NEWSLETTER
There’s just nothing better than overtime hockey in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Whether it’s the team you root for or you have zero emotional investment in the game it’s impossible not to be on the edge of your seat and feel the blood pressure rise a bit with every zone entry.
Last night, we got treated to not one, but TWO overtime games and they certainly didn’t disappoint.
Rangers Escape in Double-OT
In the first matchup of the night, the Rangers and Hurricanes played in an absolute banger at Madison Square Garden. Already trailing 1-0 in the series, the Canes controlled the majority of the play in that one and put up nearly 20 shots on goal more than the Rangers. The problem for them was that Igor Shesterkin was the man in net for New York, and if you haven’t heard he’s really good.
The Canes got a powerplay early in the second overtime, and it felt like they might end it there. But Shesterkin stood tall and eventually, Vincent Trochek won it on the other end of the ice a few minutes later for the Rangers.
Trochek scored in his fifth-consecutive playoff game which ties him for the Rangers franchise record with the one and only Cecil Dillon – you all remember him! – who scored in five straight in 1933.
The series shifts back to Carolina where the Hurricanes face a must-win situation on Thursday night if they want to avoid going down 3-0.
VINCENT TROCHECK!!! 😱
— NHL (@NHL) May 8, 2024
He nets the winner in @SportChek double OT against his former squad! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/JZr4f2Y0JP
Avalanche Come All the Way Back
The second matchup of the night was really the tale of two games. Early on, the Stars rode the momentum, from their Game 7 win over Vegas to a hot start in front of their home crowd. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and couldn’t have felt much better heading into the locker room.
But then once that second period happened, Dallas ran out of steam a little bit and Colorado is a team that can take advantage of tired legs better than anyone. The Avs drew a few power plays in the second period and made Dallas pay — to the surprise of no one, Cale Makar had a goal and an assist in the second period on those power plays and just like that it was a 3-2 game heading into the third.
Less than a minute into that 3rd Period, Nathan MacKinnon tied the game up (Makar chipped in with an assist again) and that’s how the game stayed until overtime.
Just about midway through the first overtime, Miles Wood used a burst of speed to get by Miro Heiskanen along the boards where he corraled the puck and put it by Jake Oettinger to win the game and complete the epic comeback.
This series should be a lot of fun, but one has to wonder how much did the Vegas series take out of Dallas. That series felt a whole lot like a conference final. It was fast, physical, emotional, and was close until the final seconds. Colorado was able to dispatch Winnipeg with relative ease and has those fresh legs. I originally had the Stars coming out of the West, but with how last night went it’s hard not to like Colorado at this point.
COMEBACK COMPLETE✅
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) May 8, 2024
MILES WOOD OT HERO 🦸♂️🚨 pic.twitter.com/d41OXG1jFH
Hopefully, tonight’s action can live up to last night’s excitement. The Panthers and Bruins drop the puck for Game 2 at 6:30 PM CT (Bruins lead 1-0) and the Oilers and Canucks get their series started in Vancouver at 9:00 PM CT.
