The St. Louis Blues, the protective champions of the Stanley Cup, are in trouble. The Boston Bruins, who lost to the Blues in last year’s final, will look not to sign up as a team facing an early deficit in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
On Friday, St. Louis lost 4-3 to the Vancouver Canucks, who took a 2-0 lead in the series. The Blues are 0-5 since the start of the playoffs, having lost their 3 all-to-all games to fourth place in the Western Conference.
Boston also struggled with the circular robin, 0-3 to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference. However, lately he is tied 1-1 in his first circular series against the Carolina Hurricanes, who won the second game after falling to the Bruins in a double in the first game. Both groups will return to the ice for Game 3 on Saturday.
Here’s a look at the full list of games that will take place on Saturday.
Saturday hours
Game 3: Boston Bruins No. to Carolina Hurricanes No. 5, Noon ET, NBC
Game: Colorado Avalanche No. 2 to Arizona Coyotes No. 7, p.m. ET, CNBC
Game 3: Tampa Bay Lightning No. 2 to Columbus Blue Jackets No. 7, 7:30 PM ET, NBC Sports Network
Game 3: Vegas Golden Knights No. 1 against Chicago Blackhawks No. Array p.m. ET, NBC
Games can be broadcast on NBC Sports Live.
Who takes between the Bruins and the hurricanes?
It is already a more competitive series than when the two groups faced off at the Eastern Conference finals last year. In that game, Boston won a four-game sweep, temporarily ending Carolina’s impressive playoff series.
Although the Hurricanes lost 4-3 in Wednesday’s first game, they returned to the ice the next day and won 3-2 to tie the series. Dougie Hamilton scored the soft green in the third era to lead Carolina to victory.
Now, the Hurricanes will see if they can continue their momentum until Saturday’s third game against the Bruins, who lost four of their first five games to open the playoffs. Carolina won four out of five after sweeping the New York Rangers into the qualifying round.
“Every time we get into our game and put the deep discs in, and move forward, we play the best we can,” said the Hurricanes’ left wing, Teuvo Teravainen, according to Wes Crosby of NHL.com. “I think we’re starting to do it a little bit more.”
If the first two games were an indication, then Game 3 deserves to be another closed game, as each of the first two was through a bachelor goal.
Will lightning or Blue Jackets then fall?
After being bizarrely swept away in the first circular through the Blue Jackets last year, the Lightning was five overtimes to secure a 3-2 win in the first game of this year’s opening series on Tuesday. However, Columbus returned immediately and won 3-1 in Thursday’s game moment to tie the series.
The Blue Jackets continue to locate tactics to give the Lightning disorders in the playoffs, and in this series, they were conducted through the stellar game of the pretender Joonas Korpisalo. In the first game, Korpisalo recorded 85 saves in the NHL. Then he had 36, allowing a purpose in the game at the moment.
“We all know what he’s capable of,” said the Columbus middle, Pierre-Luc Dubois, according to The Associated Press (h/t ESPN). “We all know in the locker room that he’s one of the NHL’s most productive goalkeepers and he feels smart right now.”
Tampa Bay is still without Steven Stamkos, who has a lower body injury. But if the Lightning need to avenge last year’s playoff loss to the Blue Jackets, they’ll have to place tactics to score opposites to Korpisalo and The Columbus defense when the series resumes with Saturday’s Game 3. Otherwise, the Blue Jackets could be in their way. to disappoint them in consecutive seasons.
Golden Knights, Avalanche seeks safe sweeps
No wonder the Golden Knights and Avalanche have had a smart start in the playoffs, as they have been two of the most productive groups in the Western Conference throughout the year. And anyone can be on the verge of winning sweeps of four games in their respective series.
Vegas in a scorer frenzy to open the playoffs. He scored 15 goals in total and set a 3-0 record in his all-against-all games, and scored 8 goals as he 2-0 ahead over Chicago. The top-seeded Golden Knights won 4-3 in extra time in Thursday’s game of time, with Reilly Smith (who scored two goals in the first game) scoring the winning goal.
Colorado’s only playoff loss so far came here in Las Vegas in an all-against-all contest. He still earned the No. 2 seed and started strong in his series against Arizona, beating the Coyotes 6-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the series. In Friday’s game, Andre Burakovsky scored the purpose of victory for the avalanche with 2 minutes and 53 minutes to be played.
If Vegas and Colorado win again on Saturday, it will be difficult for their wartime parts to return. Only four groups have triumphed over 3-0 deficits in Stanley Cup playoff history, the last being the Los Angeles Kings in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.
Canadiens head coach will return from Toronto to rest after a stent in the coronary artery
Claude Julien was taken to hospital on Wednesday night with chest pains; will go through tests and you’ll miss the rest of the series