Stanley Cup playoffs Day 20: Devils, Kraken make statements in Game 3 wins

From that point onward, the game went a little bit more back and forth. Sebastian Aho, Damon Severson and Jordan Martinook exchanged goals in the second, with Martinook’s coming shorthanded and the Devils took a 5-2 lead into the third period.

Enter the final stanza of regulation and it almost resmlbed garbage time hockey. In the postseason. Miles Wood and Jack Hughes both scored a couple minutes apart to put the game out of reach before the Canes responded quickly with back-to-back shorthanded goals from Jordan Staal and Seth Jarvis. Ondrej Palat put in the final goal to once again inflate the lead and the Devils ended up taking the game 8-4.

Jack Hughes led the way with two goals and four points, Dawson Mercer had three assists and Luke Hughes managed two assists in his playoff debut. And yes, there was a total of four shorthanded goals in the game. Somehow three came from the losing team.

Reinhart’s OT winner sends Leafs into 3-0 hole

The Toronto Maple Leafs never seem to fail at making an absolute mockery of themselves. Even when they finally get that elusive series win, they manage to throw away all of their goodwill against what should have been a much better matchup for them by not showing up, especially in the case of their star players.

The Leafs did jump out to an early 1-0 lead, as David Kampf set up Sam Lafferty on a 2-on-1, but like seemingly every recent Toronto series, it’s the Leafs' depth that is contributing to the offense. Not its stars. The Panthers took over for the rest of the period, but Ilya Samsonov kept the puck out of the net.

And he would for the rest of his time on the ice. The problem was that he didn’t play the whole game, as he left early in the second period after a collision with Luke Schenn, meaning that young Joseph Woll would be going into the net, and it would be on the penalty kill.

The Leafs killed 1:59 of the penalty, but unfortunately Anthony Duclair would get one in on that last second on a breakaway to tie the game. Five minutes later, another depth piece for the Leafs in Erik Gustafsson notched his first of the postseason (on a pass that deflected off of Marc Staal and in). The Panthers tied it once more five minutes later with a goal from Carter Verhaeghe. The third period was a scoreless slog and this game needed overtime to reach conclusion.

That overtime lasted all of 3:02, with Sam Reinhart burying one on a great play that fooled Woll and led to a wraparound goal. The Panthers took the game 3-2 and now lead the series 3-0. Aaron Ekblad was the lone player on either team with more than a point in this one, picking up two assists, while Sergei Bobrovsky was great in net yet again with 22 saves on 24 shots.

12 Kraken players get on the board in 7-2 blowout win

There’s something in the water in Seattle and it’s not a giant sea monster. The Kraken continue to surprise the league in these playoffs, especially with the consistency of their depth. That didn’t show right away on Sunday -- the first period was a scoreless one -- but they held the edge in shots at 9-4 and expected goals at 1.27-0.64 heading into the first intermission.

That work in the first would pay off in the second, as Seattle exploded for five goals in the frame. Jordan Eberle opened the scoring just 2:10 into the period, and unfortunately for the Stars, that would be a massive turning point in multiple ways for the Kraken. Not only would that start an offensive burst from Seattle, but their top defenseman in Miro Heiskanen got hurt by a puck striking him up high, which Eberle immediately capitalized on for the goal.

Alex Wennberg, Carson Soucy and Matty Beniers all scored in just over a six minute span following that goal and the Kraken were up 4-0 before the game was even halfway over. Mason Marchment did get one back for the Stars, but Eeli Tolvanen scored with 39 seconds left in the period to give the Kraken a 5-1 lead going into the second intermission. Yanni Gourde made it 6-1 1:49 into the third with a shorthanded goal.

Jani Hakanpaa attempted to start a comeback at the seven-minute mark with a goal, but that was all the Stars could muster. After a late goal from Justin Schultz, the Kraken took the game by a 7-2 final. 12 different players posted a point in the win, with Beniers, Tolvanen, Wennberg, and Schultz the lone skaters to get two (with a goal and an assist each), once again showcasing Seattle's incredible depth scoring.