FLEURY STANDS TALL YET AGAIN AS GOLDEN KNIGHTS EVEN SERIES

Marc-Andre Fleury made 34 saves and Alex Tuch scored twice as the Golden Knights rallied to earn a split through two games in their best-of-seven series against the Wild. Vegas has yet to face a 2-0 series deficit in its nine all-time playoff series.

* Fleury allowed one goal or fewer in a playoff start for the 36th time in his career (146 starts), surpassing Ken Dryden (35x in 112 starts) for sole possession of the 11th most such performances in Stanley Cup Playoffs history. Among active goaltenders, only Henrik Lundqvist (45x in 130 starts) has more playoff starts in which he has allowed one goal or fewer.

* Tuch’s goals came after Jonathan Marchessault became the first to solve Wild goaltender Cam Talbot this postseason. Tuch (16) and Marchessault (15) rank first and second for career playoff goals in a Golden Knights uniform

CARTER SCORES FIRST PLAYOFF GOAL WITH PENGUINS TO EVEN SERIES

Jeff Carter scored his 40th career playoff goal – and first in a Penguins uniform – and TristanJarry (37 saves) recorded his first career postseason victory as Pittsburgh evened its series with the NY Islanders.

* Carter scored his seventh career playoff game-winning goal and first in nearly seven years. His last postseason winner came in Game 3 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final when he opened the scoring in a shutout victory for the Kings that gave them a 3-0 series lead against the Rangers.

* Players acquired ahead of the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline have made noteworthy contributions through the first four days of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with Carter and Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri accounting for the winning goal in each of the first two contests in this series. In addition, Taylor Hall scored a tying goal for the Bruins with 2:49 remaining in regulation in Game 2 of their series against the Capitals.

LIGHTNING TAKE 2-0 SERIES LEAD BACK TO AMALIE ARENA

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 32 saves, including 14 with the Lightning clinging to a one-goal lead after the Panthers cut into a 2-0 deficit, to help Tampa Bay take a 2-0 series lead against Florida. The Lightning head home as the fourth defending champion in the past 18 years to open the postseason with consecutive wins.

* This is the seventh time that Tampa Bay has claimed a 2-0 series lead; they have gone on to win each of the previous six instances, including three times when they claimed a victory in Game 3 (2004 CSF vs. MTL, 2011 CSF vs. WSH and 2015 R2 vs. MTL).

QUICK CLICKS

* Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage
* #NHLStats Live Updates: Wednesday, May 19
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* Maple Leafs, Canadiens set to renew NHL's oldest playoff rivalry

CHARA’S RETURN TO BOSTON OPENS FOUR-GAME PLAYOFF SLATE
The Bruins and Capitals head to Boston tied at one game apiece after trading overtime wins in D.C. The first of four playoff games tonight will see up to 4,500 fans welcome former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara back to the city he paraded through with the Stanley Cup a decade ago. Chara will contest his first playoff game at TD Garden as a member of the opposition after posting 28 points in 73 career postseason games in the building with Boston (7-21—28 in 73 GP).

2021 SCOTIA NORTH DIVISION FIRST ROUND OPENS TONIGHT IN EDMONTON

League scoring leader Connor McDavid and the Oilers welcome the Jets to Rogers Place as the clubs contest Game 1 of their First Round series, marking the first-ever postseason game between the franchises. Edmonton and Winnipeg are the first Scotia North Division teams to play in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, with Toronto and Montreal opening its series tomorrow.

* McDavid recorded 22 of his 105 points against the Jets (7-15—22 in 9 GP). The last player with more versus one opponent in a single regular season was Chicago’s Denis Savard in 1987-88 against the Minnesota North Stars (8-15—23 in 8 GP).



AVALANCHE, HURRICANES AIM TO TAKE 2-0 SERIES LEAD
The Avalanche and Hurricanes will each look to take a 2-0 series lead when they host the Blues and Predators, respectively.

* After posting 1-2—3 in Game 1, Nathan MacKinnon will look to help the Avalanche franchise win the first two games in a best-of-seven series for the 17th time (13-3 when leading 2-0). MacKinnon has accumulated 25 of his 57 career postseason points within the first two games of a series (Game 1s: 4-9—13 in 7 GP; Game 2s: 6-6—12 in 6 GP).

* With his two-goal performance in Game 1, Jordan Staal became the second active NHL player to go at least nine years between multi-goal playoff games (9 years, 29 days; also Alexander Radulov: 12 years, 9 days). The Hurricanes captain will now look to help his club take a 2-0 series lead in a best-of-seven for the sixth time in franchise history (4-1 when leading 2-0). The last time Carolina won the first two games of a series on home ice was in 2006 when they did so in both the Conference Semifinals and Stanley Cup Final en route to their first championship.

Thanks to the NHL PR department for the information above.