Tuesday's hockey: Rangers take 2-0 lead on Caps; Saginaw wins Game 7 in OHL series
New York — Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad each had a goal and an assist and the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers held on to beat the Washington Capitals 4-3 Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Jack Roslovic and K'Andre Miller also scored for the Rangers, and Erik Gustafsson and Alexis Lafreniere each had two assists. Igor Shesterkin stopped 22 shots.
New York, seeking its first Stanley Cup championship in 30 years, has won four straight and 12 of its last 15 games. The Rangers, third on the power play during the season, were 2 for 6 with the advantage and scored a short-handed goal.
Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist, and Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome also scored for the Capitals, who had won four of five to close the season and take the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Charlie Lindgren finished with 23 saves.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday at Washington.
Washington star left wing Alex Ovechkin had two shots on goal after the 38-year-old was held without one in Game 1.
(At) Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2 (OT): Carter Verhaeghe lifted a backhander just under the crossbar 2:59 into overtime, and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in their NHL first-round playoff series.
It was the fifth OT winner in Verhaeghe's career, coming on a play where Matthew Tkachuk got the puck to Anton Lundell – who found Verhaeghe. He waited for Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to commit, then put the puck over him to end it.
Sam Bennett, who left with an injury in the second period when he appeared to get hit by teammate Brandon Montour's slap shot, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots, including some highlight-reel saves.
Braden Point and Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay, which got two assists from Victor Hedman. Vasilevskiy stopped 34 shots.
Bobrovsky had two wild saves in the second period – one off his mask, the other a no-look dive that he got basically with his back to the play to deny Lightning defenseman Matt Dumba and preserve what was then a 2-2 tie. Below is the play-by-play call of Bobrovsky's acrobatic save from Detroit native Doug Plagens.
Colorado 5, (at) Winnipeg 2: Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and assist and Colorado scored four goals in the second period in a win over Winnipeg to tie the first-round playoff series at a game apiece.
Miles Wood, Zach Parise, Josh Manson and Valeri Nichushkin also scored for the Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves for Colorado, a bounce-back effort after allowing seven goals on 23 shots in the series opener.
David Gustaffson and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets. Connor Hellebuyck stopped 27 of 31 shots.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Friday night in Denver.
Nashville 4, (at) Vancouver 1: Filip Forsberg scored a goal and had an assist, and Nashville beat Vancouver to level the best-of-seven playoff series at 1-1.
Anthony Beauvillier – a former Canuck – also had a goal and an assist for the Predators, Colton Sissons and Kiefer Sherwood had goals and Juuse Saros made 17 saves.
Nikita Zadorov scored for a Vancouver team that struggled to get shots on net and experienced a series of unlucky bounces.
Saginaw 3, Sault Ste. Marie 1
The Saginaw Spirit advanced to their second Western Conference final in team history on Tuesday.
Saginaw's Calem Mangone scored his third game-winning goal of the series in a 3-1 victory over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in Game 7 of the Ontario Hockey League conference semifinal in front of 5,064 fans at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw.
Gavin Hayes (Ypsilanti) scored the only goal for the Greyhounds.
The Spirit will open the Western final against the London Knights with two games in London, on Friday and Sunday. The series shifts to Saginaw for Game 3 on Monday and Game 4 on Wednesday.
The Spirit automatically qualify for the Memorial Cup on May 24-June 2 as the host city.
Ruff motivated to restore success
Back for a second stint as Sabres coach, Lindy Ruff appeared a little grayer Tuesday, said he’s a bit wiser and sounded more motivated than ever to restore success to a franchise that’s known mostly losing during an NHL-record 13-season playoff drought.
This time, it’s personal, Ruff said during an introductory news conference a day after being hired. It’s a homecoming for the 64-year-old Ruff, who spent his first 10-plus NHL seasons playing for the Sabres and 14-plus more coaching them before being fired a month into the lockout-shortened 2013 season.
