NHL playoff roundup: Jackets rally, stun Lightning

[April 11, 2019]  Seth Jones' power-play goal late in the third period capped a thrilling rally as the Columbus Blue Jackets erased a three-goal deficit and stunned the host Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 on Wednesday in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Jones scored his second career playoff goal with 5:55 to play. He took a slick pass from Artemi Panarin and roofed the power-play goal to complete a spree of four unanswered goals, three of which came in the third period.

Josh Anderson had a goal and an assist, and Nick Foligno and David Savard also tallied for the Blue Jackets, who lost all three regular-season meetings with the Lightning by a combined score of 17-3.

The Lightning, who won the Presidents' Trophy and tied an NHL single-season record with 62 wins, led 3-0 after one period on goals by Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde.

Blues 2, Jets 1

Tyler Bozak scored the game winner with overtime looming as St. Louis rode a third-period comeback to a stunning win at Winnipeg in the opener of a first-round Western Conference playoff series.
 

With his team controlling play for much of the third period, St. Louis' Patrick Maroon created a turnover with his effective forecheck and sent the puck to the slot for Bozak. Bozak snapped a quick shot that found the mark for the game winner with 2:05 remaining in regulation.

The Jets pushed hard for the equalizer, but couldn't solve St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington, who made 24 saves. With 12.4 seconds remaining, Binnington got across his net in time to deny Mark Scheifele's one-timer. Winnipeg's Patrik Laine opened the scoring in the first period, and St. Louis' David Perron responded early in the third.

Islanders 4, Penguins 3 (OT)

Josh Bailey scored 4:39 into overtime as New York edged Pittsburgh in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series in Uniondale, N.Y.

Bailey put back the rebound of a shot by Mathew Barzal for the Islanders. Jordan Eberle and Brock Nelson scored in the first period for the Islanders, and Nick Leddy scored in the third. Robin Lehner recorded 41 saves.

Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones (3) celebrates with teammates after scoring the game winning goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period of game one of the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Phil Kessel scored in the first period for the Penguins and Evgeni Malkin scored in the second before Justin Schultz forced overtime by scoring with 1:29 remaining in regulation. Matt Murray made 29 saves.

Stars 3, Predators 2

Rookie Miro Heiskanen scored twice, and Mats Zuccarello notched the game-winner midway through the third period as visiting Dallas upset Nashville in the opening clash of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Dallas goalie Ben Bishop made 30 saves to hang on for the win over the Central Division champions.

Predators defensemen Roman Josi and P.K. Subban each scored goals, and Pekka Rinne stopped 26 shots.

Sharks 5, Golden Knights 2

Brent Burns, Evander Kane, Tomas Hertl and Marc-Edouard Vlasic each had goal and an assist, and Martin Jones finished with 24 saves to lead host San Jose to the victory over Vegas in Game 1 of a first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Joe Pavelski also scored a goal, and Erik Karlsson added two assists for the Sharks.

Mark Stone scored both goals for Vegas, his first career two-goal playoff game. Max Pacioretty finished with two assists while Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves.

--Field Level Media

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