Stanley Cup playoffs roundup: Canucks, Preds stay alive; Johnson leads Lightning in OT

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Brandon Schlager
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The average age of Thursday's Stanley Cup playoff heroes? Twenty-two.

With 17 games of playoff experience between them, Tyler Johnson, Evgeny Kuzntesov and Filip Forsberg combined to score seven goals in leading their teams to wins on a day where there was no shortage of scoring. Johnson, the elder statesman of three at 24, turned in an electric performance to give the Lightning the jolt they needed in an overtime win that evened their series with the Red Wings.

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Kuznetsov (22) and Forsberg (20) led their teams to blowout wins. Kuznetsov's Capitals grabbed a 3-2 series lead over the Islanders, while Forsberg and the Predators avoided elimination for at least one more game. The Canucks staved off elimination by the young Flames thanks to the revived play of a few key veterans.

Capitals 5, Islanders 1 (Washington leads series 3-2)

Takeaway: Capitals forward Tom Wilson, shall we say, hasn't exactly made a ton of friends out of the Islanders this series. His massive Game 4 hit on Isles defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky earned Wilson some not-so-nice words after the game. Visnovsky is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, so naturally the Isles sought revenge in Game 5 and the scene turned chippy, especially toward the end once the score got out of hand.

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After Wilson was challenged to a fight early in the first period, Cody Cizikas came back later in the game and speared him between the legs. Wilson, for his part, took the high road afterward.

Quotable: "I hope he realized how much that means to our team when he keeps his composure like that in those situations," Caps goalie Braden Holtby said of Wilson. "I can’t wait to get back to the Island," Wilson told reporters. "As much hatred (as) I’ve gotten from those fans, it’s passion."

Highlight: Kuznetsov makes it look easy, scoring the Caps' fourth goal. 

Next up: Saturday at New York, 3 p.m. ET, NBC

Lightning 3, Red Wings 2, OT (Series tied 2-2)

Takeaway: The Red Wings came within 4:09 of taking a 3-1 series lead. Johnson had other plans. With Tampa Bay trailing 2-0, Johnson and Ondrej Palat scored 1:17 apart to send the game to overtime. Then, with 2:25 gone in OT, Johnson buried his second goal to cap the comeback. That was three goals in 7:51 for the Lightning, whose sudden burst of offense was a long time coming.

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Johnson also assisted on Palat's goal. He has four of Tampa Bay's 10 goals in the series and is picking up the slack from captain Steven Stamkos, who has no goals and two assists.

Quotable: Lightning coach Jon Cooper on having gone eight periods at Joe Louis Arena without a goal: ''I think we'd gone probably eight periods without scoring a goal in this building but as soon as we got that one, we grew a couple inches on the bench. It was like a weight off our shoulders and clearly the game changed at the moment we scored that goal.''

Highlight: Johnson flies around Darren Helm and tucks a wrister between Petr Mrazek's shoulder and the crossbar for his first goal of the game.

Next up: Saturday at Tampa Bay, 6 p.m. ET, NBCSN

Predators 5, Blackhawks 2 (Chicago leads series 3-2)

Takeaway: Forsberg wouldn't admit he was agitated after being snubbed as a finalist for the Calder Trophy earlier Thursday, but by that time, he had already let his play do the talking. Forsberg almost single-handedly kept the Predators from elimination with his three goals — the first hat trick in the franchise's playoff history.

On the other side, upstart 'Hawks goalie Scott Darling allowed four goals on 28 shots. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said after that Darling "did everything right. I'm not blaming the goalie."

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Quotable: Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane on Darling: "Their goals tonight, I don’t know if he had a chance on many of them. Whoever’s in net, we have a lot of confidence in."

Highlight: Forsberg completes the hat trick with an empty-netter, sealing it for the Preds.

Next up: Saturday at Nashville, 8 p.m. ET, NBC

Canucks 2, Flames 1 (Calgary leads series 3-2)

Takeaway: The Canucks swapped Eddie Lack for Ryan Miller during Game 4 and decided to stick with Miller going forward. It paid off. Miller stopped 20 of 21 shots, and there wasn't a whole lot he could do about the one he let in (see below).

If the Canucks have any chance of staging a comeback, it's going to hinge on the shoulders of veterans Miller and Henrik and Daniel Sedin, who connected for Daniel's game-winner 1:47 into the third period. This was only Miller's eighth playoff win in the past eight years. He had 20 in his first two playoff runs in 2006 and 2007, taking the Sabres to the conference finals both times.

Quotable: Flames center Mikael Backlund all but guaranteed a Game 6 win as the series shifts back to Calgary: "There's no way we're losing at home."

Highlight: David Jones snags the puck mid-air, drops it to the ice and snaps a laser from the slot past the glove of an off-guard Ryan Miller.

Next up: Saturday at Calgary, 9 p.m. ET, NBCSN

Three stars

3. Evgeny Kuznetsov, F, Capitals: Kuznetsov picked the right game to score the first two playoff goals of his career. He also assisted on the Caps' final goal, had seven shots on goal and made two hits.

2. Filip Forsberg, F, Predators: Forsberg's hat trick came on four shots. He also had two hits in 15:10 of ice time.

1. Tyler Johnson, F, Lightning: Johnson has been far and away the best offensive player for the Bolts, which is significant because last we checked, Stamkos also plays for them.

Injury report

Evgeni Malkin, F, Penguins: Malkin, who has drawn criticism for his lack of production so far, is playing with an unspecified injury, according to Pens captain Sidney Crosby. Malkin has no points and five shots on goal and is a minus-1 through four games against the Rangers. "Everyone's battling through stuff, especially him," Crosby told reporters Thursday.

Kevin Klein, D, Rangers: Coach Alan Vigneault said Thursday that Klein has a "50-50 chance" to return for Game 5 against the Penguins. Klein hasn't played since March 11 after breaking his left arm. He skated with the team Wednesday but Vigneault said he was "still a little sore from practice" and would be a game-time decision depending on Friday's morning skate.

Friday’s games

(All times Eastern)

Penguins at Rangers, 7 p.m., NBCSN

Senators at Canadiens, 7 p.m., CNBC

Wild at Blues, 9:30 p.m., NBCSN

Author(s)
Brandon Schlager Photo
Brandon Schlager

Brandon Schlager is an assistant managing editor at The Sporting News.