The Tampa Bay Lightning scored four power-play goals, two by Nikita Kucherov, to take a 2-0 series lead against the Montreal Canadiens. * The Lightning took a 2-0 lead in a playoff series for the third time in franchise history; they got both wins on the road for the second time in franchise history. The other instance was April 29 and May 1, 2011 at the Washington Capitals (4-2 W and 3-2 OT W) en route to a four-game sweep in the ESF. * The Lightning, who were swept by the Canadiens in the Eastern Conference First Round of the 2014 playoffs, improved to 7-0-0 this season vs. Montreal (regular season and playoffs). During the regular season, they became the first team to sweep a season series of at least five games against the Canadiens since 1983-84, when the Buffalo Sabres went 8-0-0. * Kucherov (2-0—2) recorded his first career multigoal game in the playoffs and has posted 3-3—6 in his last four games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Kucherov was the first Lightning player to score two power-play goals in a playoff game since Pavel Kubina did so on April 23, 2011 at the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5 of the EQF (8-2 W). * Kucherov – whose first goal stood as the game-winner – also scored the decisive goal at 2:06 of double-overtime in Game 1. Elias says Kucherov was the first Lightning player to score game-winning goals in back-to-back games of a playoff series since Brad Richards did so on April 27 and 29, 2004, at Montreal in Game 3 and Game 4 of the ESF (4-3 OT W and 3-1 W). * Steven Stamkos (1-2—3) scored a highlight-reel breakaway goal in the second period and had two assists to record his first three-point game of this year's playoffs. The goal was Stamkos’ first of the postseason. * With 9-14—23 in 31 postseason games, Stamkos passed Dave Andreychuk, Freddy Modin and Dan Boyle to move into fourth place on the franchise’s all-time playoff points list. * Valtteri Filppula (1-2—3) scored a power-play goal with 24 seconds remaining in the first period and added two assists to record his first three-point game of the postseason. Both of Filppula’s goals in the 2015 playoffs have been scored on the power play. * Victor Hedman (1-1—2) scored a power-play goal with 13.6 seconds remaining in the second period and added an assist to post his first career multiple-point performance in the playoffs. * Tyler Johnson (0-2—2) has 7-3—10 this postseason (9 GP) and leads the Lightning in points. Alex Killorn (0-2—2) recorded his first career multiple-assist game in the playoffs. * Ben Bishop made 27 saves to improve to 6-3 in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 1.71 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. Overall, Bishop improved to 12-1-2 in 16 career appearances vs. Montreal (regular season and playoffs), which includes a perfect 7-0-0 record this season. * Elias notes that Game 2 was the second time in franchise history that six Lightning players had multiple points in a playoff game. The other was April 23, 2011 at Pittsburgh (8-2 W), where eight players had multipoint performances. With four power-play goals, the Lightning also equaled a franchise playoff record from that same date. * ICYMI: Click here to watch Lightning fans celebrate their Game 2 victory. ANDERSEN BACKSTOPS DUCKS TO 2-0 SERIES LEAD Frederik Andersen stopped all 30 shots he faced to shut out the Calgary Flames and lift the Anaheim Ducks to a 2-0 series lead. * The Ducks picked up their seventh consecutive victory dating to the regular season, including a 6-0 mark in the playoffs. Anaheim equaled a franchise playoff record with six straight wins, set twice from April 10-26, 2003 and May 1-11, 2006. * According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last team to open the postseason with six or more straight wins was Pittsburgh from April 9-29, 2008, when they began the 2008 playoffs with seven consecutive victories. * Andersen recorded his first career postseason shutout and became the sixth goaltender in franchise history to post a shutout in the playoffs. Andersen improved to 6-0 in this year's playoffs with a 1.64 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. * Elias says Andersen matched the franchise playoff record for most consecutive wins by a goaltender. Jean-Sebastien Giguere backstopped the club to their six straight victories from April 10-26, 2003 andIlya Bryzgalov did the same from May 1-11, 2006. * Matt Beleskey opened the scoring with his second goal of the playoffs. It also stood as the second career postseason