Stanley Cup playoffs daily: Can Senators, Blues turn the tide at home?
The 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs have already included some twists and turns, including long-injured players returning to the ice and others playing through various ailments.
Two teams carry 2-0 leads into Game 3 on Thursday, and history is on their side: according to ESPN Research, teams with a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win 86% of the time.
Will that be the case for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets? Or can the Ottawa Senators and St. Louis Blues notch victories at home?
Plus, will the Florida Panthers win another game in the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s barn? And which team will win a pivotal Game 3 of the Vegas Golden Knights–Minnesota Wild series?
Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down in Wednesday’s games, and the Three Stars of Wednesday Night from Arda Öcal.
Matchup notes
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Game 2 (FLA leads 1-0) | 6:30 p.m. ET | TBS
With the Panthers up 1-0, ESPN BET has adjusted the series line to install Florida as the series favorite at -210, whereas the line was -115 before Game 1.
Matthew Tkachuk made his return after more than two months on the shelf, and scored two goals to help the Panthers take Game 1 in the Battle of Florida. Matthew and brother Brady both scored goals Tuesday, which was the 83rd time in Stanley Cup playoffs history that a pair of brothers scored on the same day, the most recent being Marcus and Nick Foligno on April 21, 2023.
Sergei Bobrovsky has backstopped the Cats to many playoff wins recently, and the Game 1 win was his 45th, putting him fifth all-time in playoff wins for goalies born outside North America. The leader? His opponent Andrei Vasilevskiy, with 66.
Nikita Kucherov won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading point-scorer in the regular season, but was limited to just one assist in Game 1. Will that trend continue?
Toronto Maple Leafs at Ottawa Senators
Game 3 (TOR leads 2-0) | 7 p.m. ET | ESPN2
The Maple Leafs have won just one playoff series in the past 20 years, but they are halfway to doing so here in the Battle of Ontario. Oh, and speaking of decadeslong droughts, this is the first time the Leafs have held a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series since the 2002 series against the New York Islanders (which they won in seven games).
Max Domi was the overtime hero for the Leafs in Game 2, which was his first playoff OT goal. His father Tie played 98 playoff games in his NHL career, and never had one — albeit in a career where he was known more as a pugilist than a scorer.
Toronto’s Core Four continue to drive the train. John Tavares (two goals, two assists), Mitch Marner (one goal, three assists), William Nylander (one goal, two assists) and Auston Matthews (three assists) are in the top four positions on their stats sheet heading into Game 3. They’ve also gotten strong play from goaltender Anthony Stolarz, who became the sixth netminder in Leafs history to win his first two playoff games with the franchise — Ken Wregget, Mike Palmateer, Bernie Parent, Frank McCool and Lorne Chabot are the others.
One pathway to a comeback for Ottawa is for goaltender Linus Ullmark to steal a game or two. The 2023 Vezina Trophy winner has allowed nine goals on 45 shots through two games, a save percentage of .800. Ullmark allowed just two goals on 50 shots in two games against Toronto in the regular season, both of which were wins for Ottawa.
Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild
Game 3 (series tied 1-1) | 9 p.m. ET | TBS
Why is this game so important? The winner of Game 3 in a series tied 1-1 has gone on to win 66% of the time in Stanley Cup playoff history (240-123).
The Wild didn’t want to take any chances in Game 2, scoring three first-period goals and keeping the Knights at arm’s length for the remainder of the game. Kirill Kaprizov reminded everyone why he was a Hart Trophy favorite before getting injured this season, scoring two goals and adding a ridiculous assist on Matt Boldy‘s goal. Kaprizov’s second goal tied him with Marian Gaborik for the second-most playoff goals in Wild history, with 12, four behind Zach Parise.
On the Vegas side, “Playoff” Tomas Hertl has shown up, scoring a goal in each of the first two games. The longtime San Jose Shark is the fourth different player to score a goal in his first two games with the Golden Knights, a list that includes Mark Stone, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault.
The Knights are also hoping this is just a bump in the road for goaltender Adin Hill. He has an .833 save percentage through two games; that figure was .931 in three games last postseason and .932 in 14 starts during their Stanley Cup run in 2023.
Winnipeg Jets at St. Louis Blues
Game 3 (WPG leads 2-0) | 9:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2
One other bit of history working against the Blues: Presidents’ Trophy winners that have won Games 1 and 2 of a best-of-seven series have gone on to win that series 95% of the time (tracked since 1985-86).
