JOHNSON MATCHES FRANCHISE RECORD, LIGHTNING TAKE 2-0 SERIES LEAD
Tyler Johnson (2-2—4, +3) matched a franchise record for points in a postseason game (Vincent Lecavalier on May 17, 2011 at BOS: 1-3—4) to lift Tampa Bay to a 2-0 series lead over Detroit.
* Johnson notched his fifth career multi-goal game in the postseason and fourth against the Red Wings. In the 2015 First Round vs. DET, he became the first player in franchise history to register three multi-goal games in one playoff series.
* Johnson has compiled 8-5—13 in nine career postseason games vs. DET, including three game-winning goals.
* Forwards Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn each tallied 1-1—2 and a plus-3 rating in Game 2. The line of Johnson (2-4—6, +6), Kucherov (3-2—5, +6) and Killorn (2-2—4, +6) has combined for 7-8—15 and a plus-18 rating through two games, scoring seven of Tampa Bay’s eight goals.
* Via Elias, teams that take a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series hold an all-time series record of 298-48 (86.1%).
LUONGO, CRAWFORD HELP PANTHERS, BLACKHAWKS EVEN SERIES
The Panthers and Blackhawks both registered victories to even their respective series at 1-1, backed by First Star performances by Roberto Luongo and Corey Crawford:
* Luongo made 41 saves, including 30 over the final two periods, to lead the Panthers past the Islanders. Luongo – Florida’s all-time regular-season leader in wins (177) and games played (454) – earned his first career postseason victory with the club (2 GP) and his first playoff win overall since Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final vs. BOS (w/ VAN). Reilly Smith (1-1—2) leads the team with 3-2—5 through the first two games this postseason.
* Crawford made 29 saves, including 14 in the second period, and the Blackhawks scored three straight goals – capped by the eventual game-winner by Artemi Panarinwith 1:26 remaining in regulation – to defeat the Blues. Crawford improved to 46-30 in 76 all-time playoff appearances to move past Tony Esposito (45-53) for the most career postseason wins in franchise history.
DID YOU KNOW?
Via Elias, two Florida-based teams – the Lightning and Panthers – each won a playoff game on the same day for the first time in NHL history.
PREDATORS SCORE EARLY, LATE TO TAKE GAME 1
James Neal (1-0—1) scored 35 seconds after the opening face-off and Filip Forsberg(1-0—1) notched the go-ahead goal at 10:25 of the third period to lift the Predators past the Ducks in the opener of their First Round series.
* Forsberg, who matched a single-season franchise record with 33 goals in 2015-16 (tying JasonArnott in 2008-09), has collected 5-2—7 in seven career playoff contests.
* Neal, who scored the second-fastest goal to start a playoff game in franchise history, extended his point streak to seven games dating to March 29 (2-6—8).
* ICYMI: Defenseman Ryan Ellis sprawled out to make an unorthodox game-saving stop when the score was knotted 2-2.
MILESTONES & BENCHMARKS
* Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf (1-0—1) skated in his 98th career playoff game (all w/ ANA) to move past Francois Beauchemin (97) for the most in franchise history.
* Forward Dylan Larkin (1-0—1) scored his first career playoff goal (2 GP). Via Elias, he became the fourth-youngest Red Wings player at the time of his first postseason goal.
NHL, SHOWTIME SPORTS ANNOUNCE ALL ACCESS: QUEST FOR THE STANLEY CUP
NHL and SHOWTIME Sports announced ALL ACCESS: Quest For The Stanley Cup, a behind-the-scenes documentary series with unprecedented access to the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The docu-series will be the first of its kind to nationally televise the championship of a major North American sport as it unfolds. Premiering Friday, May 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME, weekly episodes chronicle the Eastern and Western Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final.
Click here for more information.
LOOSE PUCKS
The NHL announced the start times for Game 5 of both the Lightning-Red Wings (7 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 21) and Blues-Blackhawks series (9:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 21) . . . ICYMI: Take an all-access look of Game 1 from both the Penguins-Rangers and Capitals-Flyers series . . . Mike Bolt, Keeper of the Cup, announced the launch of the Stanley Cup Twitter emoji.
SNEAK PEEK AT SATURDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
NY Rangers @ Pittsburgh, PIT leads 1-0, 3:00 p.m., NBC, CBC, TVAS
Philadelphia @ Washington, WSH leads 1-0, 7:00 p.m., CNBC, CBC, TVAS, CSN-DC, CSN-PH
Minnesota @ Dallas, DAL leads 1-0, 8:00 p.m., NBCSN, SN, TVAS2, FS-SW, FS-N, FS-WI
San Jose @ Los Angeles, SJS leads1-0, 10:30 p.m., NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, FS-W, CSN-CA
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the above information was provided by the NHL PR department
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