Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Four series tied entering Game 5

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily in-depth look at the 2022 NHL postseason. There are four playoff games scheduled for Tuesday, the ninth day of the postseason.

On Tap

Boston Bruins at Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, TVAS2, BSSO, NESN)
The Hurricanes will try to improve their power play to go up 3-2 in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round with the series returning to Raleigh, North Carolina. Carolina was 0-for-5 with the man-advantage in a 5-2 loss to the Bruins in Game 4 and a combined 0-for-10 in Boston. "Our execution is poor, and so we need to make sure we dial in on that," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Give them all the credit in the world, the reason for it is they're forcing us to make some high-end plays we haven't been able to make." The Bruins hope the reunited "Perfection Line" of Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron continues to live up to its nickname after it combined for 10 points in Game 4 led by Marchand's two goals and three assists. Boston has outscored Carolina 9-4 the past two games after getting outscored 10-3 in Games 1 and 2.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSSUN)
The Maple Leafs will look to negate the Lightning's quick strike offense that got them down 3-0 in the first 7:58 of a 7-3 loss in Game 4 that evened the series 2-2. "It is one thing for us to go down 1-0," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said Monday. "It is another to let it snowball." Tampa Bay will try to keep Auston Matthews, who led the NHL with 60 goals in the regular season, in check. He had one assist and was held to one shot in Game 4.
St. Louis Blues at Minnesota Wild (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, TVAS2, BSN, BSWIX, BSMW)
The Wild aim to rebound at home after the Blues won 5-2 in St. Louis to even the series 2-2 David Perron and Jordan Kyrou each scored twice for St. Louis and Jordan Binnington made 28 saves for his first postseason win since the Blues' 4-1 victory in Game 7 against the Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy scored for Minnesota.
Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers (10 p.m. ET; ESPN2, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSSC)
The Oilers return home in search of a 3-2 series lead after a 4-0 loss in Game 4. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick responded to getting pulled from an 8-2 loss in Game 3 with a 31-save shutout. Edmonton is looking for more from captain Connor McDavid, who has scored one goal in the series. Evander Kane is the Oilers' leading goal-scorer with five.