game-winning goal for Beleskey; the other came on April 16, 2014 vs. the Dallas Stars(4-3 W). * Hampus Lindholm scored his first career playoff goal. Nate Thompson scored his first playoff goal as a member of the Ducks when he hit the empty net. * Corey Perry (0-2—2) extended his playoff point streak to four games (3-6—9) and leads the League with 5-8—13 in the postseason. Ryan Getzlaf (0-2—2) has posted 1-5—6 in his last two games. * With 69 career playoff points (27-42—69), Perry also moved into a tie with Teemu Selanne for second on the franchise’s all-time playoff points list. Getzlaf is the franchise leader with 27-57—84. * Jakob Silfverberg (0-1—1) has posted 2-5—7 in his last five games and Ryan Kesler (0-1—1) has posted 3-3—6 in his last five games. * The Ducks extended their home winning streak against the Flames to 21 games dating to April 27, 2006 (regular season and playoffs). They also improved to 16-4-2 in their last 22 head-to-head meetings (home and away) dating to Dec. 10, 2010 (CGY: 6-12-4). * ICYMI: Actress Retta was in attendance at Honda Center to show her support for the Ducks. KANE, CRAWFORD LEAD BLACKHAWKS TO 2-0 LEAD IN SERIES Patrick Kane scored twice and Corey Crawford made 30 saves to lift the Chicago Blackhawks to a 2-0 series lead against the Minnesota Wild. * The Blackhawks improved to 10-3 in 13 all-time playoff games against the Wild. That includes a perfect 8-0 record at United Center and a 3-0 mark in Game 2s. * Kane (2-0—2) scored at 19:40 of the second period – which stood as his first game-winning goal of the playoffs – and added an empty-netter to record his first multiple-goal game of the postseason. Kane extended his playoff point streak to five games (4-3—7). * Kane led all players with 2-6—8 in four contests against the Wild during the regular season. He has 6-6—12 in 13 career postseason outings vs. Minnesota, including a pair of game-winning goals in 2014. * The first goal was Kane’s 100th career postseason point (42-59—101 in 101 GP). He became the fifth player in franchise history to reach the milestone, joining Stan Mikita (150), Denis Savard (145), Bobby Hull (129) and Steve Larmer (111) on the exclusive list. * Crawford stopped 30 shots for the second consecutive game to improve to 3-1 in the playoffs. He also improved to 10-3 in 13 career postseason games vs. the Wild. * Patrick Sharp (1-1—2) had his second multipoint game of the postseason and extended his playoff point streak to three games (2-3—5). * Jonathan Toews opened the scoring while shorthanded with his third goal of the playoffs. It was the third shorthanded playoff goal of his career. * Marian Hossa (0-1—1) has 4-13—17 in 13 career playoff games vs. Minnesota (1.31 points per game), compared to 13-12—25 in 32 career regular-season games (0.78 points per game). * Duncan Keith (0-1—1) extended his playoff point streak to three games (1-5—6). Keith leads all defensemen with 2-8—10 this postseason. * Chicago held a 2-0 lead at the second intermission. The Blackhawks were 25-0-0 when leading after two periods during the regular season and are 3-0 during the playoffs. * The Blackhawks are 5-0 at United Center in the 2015 playoffs. LOOSE PUCKS Tampa Bay forward J.T. Brown and Montreal defenseman Jeff Petry each scored his first career playoff goal. ... Montreal defenseman Tom Gilbert scored his second goal of the postseason. ... Montreal goaltender Carey Price played in his 50th career playoff game and became the fourth goaltender in franchise history to reach the milestone. Price joined Patrick Roy (114), Ken Dryden (112) and Jacques Plante (90) on the exclusive list. ... ICYMI: Price gave a fist bump and a stick tap to a young Montreal flag bearer who slipped as he rounded the net prior to puck-drop. ... Minnesota lost consecutive games in regulation for the first time since Jan. 11 and 13 (4-1 L at Chicago and 7-2 L at Pittsburgh). The Wild acquired goaltender Devan Dubnyk on Jan. 14. ... Dubnyk made 27 saves and registered his first career playoff assist. ... Minnesota defenseman Matt Dumba scored his second goal of the postseason on a power play. Both of Dumba’s two career playoff goals have been scored on the man-advantage. ... Calgary goaltender Karri Ramo made a playoff career-high 31 saves (4 GP). ... ICYMI: Click here for an All-Access behind the scenes look at Game 2 between the Rangers and Capitals on Saturday. ... Click here to watch Rangers fans celebrate their Game 2 victory. CLICK TO SUPPORT OUR NATION'S HEROES |
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