The second Sunday of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs is here. There will not be any teams eliminated following the four matchups, but each game is nonetheless pivotal as we move closer to the second round.

In each of the four series that play Sunday, the home team has won every game thus far. Will that trend continue? Or will the favored teams in each head back home with a chance to close things out?

Read on for game previews with statistical insights from ESPN Research, recaps of what went down in Saturday’s games, and the Three Stars of Saturday Night from Arda Öcal.

Matchup notes

Winnipeg Jets at St. Louis Blues
Game 4 (WPG leads 2-1) | 1 p.m. ET | TBS

The two teams had an extra day off, playing Game 3 on Thursday, a 7-2 win for the Blues. Entering this game, history is not on the Blues’ side; teams that have led 2-1 in a best-of-seven series have gone on to win the series 68.6% of the time, and the Blues specifically are 8-20 when trailing 1-2 in a series.

The good news for St. Louis is that Game 3 was the club’s 13th straight victory at home, going back to the regular season. The Blues have scored at least five goals in seven of those 13 games.

Pavel Buchnevich‘s hat trick was the first of his career, and quadrupled his career playoff goal total — he previously had one goal in 22 games.

Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck appears off his game — compared to the regular season, but not past playoffs. He has allowed four goals or more in nine of his past 12 playoff games.

Winnipeg will need their top players to get back in the scoring swing. Mark Scheifele had two goals and three assists through the first two games, but was held scoreless in Game 3. Kyle Connor began with two goals and two assists and was also held pointless in Game 3.

Carolina Hurricanes at New Jersey Devils
Game 4 (CAR leads 2-1) | 3:30 p.m. ET | TBS

A healthy scratch earlier in the series, Simon Nemec was the Game 3 hero, scoring the game-winning goal in double-overtime. He is the youngest Devil with an OT goal in a playoff game (21 years, 69 days), and the second-youngest defenseman with such a goal in Stanley Cup playoff history; only Andrei Zyuzin (20 years, 97 days in 1998) pulled off the feat at a younger age.

The multiovertime result was not a shock based on the history of these two clubs: the Devils have now won five straight multi-OT playoff games, while the Hurricanes are now 1-11 in multi-OT playoff games, the worst percentage in Stanley Cup playoff history.

Jacob Markstrom has shown up for the Devils this postseason, with a .929 save percentage and 2.08 goals-against average through three games, facing an average of 33 shots per game.

The Hurricanes have had seven different goal-scorers through three games, including expected output from their stars like Seth Jarvis as well as from some surprising contributors such as Jordan Martinook (15 goals in the regular season) and Jalen Chatfield (seven).

As impressive as Markstrom has been for New Jersey, Frederik Andersen has been a bit better for Carolina: through three games, the Dane has 82 saves on 87 shots, generating a .943 SP and 1.48 GAA.

Washington Capitals at Montreal Canadiens
Game 4 (WSH leads 2-1) | 6:30 p.m. ET | TBS

The six goals that the Canadiens scored in Game 3 were the most they’ve scored in a playoff game since May 7, 2015.

With his assist on Cole Caufield‘s second-period goal, Lane Hutson now has 63 in the regular season and playoffs combined, tying Chris Chelios’ record for the most by a rookie defenseman.

Alex Ovechkin scored playoff goal No. 75, which passed Joe Pavelski for 13th all time. He’s now one behind Mario Lemieux for 12th.

All eyes will be on the status of the goaltenders heading into this game. Sam Montembeault left the Canadiens’ crease during the second period, while Logan Thompson was knocked out of action in the third period.

Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers
Game 4 (LA leads 2-1) | 9:30 p.m. ET | TBS

As part of the Oilers’ offensive onslaught in Game 3, Leon Draisaitl extended his playoff point streak against the Kings to 17 games, which is the third-longest streak against an opponent in Stanley Cup playoffs history, two behind Wayne Gretzky (19, against the Flames) and Mark Messier (19, against the Kings). Decent company!

Connor McDavid now has 12 career playoff games with a goal and two assists, tied with Messier for second most in Oilers history. They both trail Gretzky, who had 24. McDavid also drew even with Jaromir Jagr in sixth place for most games with three-plus points in a game in Stanley Cup playoff history. McDavid has done it 20 times, trailing Gretzky (59), Messier (30), Jari Kurri (28), Nikita Kucherov (22) and Denis Savard (21).

Kings forward Adrian Kempe has nine points this postseason, tied for the second most by a player through three games in the past 40 years of the Stanley Cup playoffs (one behind Gretzky, who had 10 in 1987).

Anze Kopitar‘s six assists are the most through three games in Kings playoff history.

