The games on Sunday include the Pittsburgh Penguins and the New York Islanders early in the day with the series tied 1-1 in the first round after the Islanders came back to win Game 2. Evgeni Malkin has four points to lead the Penguins in scoring, while Sidney Crosby has returned and has two goals in the series. The Penguins will try to regain control as the series shifts to Long Island.
The Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators are tied 1-1 in the series and will play at 7 pm on Sunday night and the all-Canada series will give the winner the advantage heading into Game 4. The Chicago Blackhawks started the season on a historic streak and have the chance to go up 3-0 in the series with a win in Game 3 against the Wild in Minnesota. Patrick Kane has been scoring the most for the team and leads with three assists and the Canucks and Sharks will also play on Saturday, with San Jose up 2-0 after winning both games on the road.
The games on Saturday included a number of competitive contests, including the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals, which went into overtime and saw the Rangers fall behind 2-0 in the series after dropping Game 2 after being unable to score and losing 1-0 after a goal by Mike Green.
The Rangers were in the eighth spot in the Eastern conference for most of the second half of the season, but after an excellent end stretch to finish the year, the team clinched the sixth seed and a matchup against the Caps. At first it seemed like a good thing that they were able to avoid playing the Pittsburgh Penguins, but now the Rangers are in a 2-0 hole, while the Islanders have been able to even up the series at 1-1 after a great comeback. The Caps now have all the momentum heading into Game 3 at Madison Square Garden after Green was able to clinch the winner for his eighth career overtime goal and Henrik Lundqvist was fantastic for the Rangers while making 37 saves, but he couldn't stop the one at the end that resulted in a second straight defeat.
Caps goalie Braden Holtby had an excellent game for the shutout while making 24 goals and the Rangers were again without Marc Staal and Ryane Clowe for the second straight game. Rick Nash and the offense now need to step up since the only goal for the team has been from Carl Hagelin in Game 1 and since then there were four straight goals for the Capitals.
The Ducks looked dominant against the Red Wings on Saturday after winning Game 3 4-0 and taking a 2-1 lead in the Western conference first round series. Jonas Hiller was fantastic in net for the shutout and Jimmy Howard made 25 saves, but allowed three goals in the third period. Ryan Getzlaf had a goal for his second of the series and the team now has the momentum heading into Game 4. The Kings and Blues series is now at 2-1 after LA blanked the Blues 1-0 after a shutout from Jonathan Quick, who had 30 saves in the game. The Kings had a goal in the second period and that was the only score of the contest as the Kings avoided a 3-0 hole. The Maple Leafs won 4-2 in Game 2 to tie the series at 1-1 after defeating the Bruins and now the series shifts to Canada and gives the chance for Toronto to take the advantage.