“I’m humbled by the opportunity that I’m getting,” Ruff said. “I get a chance to do something that I wasn’t able to do as a player. Then I became the coach of the team and didn’t succeed with what I set out to do. And now, I’m getting one more opportunity, in which I really feel I’m blessed to have.”
He then reiterated the message general manager Kevyn Adams voiced a week earlier when he launched the coaching search after firing Don Granato.
“The time is now,” Ruff said. “It’s now.”
Flanked by Adams and team owner Terry Pegula, making a rare public appearance, inside the pavilion of the Sabres' arena, Ruff fondly reflected on how the building rocked during the Buffalo’s various playoff runs.
“I can still remember the 8-0 Philadelphia win and sitting in the office and thinking of the building shaking,” he said, referring to the Sabres' first-round series-clinching win in the 2001 playoffs. “It was incredible. So my goal is to have these guys experience what I was able to experience.”
Without revealing names, Adams said he interviewed at least 10 candidates over the past week before choosing Ruff.
“He’s the right person for this job and I truly believe that he is the person that’s going to take us to the next level,” Adams said. “Our players are craving it.”
Ruff acknowledged he’s matured as a person and a coach, adapting how to relate to today’s player since leaving Buffalo. He said he’s more open to communicate with players by text and no longer feels the urge to enter the locker room after every game to provide his critique.
“I actually laugh at some of my coaching style because a lot of things have changed. I won’t go into a lot of detail, but I’m a lot better coach now than I was when I left,” Ruff said.
Canucks goalie Demko will miss Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series Tuesday.
Coach Rick Tocchet said the 28-year-old netminder is going to be evaluated later Tuesday and is “day to day.”
“He skated yesterday. He’s not going to play tonight,” Tocchet said. “It wasn’t the old injury and that’s all I really got for you guys.”
Demko played all of Game 1 for the Canucks on Sunday, backstopping the team to a 4-2 victory. Tocchet said he wasn’t sure whether the injury happened during the game.
“It might have been in the game, but I’m not quite sure because he skated yesterday,” he said. “I don’t know the exact timeline. That’s why I don’t want to speculate whether it’s this time or whatever.”
Devils' Meier has post-season surgery
New Jersey Devils leading scorer Timo Meier has had elective arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder.
The Devils said Meier had the surgery on Tuesday, eight days after their highly-anticipated season ended without a playoff berth. The procedure was performed by Dr. Jonathan L. Glashow and Dr. Guillem Gonzalez-Lomas, the team said without noting which shoulder was worked on.
Meier is expected to be ready for training camp in September.
The Swiss forward had 28 goals and 24 assists in his first full season in New Jersey. He was acquired before the trade deadline last year in a deal with San Jose.
Eastern Conference playoff matchups
Rangers vs. Capitals
(Rangers lead 2-0)
▶ Game 1: Rangers 4-1
▶ Game 2: Rangers 4-3
▶ Game 3: Friday @ Washington, 7 p.m.
▶ Game 4: Sunday @ Washington, 8 p.m.
Bruins vs. Maple Leafs
(Series tied 1-1)
▶ Game 1: Bruins 5-1
▶ Game 2: Leafs 3-2
▶ Game 3: Wednesday @ Toronto, 7 p.m.
▶ Game 4: Saturday @ Toronto, 8 p.m.
Panthers vs. Lightning
(Panthers lead 2-0)
▶ Game 1: Panthers 3-2
▶ Game 2: Panthers 3-2 (OT)
▶ Game 3: Thursday @ Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
▶ Game 4: Saturday @ Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.
Hurricanes vs. Islanders
(Hurricanes lead 2-0)
▶ Game 1: Hurricanes 3-1
▶ Game 2: Hurricanes 5-3
▶ Game 3: Thursday @ N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 p.m.
▶ Game 4: Saturday @ N.Y. Islanders, 2 p.m.
Western Conference playoff matchups
Dallas vs. Vegas
(Golden Knights lead 1-0)
▶ Game 1: Vegas 4-3
▶ Game 2: Wednesday @ Dallas, 9:30 p.m.
