The home teams won all three of Friday's Game 3s, meaning that underdogs are now in the driver's seat for all three of these series.

Montreal 3, Tampa Bay 2 (Canadiens lead series 2-1)

Lane Hutson scored on an absolute bomb early in overtime to give the Canadiens a 3-2 win in Game 3 and a 2-1 series lead.

Hutson has scored goals in back-to-back games while adding three hits and four blocks. He also led all skaters with 26:40 in icetime, stepping up as a playoff performer early in his career. The extreme physical element of this series doesn't seem to be affecting his play.

Kirby Dach, Alexandre Texier, and Zachary Bolduc each led the Canadiens with two points each. Dach in particular had a rough first two games of the series, but he rebounded with the game-tying goal and an assist. His bottom-6 line with Texier and Bolduc might have been the best line for the Habs in Game 3 with a team-leading 69.2 CF% (shot attempts for percentage). Compare that to the top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky, who were all held without a point with a 46.2 CF%.

Andrei Vasilevskiy was the busier of the two goalies, stopping 26 of 29 shots he faced in earning his second consecutive quality start. However, the two-time Stanley Cup winner has a 4-14 record since the start of the 2023 postseason. His regular-season performance hasn't declined, in particular over the past two seasons where he has a combined 77 wins, .917 save percentage, and 2.24 goals-against average – the numbers of an elite fantasy goalie. In his Sportsnet column, Mike Amato wrote about how Vasilevskiy is having more trouble with shots from the point through traffic. That was certainly the case on the overtime goal. This may not be a huge concern next season, but it is something to pay attention to.

With a goal in Game 3, Brandon Hagel now has four goals in three playoff games. Hagel has been making something happen in every game of this series, as he had two goals in Game 1 and a Gordie Howe hat trick in Game 2.

Tampa's other goal was scored by Brayden Point, who scored his first playoff goal of this year's playoffs. Point had only 18 goals this season, which ties his 2016-17 rookie season as the lowest total of his career. Hagel and Point are similarly ranked in the Top 100 Roto Rankings, but I'll have to think about whether Hagel is a better option than Point next season.

Every game in this series has gone to overtime, which indicates how tightly contested this series is. Expect more of the same in Game 4 on Sunday. The Habs are the younger, faster team, so the Bolts are playing a more truculent game than they have in years past. Jon Cooper might want to advise his team to reel it in a bit, as Tampa Bay looks undisciplined at times.

Utah 4, Vegas 2 (Mammoth lead series 2-1)

The first-ever playoff game in Salt Lake City was a rousing success for the Mammoth. Lawson Crouse scored twice for the Mammoth, while Mackenzie Weegar and Dylan Guenther scored Utah's other goals. All three of these players also delivered four hits. Weegar chipped in an assist for two points, while Clayton Keller assisted twice.

Despite the win, the Mammoth were outshot by a wide margin (32-12). The fact that Vegas carried the shot total means they are not out of the series, even though Utah might have been the better team in the first two games. Regardless, this series could go deep with the Mammoth better than many of us expected.

Carter Hart allowed four goals on his first eight shots, but surprisingly he was not pulled. This was Hart's first really bad start since being activated from IR in early April. The fourth goal probably could have been yank-worthy, but John Tortorella instead decided to let Hart work through his issues instead of turning to Adin Hill. It worked, although Hart only faced four more shots. If this game is any indication, Torts is going to remain loyal to the goalie he also had in Philly.

Nic Dowd and Jack Eichel scored the Vegas goals.

Anaheim 7, Edmonton 4 (Ducks lead series 2-1)

Mikael Granlund led the Ducks with a power-play goal and two assists, also finishing with a plus-3 and four hits.

The Ducks were able to benefit from seven different goal scorers. They also fired 40 shots in this game, with every forward and all but two defensemen taking at least one shot. Only five Ducks did not register a point in this game, the most surprising being Cutter Gauthier. The Ducks have also piled up 13 goals in back-to-back games, so if you've taken multiple Ducks in your playoff pool, chances are you're doing really well. Jackson LaCombe leads the Ducks (and is tied for the league lead) with six points in three games. Granlund and Troy Terry each have five points.

Based on the goal totals in Game 2 and 3, Connor Ingram may not be back for Game 4. Ingram probably hasn't been as bad as back-to-back really bad starts would suggest, as he faced a ton of shots in Game 3. However, a shakeup might be necessary, and Kris Knoblauch hasn't been afraid to switch goalies during a playoff series in the past with Calvin Pickard and Stuart Skinner. As much as it might seem like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, Knoblauch has had some playoff success with doing this. That means it might be time for Tristan Jarry to come on down to be the next goalie to try to paper over the Oilers' defensive deficiencies.  

After suffering a minor injury in Game 2, Connor McDavid may not be 100 percent. Add in the fact that Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman were also nursing injuries before the playoffs and the Oilers may be in a tough spot to win this series. McDavid did score a power-play goal and added an assist, but he finished the game with a minus-4 (for a Draisaitl hat trick!) Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard each finished with two assists.

With another goal on Friday, Kasperi Kapanen is leading the Oilers in playoff goals (3), just like we all expected. Kapanen is playing on a line with Draisaitl, who is tied for the playoff lead with six points; and Vasily Podkolzin, who has been a solid two-way player recently. If the Oilers can find a way to win this series, then Kapanen might emerge as a deep playoff sleeper.

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In other news:

Dan Vladar is considered a game-time decision for Game 4 tonight (Saturday) because of a possible right arm injury. Since the Flyers are up 3-0 in the series against Pittsburgh, they may be able to rest Vladar if he is not 100 percent. Samuel Ersson is a downgrade to Vladar, but Philadelphia has about a 99% chance of winning this series given how rarely teams come back from 0-3 deficits.

Mats Zuccarello will also be a game-time decision for Game 4 against Dallas today (Saturday). Zuccarello has missed Games 2 and 3 with an upper-body injury. His return would be a big boost to the Wild's power play. Zuccarello had three assists in Game 1, two of which were on the power play.

Jake Sanderson won't play today (Saturday) due to a concussion from Game 3. With the Senators on the brink in Game 4, Sanderson may not return to this season's playoffs at all.

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