NHL Playoffs: Which Teams Survived Game 5, and Which Series Ended on Tuesday?

Matthew Knies scores on Jeremy Swayman to win Game 5 in overtime for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The rubber hit the road for eight teams in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs Tuesday night, with four series threatening elimination for teams dealing with a 3-1 series deficit.

By the time the first two games were played Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs avoided having their season ended with a 2-1 overtime win over the Boston Bruins, while the New York Islanders went home for the summer after losing to Carolina 6-3.

Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets are at home in a tight battle with the Colorado Avalanche to try to force a Game 6, while the Vancouver Canucks are looking to eliminate the Nashville Predators at Rogers Arena.

Here’s how things broke down, with the results of the Jets-Avalanche and Canucks-Predators games to come:

Leafs Battle Bravely Minus Matthews, Edge Out Bruins to Force Game 6

The Leafs had to play Game 5 against Boston without superstar center Auston Matthews, who remains sidelined with a mysterious malady. But Toronto came out strong and largely well-disciplined, scoring the first goal of the game on a Jake McCabe slapshot from the blueline. Most importantly, they leaned on young goaltender Joseph Woll to hold the Bruins to a single goal (from forward Trent Frederic) and force overtime.

From there, winger Matthew Knies pulled out the victory for Toronto when he beat Jeremy Swayman on a rebound knock-in from a John Tavares shot at the 2:26 mark of the first overtime period.

However, were it not for Woll making a slew of saves in the third period and in OT, the Leafs would’ve been done for in regulation time. In particular, Woll stymied Bruins center Charlie Coyle from point-blank range 44 seconds into overtime.

That gave Toronto a huge boost. As the Leafs outshot Boston 33-28 on the night, their 33rd shot from Knies ended the game and breathed new life into worrisome Buds fans.

What comes next in this series? Well, Game 6 will be played Thursday in Toronto, so there’s precious little time for either team to recuperate and regroup.

It remains to be seen whether Matthews can return to action, but with Woll providing great goaltending that fellow Leafs netminder Ilya Samsonov couldn’t in the first three Bruins wins in this series, Toronto has the new lease on life they were praying for after Game 4. – Adam Proteau

Carolina Eliminates Islanders via Third-Period Offensive Onslaught

In the other early game Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes took out the pesky-but-still-clearly-not-as-good New York Islanders. And though the Isles tied Game 5 at 3-3 in the second intermission, the Hurricanes poured on the offense in the third period. They struck three times, including two goals in eight seconds early in the period from Jack Drury and Stefan Noesen, the latter scoring his third goal of the series as a worker bee forward.

The Isles outshot the Hurricanes in the second and third periods, but Carolina blistered Isles goalie Semyon Varlamov with a whopping 21 shots in the opening frame. Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen turned aside 22 of 25 Islanders shots to lock up the victory.

The Islanders put up a fight in this series, but it was clear from the get-go that the Hurricanes were the faster, deeper, better squad. Carolina now moves on to what should be a terrific showdown against the New York Rangers.

For the Islanders, this series loss is a sobering comment on where they are in the pecking order of NHL teams. They have some gusto and talent, but they’re not on the same level as the truly elite Cup front-runners.

This is the second straight season they’ve fallen to Carolina, and it’s the third straight year they’ve never gotten out of the first round. Something’s got to give on Long Island, and it’s only a matter of time until Lamoriello takes out his scalpel and reshapes the Isles roster significantly. – Adam Proteau

Stay tuned for the results of the West Coast matchups on Tuesday.