▶ Game 3: Saturday @ Vegas, 10:30 p.m.
▶ Game 4: Monday @ Vegas, TBD
Winnipeg vs. Colorado
(Series tied 1-1)
▶ Game 1: Jets 7-6
▶ Game 2: Avalanche 5-2
▶ Game 3: Friday @ Colorado, 10 p.m.
▶ Game 4: Sunday @ Colorado, 2:30 p.m.
Vancouver vs. Nashville
(Series tied 1-1)
▶ Game 1: Canucks 4-2
▶ Game 2: Predators 4-1
▶ Game 3: Friday @ Nashville, 7:30 p.m.
▶ Game 4: Sunday @ Nashville, 5 p.m.
Edmonton vs. Los Angeles
(Oilers lead 1-0)
▶ Game 1: Oilers 7-4
▶ Game 2: Wednesday @ Edmonton, 10 p.m.
▶ Game 3: Friday @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
▶ Game 4: Sunday @ Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
Michigan-area hockey
Tuesday
▶ Saginaw 3, Sault Ste. Marie 1
Wednesday
▶ Toledo at Kalamazoo, 7
Thursday
▶ NTDP U18s vs. Slovakia, 7 a.m. (Hockey Network)
Friday
▶ Toledo at Kalamazoo, 7
Saturday
▶ Rockford @ Grand Rapids, 7 (AHL)
▶ NTDP U18s vs. Norway, 10:30 a.m. (Hockey Network)
▶ Toledo at Kalamazoo, 7:15
Sunday
▶ NTDP U18s vs. Latvia, 11 a.m. (Hockey Network)
▶ Grand Rapids vs. Rockford
American Hockey League playoffs
Central Division semifinal
(Best-of-five series)
▶ Game 1: Saturday @ Grand Rapids, 7
▶ Game 2: Wednesday @ Rockford, 7
▶ Game 3: Friday @ Rockford, 7
▶ Game 4: Sunday, May 5 @ Grand Rapids, 4
▶ Game 5: Friday, May 10 @ Rockford, 7
Central Division semifinal
(Best-of-five series)
▶ Milwaukee vs. winner of Texas-Manitoba
ECHL
Central Division Semifinal
(Best-of-seven series)
▶ Game 1: Toledo 3-2 (OT)
▶ Game 2: Toledo 5-2
▶ Game 3: Wednesday @ Kalamazoo, 7
▶ Game 4: Friday @ Kalamazoo, 7
▶ Game 5: Saturday @ Toledo, 7:15 *
▶ Game 6: Tuesday @ Kalamazoo, 7 *
▶ Game 7: Wednesday May 1 @ Toledo, 7:15 *
* if necessary
Road to the Memorial Cup in Saginaw
(Saginaw hosts May 24-June 2)
▶ Friday, May 24: WHL vs. Saginaw, 7:30
▶ Saturday, May 25: OHL vs. QMJHL, 4
▶ Sunday, May 26: Saginaw vs. QMJHL, 7:30
▶ Monday, May 27: OHL vs. WHL, 7:30
▶ Tuesday, May 28: QMJHL vs. WHL, 7:30
▶ Wednesday, May 29: Saginaw vs. OHL, 7:30
▶ Thursday, May 30: Tie breaker (if necessary)
▶ Friday, May 31: Semifinal, 7:30
▶ Sunday, June 2: Final, 7:30
CHL playoffs in WHL, OHL, QMJHL
Western Hockey League
▶ Saskatoon Blades vs. Moose Jaw Warriors
▶ Prince George Cougars vs. Portland Winterhawks
Ontario Hockey League
▶ Oshawa Generals vs. North Bay Battalion
▶ London Knights vs. Saginaw
Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
▶ Baie-Comeau Drakkar vs. Cape Breton Eagles
▶ Drummondville Voltigeurs vs. Victoriaville Tigres