The Washington Capitals will advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs after defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in Game 5 on Wednesday. The Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and Jakob Chychrun scored in the first period, with Tom Wilson adding a goal and an assist, and Brandon Duhaime also scoring. Logan Thompson picked up the victory for Washington after making 28 of 29 saves. Ovechkin’s goal was his 76th postseason tally of his career, to tie Mario Lemieux for 12th on the NHL’s all-time playoff scoring list.
Washington will face the Carolina Hurricanes (who eliminated the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday) in the second round series.
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The Florida Panthers eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday with a 6-3 victory in Game 5, winning their first-round series to advance to the second round. Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists, while Anton Lundell had a goal and two assists and Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, and Sam Reinhart also scored for Florida; Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves on 29 shots,
The reigning Stanley Cup champions will face the winner of the Toronto Maple Leafs/Ottawa Senators series in the second round; Toronto currently leads that series 3-2.
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The Winnipeg Jets defeated the St. Louis Blues 5-3 in Game 5 of the first round of their Western Conference series on Wednesday at Canada Life Centre. Kyle Connor had a goal and two assists, with Vladislav Namestnikov (who replaced star centre Mark Scheifele after the first period) recording a goal and assist. Nino Niederreiter also had a goal and assist, with Dylan DeMelo and Adam Lowry adding empty-netters, and Mason Appleton also scoring. Game 6 will take place Friday in St. Louis
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