nhl roundup | Monday’s playoff games

Hurricanes 5, Capitals 0

RALEIGH, N.C.

Carolina waited 10 long years to finally bring the playoffs back to town. The Hurricanes almost seemed determined to cram a decade’s worth of goals and hits into one game. Rookie forward Warren Foegele had two goals and an assist, Dougie Hamilton also scored twice and the Hurricanes routed the Washington Capitals in their first home playoff game since 2009. Petr Mrazek earned his fourth career postseason shutout. Brock McGinn had a late goal and an assist, and Jaccob Slavin and Jordan Staal each had two assists. The rapid-fire Hurricanes outshot Washington 45-18 to cut the defending Stanley Cup champions’ lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Playing with just 10 forwards after losing two to injuries in the first period, Carolina effectively rolled with three lines the rest of the way and fed off an amped-up crowd releasing 10 years of pent-up frustration with every hit. The result: Carolina’s most lopsided postseason victory since a 5-0 win over Edmonton in Game 2 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final. Mrazek finished with 18 saves in his fifth career playoff victory — the last four have been shutouts. Braden Holtby stopped 40 shots for Washington, which had its six-game postseason winning streak snapped. The Capitals were shut out in the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Maple Leafs 3, Bruins 2

TORONTO

Auston Matthews scored his first goal of the playoffs and set up another as Toronto beat Boston to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal. Andreas Johnsson, also with a goal and an assist, and Trevor Moore provided the rest of the offense for Toronto. Frederik Andersen made 34 saves. David Krejci and Charlie Coyle scored for Boston. Tuukka Rask stopped 31 shots in front of a crowd of 19,611. The Maple Leafs won the series opener 4-1 last Wednesday in Boston before losing by the same score Saturday. Game 4 is Wednesday in Toronto. Less than an hour before puck drop, the Maple Leafs learned center Nazem Kadri had been suspended for the rest of the series for his vicious cross-check to the head of Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk in the third period of Game 2. This one was scoreless following a spirited first period in which the Maple Leafs upped their physical play after getting dominated in Game 2. But the offensive floodgates opened with five goals in the second. Toronto took a 1-0 lead at 2:38 when Moore poked a loose puck home for his first career playoff goal after Morgan Rielly’s initial shot rattled around between Rask’s pads. The Maple Leafs’ fourth line of Moore, Frederik Gauthier and Tyler Ennis were effective all night, with a couple of grinding shifts in the offensive zone.

Associated Press