Tuesdays NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Capsules
VANCOUVER 3, ST LOUIS 2 (OT)
ST LOUIS Alex Burrows scored his second goal of the game with 18,9 seconds to go in overtime and Roberto Luongo made 47 saves to help the Vancouver Canucks complete a four-game, first-round sweep of St Louis with a 3-2 victory over the Blues.
Kyle Wellwood also scored for the Canucks, who won a series before the seventh game for the first time in 12 tries since 1994.
Brad Boyes and David Perron scored for the Blues, who rallied from a two-goal, second-period deficit thanks to increased traffic around Luongo. But more power play woes doomed St. Louis, which was 0-for-7 with the man advantage and 1-for-23 in the series including a four-minute double-minor midway through overtime.
DETROIT 4, COLUMBUS 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio Henrik Zetterberg scored two goals and the Detroit Red Wings dominated from start to finish to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1, and grab a 3-0 lead in their first-round series.
The first NHL playoff game at Nationwide Arenain the Blue Jackets 659th gamewas a mammoth letdown for a franchise-record crowd of 19,219.
Dan Cleary had a goal and two assists, Tomas Holmstrom scored 1:07 in and Johan Franzen added two assists. The Red Wings can advance to the conference semifinals with a win Thursday night.
PITTSBURGH 3, PHILADELPHIA 1
PHILADELPHIA Sidney Crosby and the Penguins can finish off the Flyers back on home ice.
A sliding Crosby scored a goal that ricocheted off his stick, his midsection and into the back of the net to spark Pittsburgh to a 3-1 win over Philadelphia.
Marc-Andre Fleury was sensational with 45 saves and the Penguins grabbed a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Tyler Kennedy and Maxime Talbot also scored for the Penguins, who can eliminate the Flyers in five games just like they did in last years Eastern Conference finals. Game 5 is Thursday in Pittsburgh.
CAROLINA 4, NEW JERSEY 3
RALEIGH, North Carolina Jussi Jokinen deflected in Dennis Seidenbergs slap shot with 0.2 seconds remaining and the Carolina Hurricanes evened their series with New Jersey at two games apiece by beating the Devils, 4-3.
Eric Staal, Ryan Bayda and Chad LaRose also scored for the Hurricanes, who blew a 3-0 lead but regrouped just in time to avoid a third straight overtime game.
Jokinen started the dramatic sequence when he tried to stuff a backhander past Martin Brodeur with about 7 seconds remaining. The puck circled around to Joni Pitkanen near the blue line and he passed off to Seidenberg, who unloaded a hard blast from the point that clicked off the Finns left skate and past Brodeurs low left side as time expired.
SAN JOSE 4, ANAHEIM 3
ANAHEIM, California Patrick Marleau scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 9:27 left, and the San Jose Sharks evaded a daunting playoff deficit with a 4-3 victory over Anaheim in Game 3, trimming the Ducks series lead to 2-1.
Dan Boyle had two goals and an assist, and fellow defenseman Rob Blake had a goal and an exceptional assist on Marleaus winner for the top-seeded Sharks, who had scored just twice while losing the first two games of their series with the eighth-seeded Ducks at home.
Desperately needing a win in Game 3, the Presidents Trophy winners improved their offensive efforts and eventually got the tiebreaking goal from their captain, who beat Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller with a slick deflection of Blakes pass.