The Tampa Bay Lightning gained control of the series after winning a wild overtime game, the St. Louis Blues dominated the Dallas Stars in Game 3 and the Nashville Predators picked up their first Round 2 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Here are four things we learned:
Drouin off the floor and on the board
Boy, does Jonathan Drouin have some guts.
The Tampa Bay Lightning forward looked like he was done for the game after taking a massive hit (see the clip below for evidence) from Islanders defenceman Thomas Hockey midway through Tuesday night’s game.
However, Drouin managed to return late in the third period. And it didn’t take long for him to make an impact as the 21-year-old helped send the Lightning to overtime in the final minute of regulation by setting up Nikita Kucherov‘s game-tying goal.
Drouin’s breakout performance has been one of the best stories of the post-season, especially with Steven Stamkos out with a blood clot in his shoulder, as he has recorded at least one point in each of his three games against the Islanders.
In total, Drouin has racked up seven points in eight playoff games this year.
Shea Weber pulls his weight
The Predators captain stepped up in a big way in what was a must-win game for Nashville as the club was down 2-0 entering Tuesday’s action.
With the game tied 1-1 in the second period, Weber snuck in from the high slot and drilled a missile of a slap shot (in vintage Weber fashion) into the top corner past Sharks goalie Martin Jones.
It was Weber’s 13th career playoff goal, which provided a nice little milestone for the veteran blue-liner, and he also added an assist on the Predators’ fourth goal of the game.
Goalie switch doesn’t pay off for Dallas
The Dallas Stars have a goaltending conundrum on their hands.
After Stars head coach Lindy Ruff was mum about who would play in Game 3, Dallas turned to Antti Niemi on Tuesday night, despite Kari Lehtonen starting the first two games of the series.
Lehtonen was yanked in Game 2 after allowing three goals on five shots in the first period and Niemi didn’t fare much better in Game 3, letting in three goals on 12 shots before he was pulled by Ruff after just 22 minutes of play.
Now who can the Stars rely on heading into Game 4?
Sportsnet analysts Nick Kypreos and Elliotte Friedman discussed the subject midway through Game 3 (see below) and Sportsnet’s Andrew Berkshire touched on the issue prior to the series.
At the same time, it is worth crediting the Blues for their offensive execution.
The club scored six goals on 39 shots and put on a heck of a show for their newest (and most popular) fan.
Islanders will have some regrets
The Islanders played well for the most part in Game 3, but the club wasted an opportunity on home ice after blowing three separate leads in the game, one of which lasted less than one minute in total.
The Islanders took a 4-3 lead in the third period with 8:37 left to play, but they were unable to hold off the resilient Lightning, who got a last-minute goal from Kucherov before Brian Boyle potted the OT winner.
New York now trails 2-1 in the best-of-seven series and are in desperate need of a win heading into Friday’s Game 4. The club is just 2-2 at home in the post-season throughout this year’s playoffs.
