NHL roundup: Horvat’s OT winner gives Canucks 2-0 lead

Bo Horvat’s second goal of the game was the overtime winner as the Vancouver Canucks regrouped from blowing a third-period lead to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Friday in Edmonton and take a 2-0 lead in their opening-round Western Conference playoff series.

Aug 14, 2020; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat (53) scores a shorthanded goal against the St. Louis Blues during the overtime period in game two of the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

The defending champion Blues, who sat atop the Western Conference when the league paused in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, have yet to win a game since play resumed.

Horvat took a breakaway feed from Quinn Hughes and buried a shot at 5:55 of the extra frame to stun the Blues.

St. Louis’ Jaden Schwartz collected the tying goal with 6.4 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime when a point shot from David Perron went off his leg and into the net. Officials originally waved off the goal due to a high stick, but the call was overturned after a review.

Islanders 5, Capitals 2

Brock Nelson’s breakaway go-ahead goal capped a frantic flurry early in the second period of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals for New York, which beat Washington in Toronto to take a two-games-to-none lead.

The Islanders hold a 2-0 series edge in the first round for the second straight year. New York swept the Pittsburgh Penguins last spring. Nick Leddy and Matt Martin scored the first two goals in the second for the Islanders, who received insurance goals late in the third from Cal Clutterbuck and Anders Lee. New York goalie Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves.

Alex Ovechkin scored twice while goalie Braden Holtby recorded 27 saves for the Capitals, who are down two games to none in a series for the first time since the first round of the 2018 playoffs. That time, Washington won the next four games against the Columbus Blue Jackets and went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Avalanche 3, Coyotes 2

Andre Burakovsky scored the go-ahead goal with 2:53 remaining in the third period to lift Colorado to a victory over Arizona in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series in Edmonton.

Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost also scored, and Philipp Grubauer made 30 saves for the Avalanche, who have secured a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Clayton Keller and Michael Grabner replied for the Coyotes. Darcy Kuemper turned aside 25 shots in the defeat.

Canadiens 5, Flyers 0

Tomas Tatar and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each scored twice and goaltender Carey Price stopped all 30 shots he faced Friday as Montreal blanked Philadelphia to even their Eastern Conference first-round series 1-1 in Toronto.

The shutout was the seventh of Price’s playoff career, and his second of this postseason. He blanked Pittsburgh on 22 shots in a 2-0 win in the qualifying round. Joel Armia also scored and Max Domi had three assists for the Canadiens.

The Flyers had won their first four games of the postseason before the shutout. Goaltender Carter Hart allowed four goals on 26 shots before leaving in the second period. Center Travis Konecny left the game in the third period after blocking a shot off his left foot.

—Field Level Media