

New York Islanders vs Carolina Hurricanes (2:3) was affected by poor performance of Sorokin, who let 3 pucks out of 14 shots behind his back and was replaced by Varlamov in the 28th minute. On the other hand, Andersen was again great in the Carolina cage, catching 29 shots and making 93% of saves.

Carolina was already up by two goals in the 11th minute of the first period, and the opening goal by Burns was assisted by Czech forward Nečas, who together with Pastrňák is the most productive Czech player in this year’s playoffs with three points for a goal and two assists.

The game was decided in the second 20 minutes when the Islanders reduced the deficit with a goal by Engvall, but Aho scored the game-winning goal in the 28th minute. The home team was able to make up for it with a goal by Nelson. The third period didn’t bring any change in the score and Carolina, after the third win in this series, is now in front of the gates to the next stage, where they will probably face the Rangers.

Source: NHL