The Blues will want to track Kyle Connor closely if the game hangs in the balance. He has scored the game-winning goal in both games thus far, giving him five in his career, passing Paul Stastny for the most in Jets 2.0/Atlanta Thrashers history.
St. Louis rookie Jimmy Snuggerud — who was playing for the University of Minnesota earlier this spring — became the second rookie to notch a goal this postseason, joining Carolina’s Logan Stankoven.
Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou — who led the Blues in regular-season scoring and both tallied goals in Game 1 — were held pointless in Game 2.
Arda’s three stars from Wednesday night
Sometimes the stat lines don’t matter. The Avs captain returning to the NHL for the first time since lifting the Cup in 2022 is a moment that transcends one team, and is celebrated throughout the hockey world. Welcome back, Gabe!
1:22
Gabriel Landeskog makes triumphant return to Avs after 3-year absence
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog makes his return for the Avalanche after nearly three years on the sidelines due to a chronic knee injury.
Kempe scored two goals and added two assists as the Kings dismantled the Oilers 6-2 to take both games at home as the series now shifts to Edmonton.
Thompson made 25 saves, including some key stops on dangerous chances in the third period, to help the Caps beat the Habs 3-1 and take a 2-0 series lead.
0:48
Messier: Logan Thompson won the game for the Caps
Mark Messier tells Scott Van Pelt the critical role Logan Thompson played for the Capitials in their 3-1 win over the Canadiens in Game 2.
Wednesday’s scores
Washington Capitals 3, Montreal Canadiens 1
(WSH leads 2-0)
Another game that was perhaps a bit closer than the pundits (and the fans in D.C.) expected. Montreal’s Christian Dvorak opened the scoring in the second period, before the Caps answered with two goals in a one-minute span from Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome. That lead would hold despite the Habs’ best efforts, thanks to some heroic saves from Logan Thompson. McMichael added an empty-netter just before the final buzzer to ensure that the fans went home happy, and that his team takes a 2-0 lead to Montreal for Game 3.
0:34
Capitals take lead over Canadiens on back-to-back goals
Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome score a minute apart to put the Capitals ahead of the Canadiens in the second period.
Dallas Stars 2, Colorado Avalanche 1 (OT)
(DAL leads 2-1)
The big story here was the return of Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog after three years. And a first-period goal from Valeri Nichushkin sent the crowd into a frenzy. But the Stars have veteran players of their own, and captain Jamie Benn tied the game midway through the third period, before Tyler Seguin tallied the game-winning goal at 5:31 of overtime.
1:04
Tyler Seguin breaks Avs’ hearts with OT winner for Stars
Tyler Seguin spoils Gabriel Landeskog’s return with a goal to claim the Stars’ second overtime win as they take a 2-1 series lead vs. the Avalanche.
Los Angeles Kings 6, Edmonton Oilers 2
(LA leads 2-0)
For the past three postseasons, the Kings have been eliminated in the first round by the Oilers. Is this finally the year they get past their tormentors from Alberta? Continuing to score six goals per game would certainly help. Brandt Clarke got the party started with a power-play goal at 8:44 of the first period, and he was joined on the scoresheet by Quinton Byfield, Andrei Kuzmenko, Adrian Kempe (with two) and Anze Kopitar. The Kings’ power play has been electric in this series, as L.A. has scored five goals on 10 opportunities with the man advantage.
0:42
Adrian Kempe scores again as Kings close in on victory
Adrian Kempe’s second goal of the night makes it 6-2 Kings as they take full control of Game 2 against the Oilers.
WASHINGTON — Andrei Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with just under two minutes left and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Washington Capitals 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night, winning the second-round series and advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for a second time in three years.
Captain Jordan Staal scored his first goal of the playoffs, and Frederik Andersen stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced, including several on Alex Ovechkin.
After a give-and-go with defenseman Sean Walker, Svechnikov’s shot got through Logan Thompson from a bad angle with 1:59 remaining, and that was the difference in a back-and-forth game.
Seth Jarvis sealed it with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds left.
The Hurricanes improved to 10-5 in potential closeout games in seven trips to the postseason with coach Rod Brind’Amour. They will face either the Florida Panthers in a rematch of the 2023 East finals or the Toronto Maple Leafs in a reminder of 2002. The Panthers are up 3-2 in their series with the chance to eliminate the Maple Leafs as soon as Friday night.
Carolina is 35-7-2 through 82 games and then two rounds when scoring first.
