Playoff pucks again… Saturday featured four more games as the first round continues.

Islanders 3, Hurricanes 2, 2 OT (Hurricanes lead series 3-1)

The Islanders staved off elimination on Saturday, avoiding a sweep with a double-overtime goal from Mathew Barzal. The point shot from Robert Bortuzzo appeared to be deflected in by Barzal at 1:24 of the second overtime period. The goal was Barzal's second of the game.

THIS SERIES WILL CONTINUE! 🤩

Mathew Barzal (@Barzal_97) scores in @SportChek double overtime to force a Game 5 back in Carolina! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/3eL2fEurcl

— NHL (@NHL) April 27, 2024

The Isles held a 2-1 lead for much of the third period before Stefan Noesen scored a power-play goal with just under six minutes remaining in regulation time.

Seth Jarvis scored Carolina's other goal, giving him four points over the four-game series. That is tied for the team lead with three other players.

Bo Horvat assisted on both of Barzal's goals, while Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the other goal for the Islanders.

Semyon Varlamov made 42 saves for the Islanders, while Frederik Andersen made 32 saves for the Hurricanes.

The series shifts back to Carolina on Tuesday for Game 5, where the Hurricanes will try a second time to clinch.

Maybe I didn't watch enough of this game to mention anything else interesting, so I'm going to go word geek here. When do you ever hear the word "stave" except when it comes to elimination in a playoff series? When I looked up the word "stave", it is defined as a "vertical wooden post or plank in a building or other structure." The correct term is actually "stave off", which is defined as "avert or delay something bad or dangerous." Just thought you'd like to know so you could impress your friends with this important piece of knowledge.

Lightning 6, Panthers 3 (Panthers lead series 3-1)

About that staving off thing… yeah, the Lightning did that on Saturday as well, preventing being swept at the hands of their cross-state rivals.

Brandon Hagel led the Lightning with a pair of goals and an assist in Game 4. Three other Tampa Bay players also reached three points on Saturday: Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, and Nikita Kucherov. Steven Stamkos also scored a pair of goals.

The Lightning were lifted by the surprise return of Mikhail Sergachev, who had returned from a fractured tibia and fibula from early February. As of early April, Sergachev was not expected to be available for the first round, but in the end he needed only 80 days to recover from the fractured leg. Speaking as someone who had a similar injury while in high school, that's an incredible recovery time to be playing at full speed. Sergachev registered one assist and saw action on the second power-play unit in Game 4.

You may also recall that Sergachev was out of the lineup from just before the holiday break until early February because of another lower-body injury, suffering the broken leg in his first game back. It's been a season to forget for Sergachev, who played in just 34 regular-season games. He's also lost some fantasy value in the process, as Victor Hedman has reaffirmed his role on the top power play this season. Hedman had a remarkable bounce-back season, improving from 49 points last season to 76 points this season, which included 31 power-play points.

The Panthers trailed 3-0 and 4-1 at different points in this game, yet they clawed back to within a goal (4-3) at the end of the second period before the Lightning pulled away in the third period.

Bruins 3, Leafs 1 (Bruins lead series 3-1)

There was a laundry list of drama from the Leafs in this game, which was broadcasted for everyone to see in their usual ideal Hockey Night in Canada slot.

William Nylander is thinking "I came back for this?" after missing the first three games of the series with an undisclosed injury.

Frustration has started to set in for the Maple Leafs stars 😠 pic.twitter.com/PbnQBNigKD

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 28, 2024

Mitch Marner scored the Leafs' only goal in the third period, which was after the little gripe session on the bench. Marner has two points in this series, which isn't really helping shed his reputation as a player who fades during the playoffs. Marner did score 14 points in 11 playoff games last year and has a career 49 points in 54 postseason games. Unfortunately, those points haven't led to playoff wins. If the Leafs can't find a way to win three in a row against the Bruins, then a major shakeup could be in the cards this offseason. Wait, haven't we said that for a few seasons now?

