The top seed in the Eastern Conference and the defending Stanley Cup champion can advance to the second round of the playoffs on Wednesday night, while the NHL's best team in the regular season resumes a first-round playoff series that is proving to be tougher than many expected.
The Washington Capitals return home on the verge of knocking out the Montreal Canadiens. The Florida Panthers are also up 3-1 and play at Tampa Bay, looking to eliminate the rival Lightning for a second consecutive year. In the West, the Presidents' Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets are back home against the St. Louis Blues with the best-of-seven series tied 2-2.
Washington has not won a series since hoisting the Cup in 2018 and a decade removed from the last time it won a game at home to move on.
“We’re not looking years back,” said winger Tom Wilson, one of just three players left from 2015. “We want to keep this machine rolling in here. We want to keep these guys dialed in. You always want to win on home ice; you always want to win every game. We’ll be extremely motivated.”
Similarly, the loaded Panthers are trying to keep the same consistent approach that helped them erase a third-period deficit to win Game 4. They're on the verge of winning their eighth of nine series since 2023.
“The style we’re trying to play is one that shouldn’t matter with the score in the series,” said forward Sam Reinhart, who's tied for the team's postseason scoring lead. "We’re trying play aggressive, we’re trying to take their time and space away and play on our toes.”
Montreal Canadiens at Washington Capitals
When/Where to Watch: Game 5, Wednesday. 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN)
Series: Capitals lead 3-1
The Capitals could be getting 30-goal-scorer Aliaksei Protas back after missing more than three weeks with a skate cut on his left foot. Protas has been full-go in practice, looks ready and the 6-foot-6, 247-pound forward might be just the guy to help his team finish the job against the smaller, less experienced Canadiens.
“Our size and weight and height and weight would go up quite significantly,” center Pierre-Luc Dubois said. "To get Pro back would mean a lot to this group. He’s been one of our most consistent players all season, does a lot of good things for us, 5 on 5 and on the penalty kill, so it’d be great to have him back.”
With or without Protas, Washington will lean on its winning recipe and fired-up crowd, hoping that makes up for Montreal's desperation.
“You know that their season’s on the line, and there’s no quit from that team over there,” goaltender Logan Thompson said. “We know they’re going to come out real hard and we know they’re going to be playing for their lives, so we’ve got to match their energy.”
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
When/Where to Watch: Game 5, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN2)
Series: Panthers lead 3-1
The hits just keep on coming. Big hits, too.
It started with Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel on Florida’s Aleksander Barkov in Game 2, continued with the Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk on the Lightning’s Jake Guentzel in Game 3 and the latest to draw attention was the Game 4 greeting that Florida’s Aaron Ekblad gave to Hagel. Ekblad was facing a possible suspension and Hagel has been ruled out with a head injury.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he’s tired of talking about the hits with the Lightning needing three wins in a row to avoid elimination.
The Lightning have nine goals in the series — five in their Game 3 win and four in the their three losses combined. Not only has back-to-back NHL scoring champion Nikita Kucherov not had a goal in this series (none in his last 14 playoff games), but the Panthers have limited him to five shots in just over 91 minutes of ice time.
Florida knows delivering the knockout blow will be difficult. Tampa Bay won 18 of 22 playoff series from 2015 through 2022. The Lightning are on the brink of losing four consecutive series — and three in the first round — for the first time in franchise history.
“There is a slightly different emotion coming into an elimination game for both teams,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “You want to avoid that emotion.”
St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets
When/Where to Watch: Game 5, Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN)
Series: Tied 2-2
The Jets won the first two games at home. The Blues held serve in St. Louis to even things up. Something's got to give with the series shifting back to Winnipeg.
“We knew we had to win there eventually if we’re going to win this series,” said Blues forward Jake Neighbours, who has a goal and four assists. “We’re confident that we stack up well against them.”
The Blues have outscored the Jets 16-10, chasing Vezina Trophy-favorite goaltender Connor Hellebuyck twice in winning 7-2 in Game 3 and 5-1 in Game 4. Hellebuyck, who has a 4.24 goals-against average and .817 save percentage after 2.00 and .925 during the regular season, vowed, “I am going to be better.”
Winnipeg won Game 1 by a score of 5-3 and Game 2 in a tight, 2-1 nail-biter. St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery is confident because of how his team played in defeat on the road.
“We felt we were in both games right 'til the bitter end in Winnipeg and that we did not play to our identity for 60 minutes," Montgomery said. "We feel if we do that, we’re going to give ourselves a real good opportunity to have success and win it.”
___
AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and AP freelance writer David Solomon in Centene, Missouri, contributed.
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