What we learned

Rangers have to find the right way
The New York Rangers have lost their way defensively after spending the better part of the last six weeks of the regular season finding the recipe for how to keep chances and shots against to a minimum. "There wasn't much commitment to playing defense tonight," coach Gerard Gallant said after a 7-2 loss in Game 4 on Monday. They lost that commitment in the first period of Game 3 too, when they allowed four goals and eventually lost 7-4. The Rangers must rediscover how they played down the stretch if they want to extend this series beyond Game 5 on Wednesday. To do it, they have to be less casual and much more precise with their decision making and puck management, and close off the net-front area in front of goalie Igor Shesterkin. The Pittsburgh Penguins have been setting up shop there, scoring on deflections and off screens. New York must contain Pittsburgh's top line of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust by at least making them defend for parts of their shifts. Wall play and forechecking and face-off battles (they were 19-for-48 in Game 4) all are part of it too. "We know the recipe here," forward Andrew Copp said. Prove it. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer
Penguins playoff experience making a difference
The Penguins lineup in Games 3 and 4 featured 20 players with a combined 1,138 games played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The only players who entered this postseason with no playoff experience were defenseman Mark Friedman and goalie Alex D'Orio, the No. 4 goalie who is on the roster only because injuries have forced Pittsburgh to use No. 3 goalie Louis Domingue as the starter. The Rangers lineup had a combined 533 postseason games played. They had six players who had never played an NHL playoff game before this season and another four who never played one in front of fans. The Penguins' experience is showing. It was particularly on display in Game 4, when
Alexis Lafreniere
scored on the first shot of the game to give New York a 1-0 lead 2:06 into the first period. "Not ideal start," Penguins forward Jeff Carter said. "Honestly, nothing was really said. There's a lot of hockey left. We've got guys that have been through it. We got right back to work." They scored the next four goals. In Game 3 the Rangers rallied from down 4-1 to tie the game 4-4 going into the third period. Pittsburgh regained its composure, killed some penalties, got the go-ahead goal and never gave New York a real chance to tie it. Yes, playoff experience matters. -- Rosen
Panthers learning lessons in playoffs
The Florida Panthers are learning on the fly what it takes to win in the playoffs and took another important step by rallying for a 3-2 overtime victory against the Washington Capitals in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Monday. Aside from a 5-1 victory in Game 2, Florida hasn't been able to unleash the offensive firepower that helped it win the Presidents' Trophy as the top team in the NHL standings during the regular season, so it's had to be patient against tight-checking Washington. That patience paid off in Game 4 after the Capitals took a 2-1 lead 9:31 into the third. The Panthers stayed with their game and were rewarded when Sam Reinhart scored with 2:04 remaining to tie the score and Carter Verhaeghe scored 4:57 into overtime to even the best-of-7 series 2-2. -- Tom Gulitti, staff writer
Capitals need to adjust
After controlling play for much of the first three games, the Capitals had trouble creating scoring chances in Game 4, getting outshot 32-16, including 26-11 at even strength. Despite that, Washington was on the verge of taking a 3-1 series lead before Reinhart tied the game. Now it's the Capitals' turn to adjust and respond. The Panthers had the puck a lot more in Game 4, pressured the Capitals in their end and made it difficult for them to generate sustained offensive-zone pressure. Washington needs to find a way to get back to dictating play in Game 5 to regain the series lead and keep Florida from gaining more confidence. -- Gulitti
Markstrom going about his business
With the Calgary Flames struggling to score through the first three games, goalie Jacob Markstrom kind of got lost in the shuffle. But he's been good and was again in Game 4 when he made 34 saves in a 4-1 win. Markstrom faced eight shots in the first period but was sharp when the Dallas Stars started getting more pucks on him as the game went on. He's been steady and given the Flames a chance to win every game. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer
Oettinger can't do it alone
Jake Oettinger has been outstanding in this series, but the Stars depended on him way too much in Game 4, when the 23-year-old made 50 saves and faced 39 shots through the first two periods. Part of it was the Stars' inability to sustain any solid time in the Flames' zone but the other part was Calgary's relentless pressure on him. The Flames continuously have increased their shots on goal totals as the series has progressed: 26 in Game 1, 29 in Game 2 and 41 in Game 3. The Stars need to help their goalie a lot more. -- Myers
Francouz fills in well for Kuemper
Pavel Francouz filled in well for Darcy Kuemper and helped the Colorado Avalanche sweep the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference First Round. After Kuemper sustained an eye injury when a stick blade poked through his goalie mask in the first period of Game 3 on Saturday, Francouz stopped 18 of 20 shots in a 7-3 win. He stopped 28 of 31 shots in a 5-3 win in Game 4 on Monday. "I thought he looked pretty good tonight," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "He hasn't played a lot of hockey for us. He gets in the game the other night, does a nice job, comes back in again tonight, finishes the job, so good on him."-- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist
Forsberg, Predators finally get a lead, but it's fleeting
Filip Forsberg hadn't scored in the series. The Predators hadn't had a lead in the series. Then 3:58 into the third period of Game 4 on Monday, Forsberg scored to put Nashville ahead 3-2 and Bridgestone Arena erupted. The problem was the lead lasted less than five minutes. Devon Toews tied it 3-3 at 8:55, Valeri Nichushkin put Colorado ahead 4-3 at 12:02 and Nathan MacKinnon made it 5-3 with an empty-net goal on the power play at 19:04. Forsberg and the Predators had their chances, but they couldn't keep up with the Avalanche. With Forsberg eligible to be an unrestricted free agent after the season, the question now is whether that was his last goal and last game for Nashville. -- Cotsonika

About last night

Florida Panthers 3, Washington Capitals 2 (OT)
Verhaeghe scored his third goal of the playoffs, the game-winner in overtime, to even the best-of-7 series 2-2 heading back to Florida on Wednesday. Washington had a 2-1 lead until Reinhart scored with Sergei Bobrovsky pulled for an extra skater. Bobrovsky made 14 saves for the Panthers. T.J. Oshie had a goal and an assist, Evgeny Kuznetsov scored, and Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves for Washington.
Pittsburgh Penguins 7, New York Rangers 2
The Penguins scored five goals in the second period to take a 3-1 series lead and the Rangers face elimination at Madison Square Garden in Game 5 on Wednesday. Seven Penguins scored goals and Crosby had a goal and two assists to reach 200 points in his NHL postseason career (71 goals, 129 assists in 178 playoff games). Shesterkin was pulled for the second straight game after allowing six goals on 30 shots. Alexandar Georgiev made 10 saves in the third.
Colorado Avalanche 5, Nashville Predators 3
Nichushkin scored the tie-breaking goal at 12:02 of the third to help the Avalanche sweep the Predators in the Western Conference First Round. Cale Makar and Andre Burakovsky each had a goal and two assists for Colorado, which outscored Nashville 21-9 in the series. Yakov Trenin scored twice, Colton Sissons had two assists and Connor Ingram made 33 saves for the Predators, who were swept for the first time in their history.
Calgary Flames 4, Dallas Stars 1
Johnny Gaudreau scored on a penalty shot at 7:47 of the third to help Calgary even the series. Rasmus Andersson, Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund also scored for the Flames, and Tyler Seguin scored for the Stars.