"Recap of NHL Playoffs: Capitals and Panthers Move On in 5 Games"
Tom Wilson gathered a goal and an assist to aid the Washington Capitals in advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 of their first-round series on Wednesday.
The Capitals, who secured a 4-1 series victory, will now face the Carolina Hurricanes in the next round. The Hurricanes eliminated the New Jersey Devils in five games during their first-round matchup.
Washington's Alex Ovechkin scored on the man advantage in the opening period, marking his 76th career playoff goal and tying Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux for 12th place in NHL history. Jakob Chychrun and Brandon Duhaime also found the back of the net, while Dylan Strome recorded two assists and Logan Thompson made 28 saves for the Capitals.
Montreal's Emil Heineman scored the lone goal for the Canadiens, and Jakub Dobes turned away 24 shots.
Panthers 6, Lightning 3
Florida's Eetu Luostarinen notched a goal and three assists as the Panthers closed out their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 5. The Panthers, who won all three games in Tampa, will now face either the Toronto Maple Leafs or Ottawa Senators.
Anton Lundell contributed a goal and two assists for the Panthers, while Sam Reinhart added a goal and an assist. Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, and Sam Bennett also scored, and Brad Marchand recorded two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves for Florida.
Tampa Bay's Gage Goncalves, Nick Paul, and Jake Guentzel each scored, and Victor Hedman tallied two assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots for the Lightning.
Jets 5, Blues 3
Kyle Connor had a goal and two assists to lead the Winnipeg Jets to a Game 5 victory over the St. Louis Blues in their Western Conference first-round series.
The Jets now hold a 3-2 series lead and will head to St. Louis for Game 6 on Friday. Vladislav Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter also had a goal and an assist, while Mason Appleton recorded three assists and Connor Hellebuyck made 16 saves for Winnipeg, who bounced back after two lopsided losses in Games 3 and 4.
Nathan Walker scored twice for the Blues, and Jimmy Snuggerud also tallied. Jordan Binnington made 21 saves for St. Louis.
