Hockey striker Ondřej Palát helped with two passes to win Tampa Bay 6: 4 over Carolina. Defenders of the Stanley Cup thus took the lead 3: 1 in the series and are separated by one victory from advancing to the NHL semifinals. On the side of the losers, Petr Mrázek collected six times out of 26 shots and his teammate Martin Nečas has not scored in the series yet.
Palát prepared the first and last goal of the match. After his pass, Brayden Point finished in an empty goal in the 15th minute and in the third period, renumbered Nikita Kučerova in the two-on-one renumbering, who confirmed Tampa Bay’s win with a shot without preparation. Palát scored for the first time in the series and in this year’s playoffs he has five points (2 + 3).
The remaining eight goals fell in the wild second period. Carolina scored four times between 25 and 33 minutes. First, Teuvo Teräväinen and Jesper Fast turned 2: 1 in 39 seconds, and the defenders Dougie Hamilton and Jacob Slavin responded to Steven Stamkos’s equalization with more glued goals.
However, the end of the third was for Tampa Bay and Mrázka gradually surpassed Kučerov, Tyler Johnson and Stamkos. The Czech goalkeeper almost didn’t catch the match.
“We considered replacing him before the third period. But he is a fighter and we knew he did not want to be withdrawn from such a match,” said Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour.
“In addition, he caught very well in the first period and held us several times because we didn’t have the best start of the match,” the coach added. He had no idea who he would put in the goal in the next match.
Tampa Bay also helped itself in the match with three used power games, in two cases with a turnaround from 2: 4 to 5: 4. “The exclusion turned the match around,” Brind’Amour said angrily.
“If you give a team with such offensive power six power games, you’re caroling. It’s not a recipe for success. We have to play disciplined and hard, but also smart. The psychological advantage was on our side, but we gave them a chance to return to the match, and they didn’t despise it, “Slavin added.
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper praised Kučerova in particular, who scored three points in the match (2 + 1) and also leads the playoff productivity (5 + 12). “In the second period we lost a bit of control over the match, but he got us out of trouble. He made a great game in overpowering games, he shot. He was like an animal in a five to five game. When he plays like this, he’s just unstoppable,” the coach praised.
After the assistance of David Pastrňák, David Krejčí scored his first goal in this year’s playoffs, which did not prevent him from losing Boston 1: 4 on the ice of the New York Islanders. The series is tied 2: 2 between the two teams.
Pastrňák hit only the bar of the exposed goal at the end of the first period, but in the 24th minute he was at the birth of the first goal of the match. After his blocked shot, a barrier arose in front of the goal and Krejčí opened the score from the right side from the stop. The Islanders still took the coach’s challenge due to the illegal defense of Brad Marchand to the goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov, but the goal paid. Pastrňák scored eleventh point (5 + 6) in this year’s playoffs, Krejčí sixth (1 + 5).
The main architect of the turn was Matthew Barzal, after whose pass Kyle Palmieri called close from behind the goal. Barzal pulled a real crowd pleaser as he, after 54 minutes, wove through the guests’ entire central defense and put the 1 – 0 equalizer away. The remaining two goals were scored by Goy Cizikas and Jean-Gabriel Pageau without a goalkeeper.
2. kolo play off NHL:
Eastern Division – Match 4:
NY Islanders – Boston 4: 1 (0: 0, 1: 1, 3: 0)
Goals: 27. Palmieri, 54. Barzal, 59. Cizikas, 60. Pageau – 24. Tailor (Parsnip). Shots on goal: 34:29. Attendance: 12,000 (limited number). Match Stars: 1. Barzal, 2. Palmieri, 3. Varlamov (all NY Islanders). Series status: 2: 2.
Central Division – Match 4:
Tampa Bay – Carolina 6:4 (1:0, 4:4, 1:0)
Goals: 30th and 40th Stamkos, 35th and 47th Kučerov (second) Palát), 15. B. Point (Palát), 38. T. Johnson – 25. T. Teräväinen, 26. Fast, 31. D. Hamilton, 33. Slavin. Shots on goal: 26:25. Mrázek caught Carolina for 57 minutes and 14 seconds, collected six goals from 26 shots and had a success rate of 76.9 percent. Attendance: 13,773 (limited number). Match stars: 1. Stamkos, 2. Kučerov, 3. B. Point (all Tampa Bay). Series status: 3: 1.
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