SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, April 18
Buffalo at N.Y. Islanders (7:30 p.m. EDT). The Sabres have a 2-1 lead over the Islanders, who have lost five straight home playoff games.
STAR
Tuesday
-Michael Nylander and Ryan Callahan, Rangers, Nylander had his first playoff hat trick and Callahan added two goals to lead New York past Atlanta 7-0.
-Trevor Linden, Canucks, converted a rebound with 5:31 left to help Vancouver edge Dallas 2-1.
-Anton Volchenkov, Senators, scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period to help Ottawa beat Pittsburgh 2-1.
-Jarome Iginla, Flames, scored the go-ahead goal at 9:21 of the third period, leading Calgary to a 3-2 victory over Detroit.
STAYING ALIVE
Minnesota avoided a four-game sweep by Anaheim with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday night. Only two teams in NHL history have come back from 3-0 deficits to advance in the playoffs, the 1975 New York Islanders and the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.
ONE-SIDED SERIES
The New York Rangers took a three games to none lead in their quarterfinal series with Atlanta after a 7-0 rout on Tuesday night. The win was also the first for the Rangers in a home playoff game since 1997.
HOME WOES
Dallas has lost six straight home games – covering its last three postseasons – after a 2-1 defeat to Vancouver on Tuesday night.
UNLIKELY HERO
Ottawa defenseman Anton Volchenkov, who scored only once in 78 games during the regular season, got the game-winning goal midway through the third period to help the Senators edge Pittsburgh 2-1 on Tuesday night. Volchenkov had only one previous playoff goal, four years and a day before scoring his second. He has only nine goals in 229 career regular-season games.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Kris Draper scored both Detroit goals in Tuesday night’s 3-2 loss at Calgary.
JIM DANDY
Carolina signed general manager Jim Rutherford to a five-year contract extension on Tuesday. Rutherford recently completed his 13th season as the franchise’s general manager and is the only person to hold that job since the team moved from Hartford, Conn., in 1997. Among current GMs, only New Jersey’s Lou Lamoriello has a longer tenure with his team.
SPEAKING
“It shows that a guy like Brad May has no respect, so he deserves no respect from anybody. And that’s how he’s going to get treated.” – Minnesota enforcer Derek Boogaard on Anaheim’s Brad May, who received a match penalty and a game misconduct for decking Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson with less than two minutes left in Game 4 on Tuesday night. Minnesota won 4-1 to avoid getting swept in the quarterfinal series.