Despite an unassisted goal by Anthony Beauvillier and some important saves among the 18 from Thompson, the Capitals saw their season end after finishing atop the conference and the Metropolitan Division, and beating the Montreal Canadiens in the first round to win a playoff series for the first time since their Stanley Cup run in 2018. Washington started strong, got a few quality scoring chances but could not get through tight-checking defense to prolong the series.
After giving up the backbreaker to Svechnikov, Thompson was pulled for an extra attacker and the Capitals were unable to equalize and let Jarvis get to the loose puck for his empty-netter.
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Kristen Shilton
Boos rained down at the final horn in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night as the Maple Leafs moved closer to extending their 57-year Stanley Cup drought with a 6-1 blowout loss to the Panthers.
Fans even threw their jerseys on the ice as Toronto saw its 2-0 series lead turn into a 3-2 deficit. But coach Craig Berube wants his players to get out of their heads for now.
“That last game was overthinking and not playing hockey,” he said. “Right now, [players] need to stick together tonight as a team and take a breath. Stop thinking about the game. Relax. We’ll get thinking about the game when it matters.”
To get back to Toronto for a Game 7, the Leafs will have to win in Florida, but they likely won’t have starting goaltender Anthony Stolarz. He has been sidelined since Game 1 of the series with an undisclosed injury. He resumed skating over the weekend and was on the ice for a 30-minute workout on Thursday, but Berube doubted Stolarz would join the Leafs in Florida for Game 6.
That leaves his replacement Joseph Woll, who gave up five goals on 25 shots Wednesday.
Players met after the game to break down what went wrong, and Berube had a team meeting planned for Thursday after the Leafs landed back in Fort Lauderdale.
“A loss is a loss,” Berube said. “If we [had] lost 2-1 [on Wednesday] and it was a close game, would it really matter today? We got beat. I’ve been in this situation before. We’re all going to be down and dejected, but we can’t be. We have to regroup.”
That includes the Leafs’ top skaters. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander have failed to score against Florida.
In Game 5, the Panthers repeatedly stymied Toronto’s rush attempts and pounded them with a smothering forecheck that left the Leafs reeling offensively.
Meanwhile, Florida peppered Woll until defenseman Aaron Ekblad broke through with the game’s first goal late in the first period. Toronto’s own mistakes — including a Dmitry Kulikov shot beating Woll off the stick of Leafs’ forward Scott Laughton and a baffling turnover by Marner in his own zone to set up a Jesper Boqvist strike — led to a three-goal second period. After AJ Greer made it 5-1 Florida with his first-ever playoff goal, Woll was gone in favor of Matt Murray.
“[It was] very disappointing,” said Morgan Rielly. “But at the end of the day, whether we lost the way we lost last night or we lost in overtime, whatever it is, we’re still in a position where we’re ready to fight. We have to go down there [to Florida] and play our best game. We can’t dwell on all sorts of [other] things.”
The Leafs were in control of the series against Florida early on, collecting wins in Games 1 and 2 and mounting multi-goal leads in Game 3. It was late in that outing though when Florida flipped the switch — and they haven’t looked back. The Panthers rallied in the second period of Game 3 to score three goals and take their first lead of the night. Rielly’s goal at the midway point of the third period tied the game and forced overtime, but Brad Marchand scored the game-winner for Florida.
That Rielly marker would stand as Toronto’s last goal on Sergei Bobrovsky for nearly six periods of hockey. Toronto was shutout 2-0 by the Panthers in Game 4 and were dangerously close to being blanked again if not for Nick Robertson’s marker late in Game 5.
Bobrovsky struggled to open the series against the Leafs, allowing nine goals in the first two games for an .820 SV%, but he has slammed the door since late in that Game 3 win. He has turned aside 54 of 55 shots through Games 4 and 5 for a .982 SV%.
Robertson’s goal did little for the fans.
“It’s tough,” said Rielly. “But [fans] have the right to do what they want to do. We need to improve and play better. We expect to have a team that’s going to go out and win and compete. When that doesn’t happen, everyone is upset.”
Rielly is the longest-tenured member of the Leafs and has experienced the many highs and lows Toronto has endured trying to exorcise past playoff demons. Brandon Carlo — acquired at the March trade deadline — is newer to Toronto’s history but shared Rielly’s view that, despite the emphatic fan response to their poor performance, it’s not something that should linger.
“In a game like that, you don’t want to overthink those things too much,” said Carlo of the extracurriculars. “It is a passionate fanbase … there’s going to be ups and downs for sure, but from the standpoint of playoff series in the past, I’ve been in these situations myself. Had bad games in the playoffs; it’s not just subject to this group by any means. I think that needs to be taken into account, too.”
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