Stanley Cup Qualifiers Review – August 8, 2020
MAPLE LEAFS MOUNT HISTORIC COMEBACK OVER BLUE JACKETS TO EVEN SERIES
The Maple Leafs trailed 3-0 in the final four minutes of regulation, but William Nylander (1-1—2) and John Tavares (1-1—2) each scored in a 51-second span and Zach Hyman (1-1—2) tallied the tying goal with 22.2 remaining on the clock as Toronto erased the deficit and forced overtime. Auston Matthews (1-2—3) then scored the winner on a power play as the Maple Leafs pulled off one of the most improbable postseason comebacks in NHL history to avoid elimination and force Game 5.
* Toronto became the third team in League history to win a postseason contest after overcoming a three-goal deficit in the final four minutes of regulation, joining Edmonton in Game 3 of the 1997 Conference Quarterfinals and Anaheim in Game 5 of the 2017 Second Round. The Maple Leafs’ win marked the first instance in NHL history of a club doing so when facing elimination – before Friday, the latest a team had ever faced a three-goal deficit before avoiding elimination was in Game 3 of the 1936 Stanley Cup Final when Toronto scored its first of four unanswered goals at 13:09 of the third period.
* The Maple Leafs overcame a deficit of three or more goals at any point to win a postseason contest for the third time in franchise history. Aside from Game 3 of the 1936 Final, the other instance was in Game 5 of the 1993 Division Semifinals when Mike Foligno, father of Columbus captain Nick Foligno, scored the overtime winner for Toronto.
* Matthews became the ninth different Maple Leafs player in the League’s modern era (since 1943-44) to score an overtime goal in a contest where Toronto faced elimination and first since Travis Green in Game 6 of the 2003 Conference Quarterfinals.
* The Maple Leafs pulled off their improbable three-goal comeback less than 24 hours after the Blue Jackets rallied from a 3-0 deficit in Game 3 to take a 2-1 series lead. Toronto became the first team in NHL history to overcome a deficit of three-plus goals to win a game after surrendering a lead of three-plus goals to lose their previous contest (regular season or postseason).
* The 2020 qualifying round between Toronto and Columbus marked the first postseason series in League history to feature a team overcoming a deficit of three or more goals to win in consecutive games. It also marked the fifth postseason series in NHL history to feature a multi-goal comeback win in consecutive days, following the 1950 Stanley Cup Final between the Rangers and Red Wings (Game 6 & Game 7), 1987 Division Semifinals between the Flames and Jets (Game 3 & Game 4), 1989 Division Semifinals between the Capitals and Flyers (Game 1 & Game 2) and 1995 Conference Semifinals between the Flyers and Rangers (Game 1 & Game 2).
CANUCKS AND COYOTES ALSO EARN OT WINS, ADVANCE FROM QUALIFYING ROUND
The Canucks and Coyotes also earned overtime wins on Friday, with both teams doing so in series-clinching fashion:
* Christopher Tanev (1-2—3) tallied just 11 seconds into overtime after the Canucks overcame deficits of 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 in regulation to power Vancouver to its first postseason series win since 2011 when they reached the Stanley Cup Final. The goal was tied for the second-fastest from the start of a postseason overtime period in NHL history, behind only the mark of nine seconds set by Montreal’s Brian Skrudland in Game 2 of the 1986 Stanley Cup Final.
* The Canucks overcame a multi-goal deficit to win a postseason game for the fifth time in franchise history, following Game 1 of the 1991 Division Semifinals, Game 5 of the 1994 Conference Finals, Game 2 of the 1995 Conference Quarterfinals and Game 1 of the 2003 Conference Semifinals. Game 5 of the 1994 Conference Finals was the only other instance in which Vancouver did so in series-clinching fashion.
* Tanev wasn’t the only Canucks defenseman to contribute on Friday. Quinn Hughes (1-1—2) scored the first postseason goal of his NHL career and became the fourth rookie blueliner with a playoff marker with Vancouver, joining Neil Belland (Game 3 of 1982 CF), Garth Butcher (Game 4 of 1983 DSF) and Adrian Aucoin (Game 7 of 1995 CQF).
* The Predators scored a game-tying goal with 31.9 seconds remaining in regulation, but Brad Richardson potted the winner at 5:27 of overtime to lift the Coyotes to their first postseason series win since 2012.
* Richardson became the first player in Coyotes/Jets franchise history to score a series-clinching goal in overtime. He also became the second player in club history to score a goal to clinch a best-of-five series, joining Winnipeg’s Ron Wilson in Game 4 of the 1985 Division Semifinals.
THREE OTHER TEAMS ADVANCE FROM 2020 QUALIFYING ROUND
Three other teams advanced from the 2020 qualifying round, including the 12th-seeded Blackhawks and Canadiens:
* Dominik Kubalik scored the series-clinching goal with 11:30 remaining in regulation as Chicago pulled off the upset over Edmonton to advance to the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
* Kubalik became the fourth different rookie in franchise history to score a series-clinching goal, joining Darryl Sutter (Game 3 of 1980 PRLM), Steve Larmer (Game 4 of 1983 DSF) and Jeremy Roenick (Game 5 of 1989 DF & Game 7 of 1990 DSF).
* Carey Price turned aside all 22 shots he faced and Artturi Lehkonen broke a 0-0 tie with 4:11 remaining in regulation as Montreal blanked Pittsburgh in series-clinching fashion.
* Price, who turned aside a combined 126 of 133 shots against over the course of the series (1.67 GAA, .947 SV%, 1 SO), recorded the third series-clinching shutout of his NHL career (also Game 7 of 2008 CQF & Game 6 of 2015 R1). His three career series-clinching shutouts trail only Dallas’ Ben Bishop (4) and Vegas’ Marc-Andre Fleury (4) for the most among active goaltenders.
* Anthony Beauvillier (2-0—2) was one of four Islanders players with multiple points in Game 4 as New York ousted Florida to advance from the qualifying round. The Islanders improved to 7-1 in eight all-time best-of-five series, which remains the best such record among the 31 current NHL franchises (.875 W%).
* New York, which also improved to 33-19 all-time in potential series-clinching games, scored at least five goals in a series-clinching win for the 14th time in franchise history and for just the second time over the past 35 years (also Game 6 of 1993 DSF).
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