Schmidt scores again, Bobrovsky has 19 saves as Panthers beat Lightning for 2-0 series lead

By Canadian Press on April 24, 2025.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nate Schmidt scored his third goal in two games, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Sam Bennett added an empty-netter with 4 seconds left. Bobrovsky got his fourth career playoff shutout, and his first since Game 1 of last year’s Stanley Cup final against Edmonton.

Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 21 saves for Tampa Bay.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be Saturday at Sunrise.

MAPLE LEAFS 3, SENATORS 2, OT

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Simon Benoit scored on a slap shot from the point at 1:19 of overtime to give Toronto a victory over Ottawa and a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

Auston Matthews won a faceoff back to Benoit at the left point, and the defenseman fired a low shot through traffic that beat goalie Linus Ullmark to far post.

Toronto also won 3-2 in overtime — on Max Domi’s early goal — at home Tuesday night. Game 4 is Saturday night in Ottawa.

Matthews and Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto, and Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves.

Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux scored for Ottawa. Ullmark stopped 17 shots.

WILD 5, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Kirill Kaprizov had two power-play goals and Minnesota beat Vegas to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round series.

Matt Boldy scored for the third straight game, Marco Rossi had his first career postseason goal and Marcus Foligno added an empty-netter.

Filip Gustavsson’s glove stayed sharp in the net on a 30-save night for the Wild, who carried the momentum of their 5-2 road victory in Game 2 into the raucous Xcel Energy Center and kept it going throughout the night.

Game 4 is in Minnesota on Saturday.

BLUES 7, JETS 2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pavel Buchnevich scored three goals for his first career playoff hat trick and added an assist as St. Louis beat Winnipeg in Game 3 of their first-round series.

Cam Fowler had a goal and four assists, and Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Colton Parayko also scored, and Robert Thomas had three assists to help the Blues cut the Jets’ series lead to 2-1. Jordan Binnington made 17 saves.

David Gustafsson and Neal Pionk scored for the Jets, who won the first two games in Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck gave up six goals on 25 shots before being pulled midway through the third period. Eric Comrie stopped two of the three shots he faced.

Game 4 is in St. Louis on Sunday, with Game 5 in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

The Associated Press