PITTSBURGH (AP) Sidney Crosby had his third career postseason hat trick
Toronto Maple
Leafs Hats Womens , Evgeni Malkin added a highlight-reel goal and the
two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins opened the playoffs
with a 7-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.Crosby batted
a shot out of the air and past goalie Brian Elliott in the second period for his
first goal, tapped in one from the doorstep against Petr Mrazek 7:41 into the
third and then deflected in another just over three minutes later.Jake Guentzel
had a goal and three assists for Pittsburgh. Bryan Rust and Carl Hagelin also
scored. Matt Murray stopped 24 shots for his third straight playoff shutout.Game
2 is Friday night in Pittsburgh.Elliott stopped 14 of 19 shots and was pulled in
favor of Mrazek after Crosby’s latest bit of wizardry pushed Pittsburgh’s lead
to 5-0 just 9:01 into the second. Mrazek wasn’t much better, getting beaten by
Crosby twice more as Philadelphia’s return to the playoffs after a one-year
absence started with a thud.JETS 3, WILD 2WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) – Defenseman
Joe Morrow broke a tie with 6:13 left and Winnipeg beat Minnesota in Game 1 for
the first playoff victory in franchise history.In its only other playoff
appearances since joining the NHL in 1999 in Atlanta, the franchise was swept in
2007 by the New York Rangers and 2015 by Anaheim.Nikolaj Ehlers set up the
Morrow at the point for a one-timer that beat goalie Devan Dubnyk. Morrow was
acquired at the trade deadline from Montreal in exchange for a fourth-round
draft pick this summer.Mark Schiefele, with a power-play goal, and Patrik Laine
also scored for Winnipeg, and Connor Hellebuyck made 18 saves. Matt Cullen and
Zach Parise scored for Minnesota, and Dubnyk stopped 37 shots.Game 2 is Friday
night in Winnipeg.GOLDEN KNIGHTS
1
Custom Toronto
Maple Leafs Jerseys , KINGS 0LAS VEGAS (AP) – Marc-Andre Fleury made 30
saves for his 11th career playoff shutout, Shea Theodore scored in the first
period and the Golden Knights beat the Los Angeles Kings to win the franchise’s
first playoff game.The expansion club will try to take a 2-0 lead in its
first-round playoff series Friday night.Fleury got his first playoff shutout
since last May, when his Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 in Game 2 of the
Eastern Conference finals.Theodore got on the board 3:23 into the first. Tomas
Nosek came from behind the goal to fire a pass to Theodore, and he blasted a
wrist shot through traffic for the Golden Knights’ first playoff goal. NEW YORK
(AP) With the score tied late in the third period, Auston Matthews saw an
opening and got himself in position. And when he got the puck from William
Nylander, he was able to knock in the winning goal.Matthews deflected Nylander’s
pass in front with just under four minutes remaining to lift the playoff-bound
Toronto Maple Leafs to a 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday
night.”Very good forecheck by (Zach) Hyman to free the puck up and I was able to
sneak in there backdoor,” Matthews said. ”It was good for (Nylander) to see that
play and make it, so great for both those guys to create space, get the puck and
I just tapped it.”It was Matthews’ 31st goal of the season and broke the fourth
tie of the game.”A good two points for us,” he said. ”Probably not a fun game
for coaches but more a fun game for the players.”Mitch Marner and Nazem Kadri
each had a goal and an
assist
www.canucksshoponline.com ,
and Nikita Zaitsev and James van Riemsdyk also scored for Toronto. Frederik
Andersen stopped 29 shots to help the Maple Leafs win for the eighth time in 10
games and extend a franchise record with their 47th win.Toronto, which clinched
a postseason berth when Florida lost in overtime at Ottawa on Thursday night, is
all but locked into third place in the Atlantic Division.”It’s nice that we’ve
clinched and now we just want to get ready and focused for the playoffs,”
Nylander said.Anthony Beauvillier had a goal and an assist, and Johnny Boychuk,
Brock Nelson and John Tavares also scored for the Islanders, who lost for the
15th time in 18 games (3-11-4). Jordan Eberle had two assists and Christopher
Gibson finished with 27 saves.”It was a good hockey game,” Islanders coach Doug
Weight said. ”It was exciting and really, for a 5-4 game it was pretty
well-played. … Yeah, a little bit of puck luck would be nice. It was a heck of a
game. Guys battled but just fell short.”Van Riemsdyk gave the Maple Leafs their
first lead of the game – at 4-3 – as he put in the rebound for his 36th at 2:01
of the third.Tavares tied it for the fourth time as he beat Andersen from the
right doorstep for his 34th at 6:28. Tavares now has 80
points
Vancouver
Canucks T-Shirts Womens , reaching that number for the first time since he
had 86 in 2014-15.”We didn’t want the puck in our net as much as it was
tonight,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. ”That’s the way it went and we
just had to find a way to keep grinding.”Trailing 2-1 after one period, the
Maple Leafs tied the score at 7:52 of the second as Zaitsev’s pass deflected off
Islanders forward Mathew Barzal’s stick and past Gibson for the defenseman’s
fifth.Nelson put New York back in front on an odd-man rush as he got a pass
across the slot from Andrew Ladd and beat Andersen from the right faceoff dot
for his 19th with 9:15 left.Marner then tied it again as he deflected Jake
Gardiner’s shot in front for his 22nd with 2:42 to go in the second.Beauvillier
got the Islanders on the scoreboard with just under eight minutes remaining in
the first. Eberle got the puck near the left side of the goal, skated to the
corner and sent a pass in front to Beauvillier, who put it past Andersen for his
18th. The goal withstood a Maple Leafs challenge for goalie interference.Toronto
tied it with 3:38 left, just 7 seconds after Anders Lee was whistled for
slashing, as Kadri tipped the puck out of the air in front off a pass from
Marner for his 31st.Boychuk put the Islanders back in front on a power play with
1:26 to go in the opening period as he got a pass from Beauvillier near the blue
line and sent a one-timer through traffic past Andersen for his sixth.NOTES:
Marner has five goals and 11 assists during his points streak. … Kadri has eight
goals and nine points in his last 12 games. … The Maple Leafs swept the
three-game season series. … Zaitsev’s goal marked the fourth straight game an
Islanders player deflected the puck into his own net. Adam Pelech did it
Saturday against the Blackhawks, and Brandon Davidson in each of the last two –
against Florida on Monday and at Ottawa on Tuesday. … Lee had an assist on
Tavares’ goal, giving him a career-high 22 this season. He also has career highs
with 39 goals and 61 points.UP NEXTMaple Leafs: Host Winnipeg on Saturday
night.Islanders: At New Jersey on Saturday night.—Follow Vin Cherwoo at
https://twitter.com/VinCherwooAP—