The Leafs took 25 shots, which seems high considering that they weren't exactly making life difficult for Jeremy Swayman. The Bruins blocked 27 shots, which turned out to be a source of frustration for the Leafs.

Auston Matthews left the game at the end of the second period. He appeared to be laboring late in the second period on the Bruins' third goal, although it was confirmed later that he was feeling ill. Expect Matthews to be in the lineup on Tuesday with the season on the line, since he'll have two full days to get better.

Joseph Woll took over in net in the third period from Ilya Samsonov, who allowed three goals on 17 shots. Samsonov wasn't necessarily terrible, but Woll might start Game 5 anyway just to shake things up.

As for the Bruins, Brad Marchand scored a goal and added an assist. He leads the Bruins with eight points over the four-game series, getting under the Leafs' skin with both his scoring and his antics.

Jeremy Swayman stopped 24 of 25 shots he faced to earn the win. With three chances to secure victory in the series, the Bruins could still turn to Linus Ullmark in Game 5. That would keep the routine for Swayman and Ullmark intact while not overworking one particular goalie. Swayman starting in the playoffs could signal that the Bruins think he is ready to take over as the full-time starter, which means they would shop Ullmark in the summer.

Dallas 3, Vegas 2, OT (Vegas leads series 2-1)

Thank you, Wyatt Johnston. Your goal late in the first overtime period means that I can get this finished and go to bed at a semi-decent hour (I live on the West Coast). It also means that the Stars, my Stanley Cup pick, aren't in danger of getting swept in the first round by Vegas of all teams.

If you happened to catch the overtime winner, which would have happened after 2 a.m. ET, it was worth staying up for. No greasy fluke goal, just perfect placement.

WHAT a SHOT from Wyatt Johnston on the OT winner 🤯😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/ToCo4gVAeG

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 28, 2024

Since it's already late and I want to get this finished, I'll just throw this up here about Johnston's Game 3 instead of typing in all out:

Wyatt Johnston tonight:

•23:28 TOI
•2 goals, including OT winner
•15 shot attempts
•8 shots on goal
•I had him down for 11 scoring chances
•Stars had 91% of expected goal share in his minutes via NST

— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) April 28, 2024

As a 20-year-old, Johnston led a conference-winning team with 32 goals during the regular season. Being deployed on the top line with Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson is only going to help him during the playoffs, and it would certainly boost his stock even further for next season if he can stick there.  

Miro Heiskanen scored a goal and added an assist while leading the Stars with 34:09 in icetime. Robertson picked up two assists.

The Stars survived with five defensemen for most of this game, as Nils Lundkvist played just 2:21. I didn't see anything about him leaving the game, so it seems as though he was stapled to the bench. Seems like a waste when fresh legs are key, but also a clear lack of faith in him in such an important game. What a story this would be if he finally received a shift in double or triple overtime and scored the game winner. I believe that's what happened to the late Petr Klima back in the 1990 Stanley Cup Final.  

Brayden McNabb scored a goal and added an assist for the Golden Knights. Jack Eichel scored the important game-tying goal while shorthanded.  

Adin Hill might have been the goalie to lead Vegas to a Stanley Cup last season. But it's all Logan Thompson in this season's playoffs. Thompson faced 43 shots in 76 minutes of action, giving him quality starts in back-to-back games. Quite honestly, he kept the Stars from extending their lead beyond 2-0 before Vegas tied it later in the second period. Vegas isn't known as a team that rewards loyalty given its history of roster turnover and chasing the shinier new toy. That means it's no surprise that Hill isn't the starter right now. We also shouldn't read much into how this affects their goaltending next season if Thompson carries the mail for their entire playoff run.

Shout out to friend of the site and Keeping Karlsson podcast Daniel Negreanu, who nailed both the correct final score and that it would end in OT.

Having one them hunches again:

DAL vs VGK tonight sees OT

Someone is going to win 3-2… who wins?

Your guess is as good as mine, but it's a 3-2 Final in OT

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) April 28, 2024

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