Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz: Islanders can advance to second round

Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs Buzz, a daily in-depth look at the 2021 NHL postseason. There are three playoff games scheduled for Wednesday and there were two Tuesday.

#

On Tap

There are three games on the Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule Wednesday:
Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders (6:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS, MSG+, ATTSN-PT):The Islanders can advance to the Stanley Cup Second Round against the Boston Bruins with a win against the Penguins in Game 6. They lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 after a 3-2 double overtime victory Monday. Ilya Sorokin made 48 saves, the most by an Islanders rookie goalie in a Stanley Cup Playoffs game, and he's won all three games for New York in the series. Pittsburgh is led by defenseman Kris Letang, who has scored five points (one goal, four assists) in the series.
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning (8 p.m. ET; CNBC, SN360, TVAS2, BSSUN, BSFL):The Lightning look to reach the second round with a win in Game 6. The defending Stanley Cup champions failed in their first chance to advance when they lost 4-1 in Game 5 at Florida on Monday. Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov shares the series lead in goals with teammates Brayden Point and Alex Killorn (three each), and Kucherov has scored nine points. Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau has scored 10 points (two goals, eight assists), a Florida record for a playoff series. The Panthers prolonged the series with help from goalie Spencer Knight, who made 36 saves in his NHL postseason debut.
Vegas Golden Knights at Minnesota Wild (9 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS, SN, BSN, BSWI+, ATTSN-RM): A victory in Game 6 gets the Golden Knights to the second round against the Colorado Avalanche. They failed in their first chance to clinch the series, losing 4-2 in Game 5 at home when Cam Talbot made 38 saves and rookie forward Kirill Kaprizov scored his first goal of the series for Minnesota. The Wild will attempt to win their first home game of the series after winning Game 1 and Game 5 at Vegas. Forward Mark Stone leads the Golden Knights with five points (four goals, one assist) and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who has started all five games, has been strong with a 1.40 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage.

What we learned

Here are some takeaways from Day 10 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
Marner's versatility on display
Mitchell Marner was fourth in the NHL with 67 points (20 goals, 47 assists) and finished one point ahead of Auston Matthews for the Maple Leafs lead. That success hasn't been reflected in the playoffs. The forward was held without a point in a 4-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup First Round on Tuesday and all three of his points in the series are assists. Yet Marner has been a key in helping Toronto earn a 3-1 lead because of his role as a penalty killer. Maple Leafs penalty killers have held the Canadiens power play without a goal in 13 opportunities. Marner's speed allows him to play an aggressive puck pursuit game high in the defensive zone, a blueprint that has created numerous turnovers and several shorthanded scoring chances. He might not be lighting up the scoreboard yet, but the work being done by him and his fellow penalty killers has more than made up for it. -- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer
Hurricanes find late offense
For most of Game 5, it was looking like the Carolina Hurricanes again would be stymied by Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros. But the Hurricanes found their production late to defeat the Predators 3-2 in overtime and take a 3-2 lead in the first round. The Hurricanes said they had to get around Saros more, and that's how they capitalized on their final two goals. Forward Martin Necas quickly skated around the back of the net to catch Saros out of position, beating him with a wraparound on his stick side, and captain Jordan Staal batted the puck out of the air in front of Saros for the overtime winner. Game 6 is at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and Carolina will try to be the first road team to win a game in the series. -- Tracey Myers, staff writer

About last night

There were two games on the schedule Tuesday:
Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Montreal Canadiens 0:The Maple Leafs are one win away from advancing to the second round against the Winnipeg Jets after getting second-period goals from William Nylander at 1:27, Jason Spezza at 12:28 and Joe Thornton at 14:56, and an empty-net goal from Alex Galchenyuk at 16:29 of the third. Nylander has scored in four straight games. Toronto goalie Jack Campbell made 32 saves for his first NHL postseason shutout and a third consecutive win in the series. The Maple Leafs have held the Canadiens to four goals and get their first chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Second Round with Game 5 in Toronto on Thursday.
:Jordan Staal scored a 4-on-4 goal at 2:03 of overtime to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series and a chance to advance to the second round with a win in Game 6 at Nashville on Thursday. Martin Necas scored two goals for the Hurricanes, including the one that tied the game 2-2 at 12:55 of the third period. Yakov Trenin scored the first two playoff goals of his NHL career for the Predators, who led 1-0 and 2-1. The home team has won every game of the series.