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NHL Bubble Wrap: Elimination Friday; Maple Leafs’ miracle

NHL Scores

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 07: Brad Richardson #15 of the Arizona Coyotes celebrates his game winning overtime goal at 5:27 to defeat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in Game Four of the Western Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 07, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)

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  • There were five teams eliminated on Friday, including a couple of favorites.
  • The Toronto Maple Leafs pull off an incredible comeback.
  • Chris Tanev makes some history for the Vancouver Canucks.

New York Islanders 5, Florida Panthers 1 (Islanders win series 3-1)

Anthony Beauvillier scored a pair of goals to help the Islanders easily knock off the Florida Panthers and advance to the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was an ugly day for Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky as he badly struggled in the loss, starting with the first goal he allowed to Beauvillier from a terrible angle. The Islanders were lousy down the stretch run of the regular season but had the perfect matchup to get back on track in the qualifying round. They await their Round 1 opponent, which will be determined this weekend.

Arizona Coyotes 4, Nashville Predators 3 (OT) (Coyotes win series 3-1)

One of the many upsets to highlight the qualifying round. The Coyotes won a series for the first time since 2012 thanks to a brilliant goaltending performance from Darcy Kuemper and Brad Richardson’s series-clinching overtime goal on Friday. If you look at this series objectively Nashville did not play as bad as the result would have you believe, it just ran into a white-hot goalie that made every big save. Still, that is not going to be much consolation for a team that underachieved in the standings all season and has been regressing for a couple of years now.

Montreal Canadiens 2, Pittsburgh Penguins 0 (Canadiens win series 3-1)

Speaking of upsets. The Canadiens, the 24th ranked team in the NHL during the regular season, eliminated the heavily favored Penguins on Friday with a 2-0 win. Carey Price gets the shutout in this one, but the Penguins rarely challenged him in a shockingly lackluster performance. Montreal completely dictated the pace of play starting with the second period of Game 3, never allowing the Penguins to generate any kind of consistent offense over the final four-and-a-half periods of the series.

Chicago Blackhawks 3, Edmonton Oilers 2 (Blackhawks win series 3-1)

Classic Jonathan Toews showed up in this series as the Blackhawks wrapped up the other 12 vs. 5 upset in the play-in round. Dominik Kubalik’s third period goal completed a sensational series for the rookie, while starting goalie Corey Crawford was a wall in net for the Blackhawks who now find themselves in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs after being sellers at the trade deadline.

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Columbus Blue Jackets 3 (OT) (Series tied 2-2)

Is this the game that turns everything around for the Maple Leafs’ core? They trailed 3-0 with four minutes to play in regulation and were on the verge of their most disappointing playoff exit in the Auston Matthews/William Nylander/Mitch Marner era. Then they gave themselves an opportunity to salvage it all with one of the wildest comebacks in NHL history.

Vancouver Canucks 5, Minnesota Wild 4 (OT) (Canucks win series 3-1)

The Vancouver Canucks are headed to the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs after they eliminated the Minnesota Wild. They came-from-behind three different times in this game -- including from a two-goal deficit midway through the second period -- to get the win. Tanner Pearson, Quinn Hughes, Bo Horvat, and Chris Tanev were the big stars in this one, with Horvat tying the game late in the third period to set the stage for Tanev’s series-clinching goal just 11 seconds into overtime.

[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]

Three Stars

1. Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks. Toews and Kubalik were great all series, but we are going to pick Crawford as the top star here. He was the most underrated part of the Blackhawks’ championship core in their Stanley Cup days and is one of the biggest reasons they are moving on here. Friday was his best game of the series as he stopped 43 out of 45 shots in the win.

2. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs. Matthews finished with three points and scored the overtime winner as the Maple Leafs completed one of the most improbable comebacks in recent postseason memory. Had Toronto not won this game he and the rest of the Maple Leafs’ big-money core would have spent the entire offseason under the microscope. Now they have a chance to salvage the series and their season.

3. Chris Tanev, Vancouver Canucks. Just a huge game for the veteran defenseman on Friday night. He played 24 minutes and finished with three points, assisting on the late game-tying goal and then winning the game -- and the series -- just 11 seconds into overtime.

Highlights of the Night

Matthews completes Toronto’s insane comeback with this overtime goal.

Tanev scores just 11 seconds into overtime.

Brad Richardson sends the Arizona Coyotes to the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs with his overtime winner.

Factoids


  • The Maple Leafs are the first team in NHL history (regular season or postseason) to win a game by overcoming a three-goal deficit after losing a game where they had a three-goal lead. [NHL PR]
  • Dominik Kubalik is just the fourth Blackhawks rookie to score a series-clinching goal. [NHL PR]
  • The Coyotes win their first postseason series since the 2011-12 season when they went to the Western Conference Final. [NHL PR]
  • Chris Tanev’s overtime goal is tied for the second-fastest overtime goal in NHL postseason history. [NHL PR]

Saturday’s Schedule

Round-Robin: Colorado Avalanche vs. Vegas Golden Knights, 3 p.m. ET, NBC
Round-Robin: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 8 p.m. ET, NBC

MORE:
2020 NHL Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule

Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.