Dallas’ Finnish star players Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen played a big role when the Stars tied the game 1-1 in the opening round of the NHL playoffs against the Minnesota Wild. The power forward Hintz, who scored a hat trick, registered 3+1 performances and Heiskanen was involved in four goals in the 7–3 (2–1.4–2.1–0) home win.
The hat trick was Hintz’s first in the playoffs in his NHL career. He succeeded in scoring with understrength, even field and overstrength. The last time a similar performance was seen in the NHL was in 2015, when Tyler Johnson pulled off a similar helmet trick for Tampa Bay.
– He is an elite player who can solve such games. We need him, Dallas pilot Pete DeBoer praised Hintz.
Only one of Dallas’ seven hits did not involve Finns. Four of the seven Dallas goals came from special situations.
The goal taps of the match were opened by Hintz, who managed to drive through underpowered to give the Stars a 1–0 lead. Joel Kiviranta did valuable groundwork for the hit when he freed up Hintz to drive through.
Dallas’ 2–0 goal also came from a special situation when Tyler Seguin succeeded overwhelmingly. Heiskanen baited, Jason Robertson (0+2) shot directly from the pass and Seguin guided the puck in from in front of the goal.
In the 3–1 superiority goal, Hintz and Heiskanen were the passers and Benn (1+1) finished.
Dallas’ next goal was scored without Finns, but the number one scorer of the 5–3 goal was Heiskanen, whose bet Yevgenii Dadonov (2+0) steered in.
The next two goals were scored by Hintz, who was deservedly chosen as the best player of the match. First, Hintz broke through again and scored a 6–3 goal at the end of the second period, and in the middle of the third period, the Finn hit the puck in from the corner of the goal from passes by Robertson and Heiskanen.
Dallas lost the first match of the series and came into the second match feeling upset.
– Our best players had to step up and they did. Everyone took care of their plot, not just Roope, DeBoer shared the praise.
Another win for Carolina, Teräväinen on the operating table
The Carolina Hurricanes picked up another win against the New York Islanders in the opening round of the playoffs. The match ended 4–3 in the first overtime.
From Carolina’s Finns to the power points all the way Sebastian Ahowho was building a defender by Jaccob Slavin (1+1) made a skillful 3–3 equalizer goal from a small angle in the third period.
Antti Raanta made saves on goal 23/26 times. Raanta also denied victory in the previous match.
Aho has 1+1 performances from the season’s playoffs, because two days ago Aho scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory.
Carolina forward Teuvo Teräväinen had a hard time in the third set when he was injured. The Finn’s arm was broken when the Islanders center Jean-Gabriel Pageau would scold him.
Teräväinen was about to shoot the puck, when the puck hit his hand.
– He was a puck player and shot. It was like being hit with an axe. Take a look at the video. He’s out for this series and will have surgery tomorrow, Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour would talk.
Carolina forward Jesse Puljujärvi did not dress for the match.
Florida surprised Boston, Luostarinen hit
Elsewhere, the Florida Panthers took a 6-3 away win against the Boston Bruins. He was responsible for the team’s sixth goal Eetu Luostarinencaptain Alexander Barkov was about to score the third goal.
Luostarinen hit the puck into an empty goal at the end of the game, when the Bruins were looking for a goalless goalie.
Both teams now have one win from the opening round of the playoffs.
Finnish goalkeeper Joonas Korpisalo blocked the Los Angeles Kings goal with 33/36 shots, but Los Angeles lost to the Edmonton Oilers 2–4. Wins are 1–1.
Banned for Bunting
The match between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning, played the night before Wednesday, resulted in a three-game suspension for the Toronto forward To Michael Buntingwho tackled a Tampa Bay defender Erik Cernakia.
The suspension was imposed for a tackle to the head and obstruction. Bunting received a five-minute penalty after the situation. Tampa Bay won the first game 7–3, so Bunting’s season will be over if Tampa Bay wins the next three games played during the suspension.
Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper said that the injured Cernak will not play at least in the second match. The teams will meet on the night before Friday Finnish time.
NHL playoffs, 1st round:
Carolina–NY Islanders je 4–3 CAR: Aho 0+1, Raanta 23/26 saves. Wins 2–0
Boston to Florida 3–6 FLA: Barkov 0+1, Luostarinen 1+0 Wins 1-1
Dallas–Minnesota 7 to 3 DAL: Hintz 3+1, Kiviranta 0+1, Heiskanen 0+4 Wins 1-1
Edmonton–Los Angeles 4–2 LAK: Korpisalo 33/36 defense. Wins 1-1