TORONTO — Sebastian Aho scored twice in the third period while James Reimer was strong in net to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 4-1 on Tuesday night and sweep the Stanley Cup qualifier series.
Warren Foegele scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period for the Hurricanes, redirecting a shot from the point by Brady Skjei to beat rookie Igor Shesterkin at 5:07 in the third. Then Aho followed with a highlight-reel goal about 5½ minutes later, taking the puck from Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba along the boards and skating in on Tony DeAngelo to backhand the puck past Shesterkin as he went to his knees.
FLAMES 6, JETS 2
EDMONTON, Alberta — Sean Monahan had a goal and two assists while Cam Talbot finished with 33 saves to help the Calgary Flames beat the Winnipeg Jets 6-2 in Game 3 of their Stanley Cup qualifier series Tuesday night.
ISLANDERS 4, PANTHERS 2
TORONTO — Jordan Eberle scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, and the New York Islanders rallied to a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers and take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five NHL preliminary round playoff series on Tuesday.
Ryan Pulock and Matt Martin also scored, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 26 shots in a game New York overcame a pair of one-goal deficits. The Islanders particularly took advantage of the Panthers’ undisciplined play by scoring twice on seven power-play chances.
PREDATORS 4, COYOTES 2
EDMONTON, Alberta — The Nashville Predators stumbled in their postseason opener by falling into an early hole, putting themselves in a must-win situation for Game 2.
Behind steady goaltending and a dedication to clogging shooting lanes, the Predators snatched the momentum back less than 24 hours before Game 3.
Ryan Johansen had a goal and an assist, Juuse Saros stopped 24 shots and the Predators jumped on the Arizona Coyotes early in a 4-2 win on Tuesday to even their Stanley Cup qualifier series.
MAPLE LEAFS 3, BLUE JACKETS 0
TORONTO — Auston Matthews and John Tavares scored and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-0 on Tuesday to even their best-of-five qualifying series at one game.
Toronto defenseman Jake Muzzin was taken off the ice on a stretcher with 1:52 left in the game after his head made violent contact with Columbus’ Oliver Bjorkstrand behind the Blue Jackets net. Muzzin was attended to by a trainer before more medical personnel arrived on the ice. He was taken to a hospital, but there was no immediate word on his condition.
