Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin scored two goals and set up two others as the Pirates won 5-0 against the Rangers to go up 3-1 in the series.
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Detroit pulled Mrazek late for an extra attacker, then got a power play with 44 seconds left for a 6-on-4 advantage, but the Lightning defense held on. The Lightning played with surprisingly little effort in Game 3, but not Game 4.
The Bolts are one of many teams that won’t necessarily miss going against Datsyuk, as the shifty forward has recorded seven goals and 16 points in 15 career regular-season games against Tampa.
Darren Helm and Gustav Nyquist scored their first postseason goals in the second period Tuesday after the Lightning built a 2-0 lead.
“They were in their room feeling confident, believing they were in control of this game”, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
“You always want to draw on that experience that we’ve had in the past where we’ve been in situations before when we’ve been trailing and we’ve been able to find a way”, defenseman Duncan Keith said. “We don’t. That’s something we will have to address”.
The Lightning will now get that rest and prepare for either the Florida Panthers or the New York Islanders.
Bishop and Mrazek remained deadlocked in a scoreless tie deep into the third period, with Bishop being tested much more but Mrazek facing more shots in the final period.
“He faced a lot of shots tonight, a lot of Grade-A chances”, Callahan said.
“Each day after a Lightning win during the playoffs, Tampa Bay can go to a local McDonald’s and use the offer that will appear in their McDonald’s app to get a free lunch or dinner”, explained spokeswoman Jessica Fox.
The one player the Capitals couldn’t lose without shuddering is goalie Braden Holtby, so it was understandable that a bit of concern was shown when he left yesterday’s practice early favouring his left leg. Coach Barry Trotz didn’t think it was anything that would require Holtby’s absence at game time.
The game victor was the first goal in the series by the defending Stanley Cup winners’ stars, Kane and Jonathan Toews.
The Lightning got through another penalty kill in the final 44 seconds to preserve the win.
That’s when Lightning winger Ryan Callahan saw the opportunity to pressure the Detroit netminder in a different kind of way and straight-up rushed Mrazek from behind.
Duncan Keith had two goals for Chicago, which dropped consecutive home playoff games for the first time since 2012. They will host game five on Saturday night. In the playoffs, Bishop has four shutouts, three of them in series-clinching games.
The Tampa Bay Lightning look to finish off the Detroit Red Wings when these two meet in Game 5 of their series tonight at 7PM ET. He blanked the Lightning in Game 5 past year and made 30 saves on 33 shots last game. “I’m past that point, I’m just playing hockey”. We’ve got to get healthy. If you like goals, no two teams have combined for more these playoffs. C Jonathan Marchessault and D Matt Taormina were healthy scratches. The series will go till at least Sunday, with a potential Game 7 scheduled for April 26.
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Athanasiou, 21, has bypassed prospects such as Tomas Jurco and Teemu Pulkkinen, and could see an even bigger role next season.
