- Vancouver Canucks defeated St. Louis Blues, 4-3.
- Travis Green’s team is one win away from eliminating the reigning NHL champion.
- Montreal Canadiens were better than Philadelphia Flyers, cutting the deficit in the series to 3-2.
Canucks’ Rush in the Late Second Provides Superb Comeback
Vancouver was down 3-1 little before the six minutes into the middle frame. Once Zach Sanford used a powerplay situation to score, and to hand his team a two-goal lead, the majority of Stars fans believed that their team is on the right path to secure a match-point for advancing to the next stage.
Yet, they experienced a massive disappointment in the end.
In the span of seven and a half minutes, the Canucks netted three times, completely changing the result and getting both the lead and the momentum. They would shock the Blues, who didn’t have the strength to respond in the final 20 minutes, dropping what was supposed to be an easy triumph.
“We fell asleep there for whatever, 10-15 minutes of that (second) period,” Blues’ Brayden Schenn said.
One by one, JT Miller, Jake Virtanen, and Tyler Motte scored, knocking out the champs who missed a chance at 3-1 to solve the match. Jacob Markstrom denied Robert Thomas, making a save, which was the turning point of the entire contest.
“I thought that save was big,” Green said. “You could feel it even on the bench. Every once in a while, there’s a save where on the bench someone will say, ‘that’s the one we need.'”
Previously Morre opened the show in the first, giving the edge to Vancouver. Schenn and Ryan O’Rilley made it 2-1 for the Blues.
The champs had a chance to level the score in the final moments, as they scored a goal, but after reviewing the play, the referees saw that the puck crossed the goal line too late.
Canadiens Still Have Some Hope
Montreal was pushed to the brink before this match, but they managed to extend the series for at least one more game now. They beat Flyers 5-3, in a very exhausting and rough match that also saw a superb second period.
After Amia’s opener, and 1-0 for the Canadiens in the first, the next sequence started badly for them Jesperi Kotkaniemi was given a game misconduct for boarding, and the team from Philly used that in the best possible way. They would score twice during a powerplay, through Jakup Voracek taking the lead.
However, Amia responded very quickly and shortly after his second score, Brendan Gallagher brought back the lead to the Canadiens, with a powerplay goal, too.
Another PP goal took place in the middle of the last frame, with Joel Farabee equalizing the result, but that lasted only 22 seconds, as Nick Suzuki replied.
With 0:18 until, Phillip Danault sealed the win of the Canadians, using an empty-net situation.
“I think that was our response from losing the last game (2-0 on Tuesday). They got ready to go, and they set the tone that first shift,” said Kirk Muller, one of the assistant coaches in Montreal.
Both Canucks and Canadiens play on Friday.
