Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Blues look to even series against Avalanche

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily in-depth look at the 2022 NHL postseason. There are two playoff games scheduled for Monday, the 22nd day of the postseason.

On Tap

There are two games on the Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule for Monday:
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning (7 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS)
The Panthers will try to avoid being eliminated in a sweep when they play the Lightning in Game 4. The Lightning are 4-0 when leading a best-of-7 series 3-0 and have allowed three goals in this series. Forward Jonathan Huberdeau, who led the Panthers with 115 points (30 goals, 85 assists) in the regular season, has five points (one goal, four assists) in nine playoff games.
Colorado Avalanche at St. Louis Blues (9:30 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, SN, TVAS)
The Blues will try to tie the series when they host the Avalanche in Game 4. Goalie Ville Husso will start for the Blues; Jordan Binnington is out for the series with a lower-body injury sustained in Game 3. Forward Artturi Lehkonen, who the Avalanche acquired at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline, has four goals in seven playoff games. Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard is out for the rest of the postseason with a broken sternum sustained in Game 3.

What we learned

Lightning surging
The Tampa Bay Lightning are getting stronger as the Stanley Cup Playoffs progress. Tampa Bay's 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round on Sunday was their fifth straight since a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 of the first round. Trailing 3-2 in that series and facing elimination, the Lightning rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 and followed that with a 2-1 victory in Game 7, beginning a string of four straight games when they allowed one goal. Over that four-game stretch, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has stopped 132 of 136 shots for a 1.00 goals-against average and .971 save percentage. That's particularly impressive against the Panthers, who led the NHL by scoring 4.11 goals per game during the regular season. -- Tom Gulitti, Staff Writer
Panthers fighting frustration
The Panthers pride themselves on their resilience, as demonstrated by their 29 come-from-behind wins during the regular season, but their frustration began to show after they fell behind 3-1 in the second period Sunday. Needing a strong push to begin the third period to avoid falling in a 3-0 series hole, the Panthers started slowly, managing two shots on goal during the opening 7:47. At one point, Jonathan Huberdeau returned to the bench and slammed his stick in frustration. "You get nothing out of slamming the stick," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "Zero." -- Gulitti
Hurricanes better not change a thing
Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said it himself. "I would take that game most nights, to be quite honest with you." There was a lot to like from Carolina's perspective in a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers in Game 3, except the final score. The Hurricanes were effective with their speed and kept the pressure on the Rangers by sustaining puck possession. They outshot the Rangers 44-33. They were plus-19 in shot attempts (75-56). They won 36 of 63 face-offs (57.1 percent). Yes, the Rangers had some open ice to work with, a difference from Games 1 and 2, when the ice was rarely open and defense was at a premium, but the Hurricanes played their strongest road game of the playoffs. They lost, leaving them 0-4 on the road this postseason, but Brind'Amour's point holds true. If the Hurricanes can play in Game 4 on Tuesday the way they played in Game 3 they'll give themselves a chance. The only adjustments are on special teams. Their power play must be better at finding seams for shots that get through traffic to create rebounds. Their penalty kill can't sit back. -- Dan Rosen, senior writer
Rangers find some ice and scoring chances
There was more open ice at 5-on-5 in Game 3 than in Games 1 and 2. The Rangers prefer it that way. It wasn't so much about taking risks to get rewards, but it was about finding more space in the neutral zone that allowed the Rangers to skate, push back when they could. There was still the chip and chase part of the game, but the Rangers skated better and appeared to be in more command at times. They also had more room to operate on their power play by using what Chris Kreider called a "a 5-on-5 mentality." There was good support and quick puck movement. The Hurricanes couldn't pressure as much as they like with the Rangers in control like that. Artemi Panarin's circle-to-circle seam pass to Mika Zibanejad set up the Rangers center for a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Antti Raanta at 11:54 of the first period to give New York a 1-0 lead. The ice Panarin used for that pass wasn't open in Game 2, not on the power play or at 5-on-5. The Rangers were more dangerous in Game 3 because they had more space. That went the other way too. The Hurricanes were dangerous as well and was able to force the Rangers to play defense more than they would like. But with a sharp Igor Shesterkin in net, that didn't matter. -- Rosen
Oilers must return to 'emotional baseline' before Game 4
The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 4-1 in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round on Sunday, giving them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. But they defeated the Los Angeles Kings 8-2 in Game 3 of the first round, taking a 2-1 lead in that series, and lost 4-0 in Game 4 and needed seven games to eliminate the Kings. "I think we learned a valuable lesson last series when we got up 2-1," goalie Mike Smith said. "We probably played our worst game in Game 4. We want to learn a lesson from that and not let that happen again and keep doing what we're doing in this game tonight and keep pushing this thing forward." Coach Jay Woodcroft said they need to return to their "emotional baseline." One big difference? The Oilers will be at home for Game 4 this time. -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist
Flames need to help Markstrom
Jacob Markstrom is a Vezina Trophy Finalist as top NHL goalie this season but that alone isn't going to be enough to stop Connor McDavid and the Oilers high-speed attack. The Flames have spoken frequently about awareness and a five-man combination to try to contain McDavid but so far their execution has been lacking. McDavid has nine points (two goals, seven assists) and Markstrom has a 5.74 goals-against average and .853 save percentage in the series. Yet apart from a couple of iffy goals in a 9-6 win in Game 1, Markstrom has performed well in the face of a barrage of Grade-A chances. Calgary's weaknesses in Game 3 included offensive-zone mix-ups, turnovers and one terrible line change. Improved execution when McDavid is on the ice is becoming an urgent priority in this series. -- Tim Campbell, staff writer

About Last Night

Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Florida Panthers 1
Steven Stamkos scored twice and Corey Perry scored his fifth goal of the playoffs as the Lightning moved to within a win of advancing to the Eastern Conference Final with their Game 3 win. Sam Reinhart scored a power-play goal for the Panthers, their first of the postseason (1-for-28).
New York Rangers 3, Carolina Hurricanes 1
Mika Zibanejad scored his fourth goal of the playoffs and the Rangers cut Carolina's series lead to 2-1. Zibanejad has 12 points (four goals, eight assists), the most through 10 games by a Rangers player since Jaromir Jagr, who had 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) through the first 10 games of the 2008 playoffs.
Edmonton Oilers 4, Calgary Flames 1
Evander Kane scored a natural hat trick in the second period and the Oilers took a 2-1 lead in the Battle of Alberta. Connor McDavid had three assists, becoming the first player in NHL history with nine multi-point games in his first 10 playoff games.