NHL | Tampa Bay – Florida 5: 6 PP, Gudas scoring and assisting Florida to the first win

Radko Gudas (right) is rejoicing with his Florida teammates from a goal against Tampa.

Chris O’Meara, ČTK / AP

The Florida hockey players managed to enter the match better than Tampa and after Gudas’s goal from the eighth minute they were already leading 2: 0. The Czech bek did not fire the blocking Ondřej Palát for the first time, but the rebounded puck ended up at Gudas again and the second shot found a goal at the closer goal of Andrej Vasilevský’s goal. The Kladno native scored his first goal in the 23rd game of the NHL playoffs.

The Panthers failed the second period and five goals were kicked out of Chris Driedger’s goal. But Alexander Wennberg’s shot kept the hope of a reversal. “It was frustrating. We played the first part with an overview, we led 2: 0, and then came the outage. We didn’t want to panic, but we knew that if we didn’t work, we would lose 0: 3 to matches, which would be a problem,” he said. forward Jonathan Huberdeau.

In the third part, the Florida players managed to erase the two-goal deficit. Patrick Hörnquist scored right at the start and Gustav Forsling shot the overtime three minutes before the end. “Even though we lost by two goals, I believed we could return to the match. I saw the players’ determination and enthusiasm for the game,” said Panthers coach Joel Quenneville.

Tampa was close to a decision in overtime, but Mikhail Sergachov hit only Sergei Bobrovsky’s goalpost. Florida’s defensive specialist Ryan Lomberg scored the decisive goal in the 66th minute. The wing of the fourth formation, as the only player of the away team, did not shoot at the goal in the previous course, but at the decisive moment he acted experienced.

Frank Vatrano worked Gudas’ arc in the middle zone, swapped the defending pair Jan Rutta, Victor Hedman and sent Lomberg into a separate escape. The Canadian striker hit exactly the right corner of Vasilevsky’s goal and scored an important victory for Florida.

Lomberg is the first Panthers player since 1996 to score in overtime in the Stanley Cup. “This team can handle matches in which it loses by two or more goals. No matter how many goals we lose, we always go for a win and today we did it,” praised team spirit Bobrovsky.

The last series of the 1st round between Montreal and Toronto also took place. The Canadiens beat the Maple Leafs 2: 1, with Paul Byron scoring a weaker goal in the 52nd minute. The main part of the win went to the goalkeeper Carey Price, who covered 35 shots and after unconvincing performances in the basic part he could be a key player.

“That was the Carey Price we know. It was like a wall. Carey likes to play big games, he can always do more in the playoffs than in the regular season, and he did it again today,” said Canadiens first goal scorer Josh Anderson.

Jack Campbell entered the first game of the elimination part of his career in Toronto. The American goalkeeper, who took precedence over the Danish Frederik Andersen, caught 28 attempts. David Rittich, who came to the Maple Leafs in Calgary in April, remained in the stands.

The duel between the Islanders and Pittsburgh also ended in a one-goal difference. The Penguins 5: 4 were decided in 56:24 by Brandon Tanev, who dropped a bounced puck from a height into an open goal. Pittsburgh defender Kris Letang scored three points per goal and two assists. Jeff Carter scored two goals for the Penguins and Yevgeny Malkin assisted twice when he returned to the team.

“Today I felt like I was on a roller coaster, I’m glad we were able to win in the end,” Carter commented on the frequent changes in the state. “We are a resilient team that is able to forget about a failed match, get back on his horse and work,” the Canadian center added.

Minnesota started the first home duel series with Vegas actively and led 2-0 after the first period. The other two, however, belonged to the Golden Knights. Thanks to two goals by Mark Stone, they won 5: 2 and turned the series to 2: 1. Czech forward Tomáš Nosek did not appear in the Vegas squad.