Heading into the postseason, Darcy Kuemper was seen as a strength for L.A. But through three games, he has an .859 save percentage and 4.04 goals-against average, well behind the .902 and 2.57 he registered for the Colorado Avalanche during their Cup run in 2022.

In the other crease, the Oilers switched to Calvin Pickard to start Game 3. Stuart Skinner had rung up an .810 SP and 6.11 GAA in two games, while Pickard generated an .857 SP and allowed four goals in the victory. Who starts Game 4?

Arda’s three stars from Saturday night

The Big Cat returned to form in Game 3, making 33 saves in Tampa Bay’s 5-1 win over Florida to make the series 2-1.

Barbashev had two points, including the overtime winner, as the Golden Knights tied up the series with a 4-3 win over the Wild.

The Battle of Ontario will continue! Sanderson scored the overtime winner for the Senators, keeping them alive with a 4-3 win in Game 4.

Landeskog scored his first goal since his return to the NHL — an absence of nearly three years. His teammates swarmed him, jumping for joy. What a moment!

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Avs go up 3-0 on Gabriel Landeskog’s slap shot goal

Gabriel Landeskog’s slap shot gives the Avalanche a 3-0 lead in the second period.

Saturday’s scores

Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Florida Panthers 1
FLA leads 2-1 | Game 4 Monday

As dominant as the Panthers were win winning Games 1 and 2 of this series in Tampa Bay, so were the Lightning in Game 3 in Sunrise. Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk started the scoring at 2:43 of the first period, but it was all Lightning thereafter, as Brayden Point, Nick Paul, Jake Guentzel and Luke Glendening put pucks past Sergei Bobrovsky, and Anthony Cirelli scored an empty-net goal to put a cap on the festivities. Recap.

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Guentzel scores off Kucherov’s setup 21 seconds into 3rd period

Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel connect again on a Lightning goal to increase their lead on the Panthers.

Vegas Golden Knights 4, Minnesota Wild 3 (OT)
Series tied 2-2 | Game 5 Tuesday

The Golden Knights were determined to avoid going down 3-1 in this series to the heavy underdog Wild, and they scored the first goal of the game, a Shea Theodore blast on the power play at 6:47 of the first period. The Wild would charge ahead on goals by Marco Rossi and Marcus Foligno before a Nicolas Roy goal early in the third tied the game at 2. After the two teams traded goals less than a minute apart midway through the third, the game headed to overtime, where Ivan Barbashev was in the right place at the right time to knock in a rebound for the game-winning goal. Recap.

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Ivan Barbashev’s OT winner levels series for Golden Knights

Ivan Barbashev manages to tip the puck into the net amidst the chaos and tie the series at 2-2 for the Golden Knights vs. the Wild.

Ottawa Senators 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3 (OT)
TOR leads 3-1 | Game 5 Tuesday

For the third straight game in the series, the Battle of Ontario went to overtime — this time, it was won by the Senators on a goal from Jake Sanderson with 2:18 remaining in the extra frame. Tim Stutzle, Shane Pinto and David Perron had the other goals for Ottawa, while John Tavares, Matthew Knies and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored for Toronto. Recap.

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Jake Sanderson sends Ottawa fans into a frenzy with Game 4 OT winner

Jake Sanderson celebrates with his teammates after netting the game-winning goal in overtime for the Senators vs. the Maple Leafs.

Colorado Avalanche 4, Dallas Stars 0
Series tied 2-2 | Game 5 Monday

A strange coincidence thus far in this series: Each Stars win has been by one goal, while each Avs win has been by four goals. Logan O’Connor and Nathan MacKinnon kicked things off for Colorado with first-period goals. In the second, Gabriel Landeskog scored his first goal in nearly three years, and Samuel Girard capped off the festivities with his first goal of the playoffs. Recap.

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Avs go up 4-0 on Samuel Girard’s 3rd period goal

Samuel Girard lights the lamp to give the Avalanche a 4-0 lead.

Perhaps the only detail more emphatic than the goals in the Colorado Avalanche‘s 4-0 win over the Dallas Stars Saturday night, was the impact provided by their captain, Gabriel Landeskog.

Landeskog, who returned in Game 3 of this Western Conference first-round series after missing nearly three seasons while recovering from a knee injury, scored his first goal since June 20, 2022, in a multi-point performance that saw the Avalanche tie the series at 2-2 in Game 4 at Ball Arena. Game 5 is Monday in Dallas.

“It means a lot,” Landeskog told reporters after the win. “Obviously, I’ve envisioned scoring again for a long time. There obviously days when I didn’t know if I was ever going to score again. It obviously feels good. It’s a tight playoff series in a big game here at home. To get to do it here at home in front of our fans obviously means a means a lot. Super exciting. Hopefully more to come.”

