Wednesday’s scores
Pittsburgh Penguins 5, Philadelphia Flyers 0 (Penguins lead 3-1):
Pittsburgh dominated from pillar to post in this one. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel each had three points nights. Matt Murray, meanwhile, grabbed his second shutout of the playoffs in the win, which puts the Flyers on the brink of a playoff exit. Philly has just six goals in four games now and five of those came in Game 2.
Tampa Bay Lightning 3, New Jersey Devils 1 (Lightning lead 3-1):
Nikita Kucherov was a force in this one, scoring the twice and adding an assist while laying a massive (and controversial) hit on Devils’ defenseman Sami Vatanen, which knocked the latter out of the game. J.T. Miller tied the game in the first period and assisted on both of Kucherov’s goals for a three-point night of his own. Andrei Vasilevskiy, up for the Vezina this year, turned aside 27-of-28 shots.
Nashville Predators 3, Colorado Avalanche 2 (Predators lead 3-1):
The Predators held off a late comeback attempt by the Avalanche to take a 3-1 series lead back to Nashville. Colton Sissons and Craig Smith scored in the second period, following Filip Forsberg’s highlight-reel first-period marker to give the Preds a 3-0 advantage going into the third. Gabriel Landeskog and Alexander Kerfoot brought the Avs back to within one, but that was as far as they’d get. The Avs lost more than just the game as goalie Jonathan Bernier left after the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.
San Jose Sharks 2, Anaheim Ducks (Sharks win 4-0):
Tomas Hertl scored 1:16 after Andrew Cogliano tied the game 1-1 in the third period to give the Sharks their second sweep in franchise history (they previous swept the Vancouver Canucks in 2013). The Ducks looked better than their Game 3 effort (just showing up would likely do that), but still only managed a single goal (and just four in the series). Martin Jones made 30 saves for the win. The Sharks will face the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round after Vegas swept the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.
Three stars
Matt Murray, Penguins: Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby each had three-point nights, but Murray’s 26 saves made sure the Flyers came nowhere near the Penguins as he picked up his second shutout of the series, sixth playoff shutout of his career and fourth in his past six playoff games. Those are some ridiculous numbers from the Pens’ No. 1.
Nikita Kucherov, Lightning: Two goals -- the game-winner and the dagger into the empty net to ensure victory -- capped off a big night for Kucherov, who has scored in all four of the series’ games thus far. Kucherov added an assist on the game-tying goal in the first period and laid a massive hit on Sami Vatanen (which could earn him a call from the league).
Filip Forsberg, Predators: Got the Predators off on the right foot with his first-period marker which, as you will see below, was from another world. He also assisted on Colton Sisson’s tally that gave the Preds a 2-0 lead in the second period. Forsberg now has five points through four games in the series.
Highlights of the Night
Forsberg’s theatrics:
Forsberg doin' what Forsberg does 👌
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) April 19, 2018
Watch the #StanleyCup playoffs on the NBC Sports App: https://t.co/vVesnWjB2L pic.twitter.com/t2mRVpTKXx
Jones was a huge problem for the Ducks, as seen here:
100% no from Martin Jones. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/UfmekGyBUt
— NHL (@NHL) April 19, 2018
Man deposited into bench:
Just checking to see if the water bottles are still there. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/GL7ycZVQYK
— NHL (@NHL) April 19, 2018
Vezinalevskiy:
Andrei Vasilevskiy showing off exactly why he's a Vezina Trophy candidate. #StanleyCup https://t.co/eOO1DOUmSs
— NHL (@NHL) April 19, 2018
Factoids of the Night
Most shutouts before celebrating 24th birthday, #StanleyCup Playoffs history:
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 19, 2018
6 – Harry Lumley
6 – Terry Sawchuk
6 – @mattmurray_30
5 – Felix Potvin
4 – Martin Brodeur#NHLStats #PITvsPHI pic.twitter.com/ygYzWayTAz
Sidney Crosby of the @penguins owns a 1.14 points per game average in the postseason, the fourth-highest in #StanleyCup Playoffs history (min. 150 GP). #NHLStats #PITvsPHI pic.twitter.com/7iviFDZXC7
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 19, 2018
This marks just the eighth time in NHL history – and second time in the past 22 years – that two teams will meet after both sweeping their preceding best-of-seven playoff series. #NHLStats #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/dSt1d1Qbxj
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 19, 2018
Sidney Crosby is now the @penguins all-time leader in postseason points.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 19, 2018
Among active players with 50+ GP of playoff experience, only two others are franchise leaders for postseason points: Alex Ovechkin (@Capitals) and Ryan Getzlaf (@AnaheimDucks). #NHLStats #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/9qbYBT4sHx
Thursday’s schedule
Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. ET (NBCSN) -- Bruins lead series 2-1
Washington Capitals at Columbus Blue Jackets, 7:30 p.m. ET (USA, NBCSWA) -- Blue Jackets let series 2-1
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck