Binnington partying like 2019
Jordan Binnington has rediscovered his groove. The goalie began the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the backup to Ville Husso, but he was inserted into the lineup for Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round against the Minnesota Wild. Since then he has won four of his five starts, stopping 164 of 173 shots. His .948 save percentage is second to Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger (.954) among goalies who have played at least four games. In his one loss, Game 1 of the second round against the Colorado Avalanche, he made 51 saves. In Game 2, he made 30 saves in a 4-1 victory that evened the best-of-7 series. In 2019, Binnington assumed the starter's job midway through the regular season and went 16-10 with a .914 save percentage and 2.46 goals-against average to help St. Louis win the Stanley Cup. -- Shawn P. Roarke, Senior Director of Editorial
Avalanche taste defeat for first time in 2022 playoffs
Two impressive streaks came to end in Game 2. The Avalanche lost for the first time in the postseason after sweeping the Nashville Predators in the first round and winning Game 1 against the Blues on Tuesday. Game 2 also ended the Avalanche's eight-game playoff winning streak against the Blues that dates to the 2001 Western Conference Final. But coach Jared Bednar said neither streak deserved to stay intact. "No. 1, we got outworked and outskated," he said. "So that makes everything more difficult. That was probably their biggest adjustment [from Game 1]. They needed to get that work out of their group. They got it. So they were much better and we were worse." -- Roarke
Lightning lean on championship experience
The Tampa Bay Lightning's championship pedigree again was the difference in their 2-1 victory in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Florida Panthers on Thursday. With the score tied 1-1, the two-time defending champions were on their heels for much of the third period, but gutted their way through it, with their 15 of their 24 blocked shots coming in the final 20 minutes. Steven Stamkos (twice), Erik Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev each left the game briefly after blocking shots but came back for more. Tampa Bay was rewarded for its grit and resiliency when Ross Colton scored the winning goal with 3.8 seconds left.-- Tom Gulitti, staff writer
Miscues hurt Panthers in clutch
The Panthers haven't figured out how to own the big moments in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Lightning yet. Florida was in position to win each of the first two games of the best-of-7 series but made costly mistakes in each. Undisciplined play led to the Lightning scoring three power-play goals in a 4-1 loss in Game 1. A breakdown in defensive-zone coverage resulted in Colton's winning goal in Game 2 after the Panthers failed to cash in on a power play with 3:23 remaining, leaving them 0-for-25 with the man-advantage during the playoffs. Florida has lost the first two games at home, as it did when it faced Tampa Bay in the first round last year. The Panthers never recovered and lost the series in six games. Can they change their fate this time? -- Gulitti
