The theme song for the NHL playoffs on Friday was Stayin’ Alive, unless you were the L.A. Kings.
Minnesota stunned Dallas in overtime at American Airlines Center to force Game 6 in St. Paul, and Philadelphia got an historic goaltending performance to keep the Capitals at bay.
This may have been the best night of action this postseason. It was so good in fact that we chose four stars because we couldn’t settle on three. Let’s get to Friday’s bests and worsts.
Four stars:
1. Michal Neuvirth, G, Philadelphia Flyers: Neuvirth stopped 44 shots to shut out the Capitals.
2. Mikko Koivu, F, Minnesota Wild: Game-tying goal late in regulation, game-winning goal early in overtime
3. Thomas Greiss, G, New York Islanders: Stopped 47 of 48 shots in a critical Game 5 win over Florida.
4. Jonas Donskoi, F, San Jose: Two goals in a series-clinching win over L.A.
Best game: Minnesota 5, Dallas 4 (OT)
This one featured five third-period goals, end-to-end action and incredible displays of skill. Stay with us here.
Fifty seconds after Dallas forward Jamie Benn scored to rally Dallas from a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 tie one minute into the third period, Wild forward Nino Niederreiter answered with a goal on partial breakaway off a stretch pass from Jared Spurgeon.
Niederreiter goal pic.twitter.com/iIISw3muea
— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 23, 2016
So Dallas shrugged its shoulders and scored two goals (Jason Spezza and Alex Goligoski), 28 seconds apart to take a 4-3 lead and sail to their series-clinching victory. Wait, no they didn’t.
Mikko Koivu scored to tie the game for Minnesota with 3:09 left in regulation, and then he deflected Ryan Suter’s shot from the point past Stars goalie Antti Niemi at 4:55 of overtime to keep the Wild alive.
Koivu tips in the OT winner pic.twitter.com/5IqWGzZ9UA
— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 23, 2016
Best individual performance: Michal Neuvirth, Philadelphia Flyers
The Capitals attempted 82 shots in Game 5. The Flyers attempted 27. The Flyers won, 1-0. That tells you a whole lot about the siege that Neuvirth witnessed in the Flyers zone.
Neuvirth’s 44 saves were a franchise record for saves in a playoff shutout, but his impact runs much deeper. The Flyers were dead in this series — down 3-0 and facing nationwide criticism for their cheap play and the classlessness of their fans in Game 3.
Neuvirth has altered the narrative with 75 saves on 76 shots in two games. More important, he has breathed life into Philadelphia’s sagging confidence. We don’t believe in curses but we all know Washington’s playoff history. The Caps had better close this out in Game 6 or they will carry the weight of the world into Game 7 in D.C.
Best visual: Former teammates
After the Sharks stunned the Kings in five games to win their first-round playoff series, former teammates Jonathan Quick and Martin Jones shared a friendly moment in the traditional, end-of-game handshake.
goalies pic.twitter.com/j02MwWTBKl
— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 23, 2016
Best barometer: Joe Pavelski, San Jose
The Sharks captain had two goals in Game 1, a goal in Game 2, a goal in Game 3 and a goal in Game 5 against L.A. The Sharks won all four of those games. Pavelski didn’t score in Game 4. The Sharks lost that one.
Pavelski had nine goals in 10 games against the Kings this season.
Best dodged bullet: Calvin de Haan, New York Islanders
With 12:41 left in the first overtime, the New York defenseman gloved a rebound out of the air while his skates entered the blue paint. The referee immediately signaled for a penalty shot, but Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss sprawled to his left and got a pad and glove on Sasha Barkov’s attempt to keep a game going that New York eventually won.
OT penalty shot pic.twitter.com/50tA3mJ5DS
— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 23, 2016
Best stat: Philadelphia Flyers
The 11 shots the Flyers managed on Friday against Washington represented the lowest shot total in their franchise history. Their previous playoff low was 13 in Game 6 of the 2000 Eastern Conference finals against New Jersey. Of course, Philadelphia won Friday; it lost that game in 2000, 2-1.
Best stat buster: New York Islanders
Heading into Friday’s game in Florida, the Islanders were 0-11 in Game 5s dating back to 1987. Make that 1-11.
Worst impersonation of a Stanley Cup favorite: L.A. Kings
OK, so maybe that long summer off wasn’t so great for the Los Angeles Kings after all.
After winning the Stanley Cup in 2014, L.A. became the first defending champ to miss the playoffs the following season since the 2007 Carolina Hurricanes. So what, we thought. They’ll be fresh this year and lo and behold, L.A. was the league’s best possession team all year.
It didn’t matter against revenge-minded San Jose. The Sharks blew a 3-0 series lead two seasons ago and lost in seven games, and San Jose blew a 3-0 lead on Friday before winning 6-3, but the Sharks were the better team from wire to wire in this series, dumping L.A. in five games in what easily could have been a sweep.
Los Angeles had the lead in this series for a total of 4:02. The Kings are dead, and you have to wonder what sort of offseason introspection this will create for a team two seasons removed from its last postseason win.
Best pass: Alex Petrovic, Florida Panthers
Watch this gorgeous set-up through traffic and body parts from Petrovic to Sasha Barkov on the Panthers’ game-tying goal in the third period.
What a dish pic.twitter.com/M09f3eTRnB
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 23, 2016
Best playoff entrance: Alan Quine, New York Islanders
Quine’s game-winning goal in overtime was the first playoff goal of his career and just the second of his NHL career. Quine was a late-season call-up from Bridgeport who played two games with the Isles then reported back to the AHL where he figured he would stay. But coach Jack Capuano wanted more grit in his bottom six forwards so Quine came for the playoffs. The Islanders are glad he did.
— Stephanie (@myregularface) April 23, 2016
Best quote: Logan Couture, San Jose
Couture sensed that the Kings had been “disrespectful” to the Sharks earlier in this series. “I wonder if they’ve got us where they want us right now?” he told reporters after San Jose eliminated L.A.
Best thing to look forward to Saturday: Blackhawks-Blues Game 6
The defending champs are still alive and we can probably expect another one-goal game — just like the five that preceded it. This was already a great rivalry but Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo added log to the fire with what was perhaps a dumb comment: “It’s going to be fun to win it in Chicago.” Game on.
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