SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
In the Eastern Conference game five played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto Saturday, the 2nd-seeded Tampa Bay Lighting took a 3-1 lead behind back-to-back goals from Ondrej Palat for a 3-1 win over the 4th-seeded Boston Bruins in the Conference semifinals.
Tampa Bay, which lost game one, has won the next three, this time by taking a 1-0 lead after one period, adding two more goals in period two, and another in the third period to offset the lone Boston goal in the the third period by Jack DeBrusk on an assist from Charlie Coyle.
But, although out shot 30-26, the Lighting took charge early when Palat,who scored the game-winning goal in overtime of game two, sent one in on an assist from Anthony Cirelli. Then, after its defense kept the Bruins at bay, got a second goal from Palat on a one-try shot. Nikita Kucheron, who were credited with a pair of assists, scored a short time after the second Palat goal.
Kucheron’s goal was assisted by Brandon Point, and in the third period, Tyler Johnson fired in an unassisted goal.
Palat, who was chosen in the seventh round of the annual draft, has been a pleasant surprise for Tampa Bay. The left wing now has 17 goals for the season. Each team was called for five penalties, with both serving 16 minutes in the penalty box.
In the other Eastern Conference game played in Toronto, the 6th-seeded New York Islanders trailed 1-0 after one period, but the next three goals belonged to them in getting past the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1, and take a 2-1 lead in the semifinals of the conference playoffs.
Philly came out ready to skate, and to score, as the lone goal of the opening period belonged to its Tyler Pitick on an assist from Scott Loughton, but the Isles had the answers, scored back-to-back goals in the second period for a 2-1 lead and added one more in the final minutes.
Matt Martin put in the first New York goal with Jordan Eberle assisting. Soon after, it Leo Komarov broke the 1-1 tie on an assist from Derick Brassard, and Andres Lee cashed in for the added goal.
The Isles out shot the Flyers 29-27 and were well in check handling the puck, shaving off Philadelphia rallies with an alert defense at center ice, and putting in the goals while the Flyers shut down.
Game three on the slate had the No. 1-seeded Las Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference versus the 5th-seeded Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place in Edmonton Alberta, with the teams at a win apiece until Las Vegas’ 3-0 shutdown to go up 2-1 in the series.
The Golden Knights scored twice in the opening period on goals from Mark Stone and Adam Tuch, with assists coming from Nilolas Roy and Shea Theodore. With their defense keeping the Canucks off the scoreboard, they had Zach Whitecloud send in the third period goal assisted by Alex Martinez. Vancouver led in shots taken, 34-32, and each team was called for five penalties.