A short-handed goal from Logan O’Connor midway through the first period followed by a late power-play goal from Nathan MacKinnon staked the Avalanche to a 2-0 lead entering the second period.

That set the stage for Landeskog, who was in the slot when Brock Nelson fed a pass that the 32-year-old winger launched for a one-timer that beat Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger for a 3-0 lead.

Landeskog, who was playing on the second line, was instantly mobbed by his teammates on the nice such as Samuel Girard, Valeri Nichushkin, Devon Toews and Nelson, who joined the Avalanche at the NHL trade deadline.

As Landeskog returned to the bench, he was congratulated by the entire team which also included a hug from a smiling MacKinnon, who along with Landeskog, have been with the franchise for more than a decade.

“I was just proud of him again,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told reporters after the game. “I was proud of him regardless of if he scores or not because I know what he’s gone through, and I know how difficult that was. I think that takes it to another level. You know he wants to come back and contribute like he did in the past and he’s off to a great start.”

Landeskog’s goal was the latest milestone in what’s been a lengthy recovery from a chronically injured right knee. He missed what amounted to 1,032 days since his last NHL game.

In that time, the Avalanche have remained in a championship window but have dramatically altered their roster. The Avs have nine players from that championship team who have remained with the franchise and have since reshuffled a roster that led to them re-acquiring defenseman Erik Johnson, one of Landeskog’s closest friends, in their bid for the fourth title in franchise history.

Even with all the changes, there were still questions about when they could see Landeskog return to the lineup. And if Landeskog did return, what he could look like?

His first professional game in three years came April 11 with the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate where he logged 15 minutes. Landeskog would then score a goal and get an assist in his second and final game.

And much like his AHL stint, all it took was two games for Landeskog to score and have another two-point performance.

While Landeskog’s goal became the most celebrated moment of the evening, what he did to help create the Avalanche’s fourth goal was an example of why he’s so crucial to their title aspirations.

Landeskog played a pass to Nelson who then found a Girard for a shot from the point that gave the Avs a 4-0 lead in the fourth. In the time Landeskog passed the puck, he anchored himself at the net front to gain position on 6-foot-7 Stars defensemen Lian Bichsel to screen goaltender Casey DeSmith, who replaced Oettinger for the third period.

Jockeying with Bichsel, who is six inches taller and 16 pounds heavier, allowed Landeskog to test both his strength and that right knee to gain leverage.

The result? Girard’s shot found space in traffic with Landeskog making it hard for DeSmith to see the puck.

“He’s a big boy,” Landeskog said with a smile. “He’s a big strong guy, a physical player and hard to play against. I was trying to get in front of their goal, and he was trying to get me out of there. It was a good battle.”

CLEVELAND — Jarren Duran barely had time to catch his breath after tripling in the third inning. It didn’t matter, he had already made up his mind to run again.

Duran pulled off Boston’s first straight steal of home plate in exactly 16 years, scoring on the next pitch from Doug Nikhazy as the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 7-3 in the second game of a doubleheader Saturday.

“(Third base coach Kyle Hudson) heard him tell the umpire that he was working from the stretch, so I decided I was going to go on the first pitch,” Duran said. “It was just to keep the offense going and cause a little chaos. I knew I had it.”

As Nikhazy went from the windup, Duran broke for home. He slid headfirst and slapped his right hand on the plate ahead of Bo Naylor‘s tag. Umpire Brock Ballou’s safe call was upheld in a video review.

“Under the new rules, he’s kind of the perfect player,” Boston manager Alex Cora said of Duran. “We saw a window there and he took advantage of the situation.”

It marked the first straight steal of home plate by the Red Sox since Jacoby Ellsbury against the Yankees on April 26, 2009. Duran’s two previous thefts of home were part of double steals last season at Tampa Bay on May 21 and at the White Sox on June 7.

“It was really a cool play and a cool sequence of events there,” Red Sox pitcher Walker Buehler said. “He’s one of the most exciting players in baseball. After watching him from afar, it’s been fun to see him up close this season.”

Nikhazy, a 25-year-old left-hander, was making his major league debut and had already allowed five runs in 2 2/3 innings. With Rafael Devers in the batter’s box, he said he took “a peek” at Duran before delivering the ball.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt praised Duran for making “a head’s up baseball play” because third baseman José Ramírez was off the line, but his starting pitcher blamed himself.

“He had taken a big jump and he took off immediately,” Nikhazy said. “In the moment, I chose to make the pitch as opposed to stepping off. Ultimately, when I saw him, I should have stepped off.”

Duran went 3 for 5 with three runs and two RBI in the nightcap. He was hitless in four at-bats in the first game, which Cleveland won 5-4.