Closeout time has arrived in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the pressure to avoid a Game 7 is squarely on Montreal, Buffalo and Vegas on Friday night.
A tantalizing tripleheader of Game 6 action begins with the Tampa Bay Lightning's visit to the Canadiens and the Sabres' trip to Boston, followed by the Golden Knights visiting the Utah Mammoth in the nightcap.
While the Knights have had a wealth of postseason success — more than their
share, most of their opponents would say — during their first nine seasons in the NHL, the Mammoth will look to stay alive for their first playoff series victory since moving to Salt Lake City last season.
Meanwhile, a series-clinching win would be nothing less than monumental for the Canadiens and the Sabres, whose hockey-hungry markets would love to see the second round again.
No fan base in the league has been hungrier for longer than Buffalo, which went 14 years without seeing a playoff game before these Sabres won their first Atlantic Division title this spring.
They've got an even bigger step to take now, however — learning to close out a playoff series. The Sabres barely failed in their first chance Tuesday, losing Game 5 at home in overtime to the resilient Bruins.
Then again, Buffalo’s lineup didn’t have a lot of experience, with just 10 players having previously appeared in an outing with a chance to eliminate an opponent.
“We trusted the process to get to this point,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “You’ve got to continue to trust it. It’s a team (that for) a whole year has won together and lost together, but embrace this moment -- and somebody for us is going to be a big time player. I can’t tell you who that is, but somebody will."
Buffalo’s power play continues to sputter: Rasmus Dahlin’s goal in Game 5 was the Sabres' first with the man advantage in 18 opportunities this series. Buffalo enters Game 6 having converted one of 20 power-play chances against Boston after going 0-for-22 to close the regular season.
The Sabres' last playoff series victory was in the second round in 2007 against the New York Rangers.
When/Where to Watch: Game 6, Friday, 10 p.m. EDT (ESPN).
Series: Golden Knights lead 3-2.
The Golden Knights are one victory away from advancing because of … special teams?
Vegas’ power play has remained a confounding problem for coach John Tortorella, who has tinkered with the first and second units to find some kind of answer for one of the NHL's best groups in the regular season.
But special teams carried Vegas in Wednesday night’s 5-4 double-overtime victory over the Mammoth. The first of Pavel Dorofeyev’s three goals came with the man advantage, and he forced OT with a six-on-five goal with 52.7 seconds left in regulation before Brett Howden’s short-handed winner.
The Golden Knights also killed all five of Utah’s power plays. The Mammoth have converted just one of 14 power plays this series.
“It really came up big for us tonight,” Tortorella said of the penalty kill. “It’s a skilled team, a very dangerous power play, really big in OT as far as the kill. It’s steadied itself. Utah gets a lot of momentum off their power play whether they score or not. I think we’ve done a better job as the series has gone on.”
The Golden Knights still need to find their own way on the power play. Dorofeyev’s first goal ended a drought of 13 power plays without scoring, and they are just 3 of 18 for the series.
Which makes it even remarkable Vegas is ahead. According to OptaSTATS, 29 teams have trailed in the third period of each of the first five games of a series, including the Golden Knights in this one. The other 28 teams trailed after five games or had been eliminated.
Not Vegas.
But it also gives the Mammoth plenty of hope as they try to stave off elimination. They have been right there, losing back-to-back games in overtime, or the Mammoth would already be preparing to face Anaheim or Edmonton in the second round.
“We’re a confident group and we believe in one another and our team,” Mammoth captain Clayton Keller said. “These are the most fun games to be a part of. Down 3-2, we get to go home and play in front of our fans. I’m fired up for that.”
When/Where to Watch: Game 6, Friday, 7:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN).
Series: Sabres lead 3-2.
David Pastrnak’s breakaway goal 9:14 into overtime sealed a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night to keep the Bruins’ season alive.
They’re now back in TD Garden to try to do it again, but it hasn’t exactly been a haven in this series: The Bruins were outscored 9-2 in their home losses in Games 3 and 4.
It’s why coach Marco Sturm said the dramatic Game 5 victory doesn’t make them feel like they've cracked the code against Buffalo, even after some schematic changes that went Boston’s way.
The Bruins were 29-11-1 at home during the regular season.
“(Being home) should elevate your game,” Sturm said. “We’re against the wall, so home or away I see it more like we have to bring our A-game. Otherwise we go home, so we’re going to approach it that way. It’s a one-game mission again.”
Buffalo will be down one of its key contributors in this series as it looks to clinch its first playoff series victory since eliminating the New York Rangers in six games of a 2007 second-round series.
Rookie forward Noah Ostlund went down with a lower-body injury in the first period on Tuesday.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff didn’t reveal what the injury was, but said, “it doesn’t look good.” Ostlund had just returned to the lineup from an upper-body injury in Game 3, in which he had a goal and assist.
When/Where to Watch: Game 6, Friday, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN2).
Series: Canadiens lead 3-2.
This series has been an absolute thriller, with five consecutive one-goal victories, three overtimes and a host of late-game heroics by both clubs. Montreal is one win away from its first playoff advancement in five years, and the Bell Centre will be appropriately frenzied.
The Habs got immediate help in Game 5 from Brendan Gallagher, who scored a goal in his first appearance of the series following four scratches. The veteran's grit and toughness around the net exemplified the way coach Martin St. Louis wants his players to approach the playoff-tested Lightning.
Tampa Bay is one loss away from its fourth consecutive first-round playoff exit, but coach Jon Cooper's club can build on its gritty Game 4 victory in Montreal when it faces down the hostile crowd once again.
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AP Sports Writers John Wawrow, Mark Anderson and Kyle Hightower contributed to this report.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
