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NHL MORNING SKATE: PLAYOFFS EDITION – AUGUST 20, 2020

THREE HARD LAPS

* Brayden scored another overtime winner to power the Lightning into the Second Round of the 2020 .

* The Avalanche scored seven goals for a second straight game to establish a franchise record for most in a series-clinching win.

* The Bruins also advanced while the Canucks and Canadiens earned Game 5 wins to take a 3- 2 series lead and stave off elimination, respectively.

LIGHTNING ADVANCE WITH ANOTHER DRAMATIC OT WIN OVER COLUMBUS In a rollercoaster game that saw the Lightning take a 2-0 lead less than seven minutes after the opening faceoff, the Blue Jackets rebounded with four consecutive goals, but Tampa Bay staged a rally of its own – scoring with 98 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. In extra time, history repeated itself as Brayden Point – the 5OT hero from Game 1 – scored to record his third point of the game and lift the Lightning into the Second Round.

* Point, whose in Game 1 ended the fourth-longest game in NHL history, became the fifth Lightning player to record multiple career overtime goals in the playoffs joining Martin St. Louis (3), Vincent Lecavalier (2), Tyler Johnson (2) and (2). Point is one of 18 players in League history with multiple overtime goals in a playoff series.

* Point also became the second player in franchise history to score a series-clinching goal in overtime – St. Louis did it twice, first in Game 6 of the 2003 Conference Quarterfinals against the Capitals, and again in Game 5 of the 2004 Conference Quarterfinals against the Islanders.

* Two other Lightning players left their mark on the franchise record books. Kucherov (31-39— 70 in 73 GP) registered three assists in Game 5 to overtake St. Louis (33-35—68 in 63 GP) as the franchise leader in playoff points. Andrei Vasilevskiy (37 saves) earned his 21st career playoff win with Tampa Bay, tying Ben Bishop and for the most in franchise history.

* The Lightning advanced to the Second Round for the fourth time in the past six postseasons, currently tied with the Capitals for the most such appearances since 2015. Washington can make its fifth appearance by rallying to win their series, while St. Louis can also make its fourth trip to the Second Round since 2015 by defeating Vancouver.

DID YOU KNOW? The Lightning overcame a multi-goal, third period deficit to win a playoff game for the second time in franchise history (also Game 4 of 2015 R1 vs. DET). It marked the fifth such comeback victory by any team in the 2020 postseason, tied for the most in an entire playoff year.

COLORADO SCORES SEVEN GOALS AGAIN, ADVANCES TO 2020 SECOND ROUND . . . The Avalanche scored seven goals for a second straight game to outscore the Coyotes by a combined 14-2 margin across their final two contests and advance to the Second Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Colorado, which earned a five-game triumph over first-seeded Calgary in the 2019 First Round, won at least one series in consecutive playoff years for the first time since a run of two straight postseasons from 2004 to 2006.

* The Avalanche scored seven-plus goals in consecutive games within a postseason for the first time in franchise history and became the first team to accomplish the feat since the Flyers in the 2012 Conference Quarterfinals versus the Penguins (8-5 W in Game 2 & 8-4 W in Game 3). Colorado became the fourth team in NHL history to do so in the final two games of a Stanley Cup Playoffs series.

. . . MacKINNON, KADRI LEAD AVALANCHE IN SERIES-CLINCHING WIN Nathan MacKinnon (2-2—4) and Nazem Kadri (2-0—2) accounted for four of Colorado’s seven goals in Game 5 to lead the Avalanche in their series-clinching win.

* MacKinnon, who has found the score sheet in all eight games contested by the Avalanche this postseason, leads all players with 13 points since Aug. 1 (4-9—13). He became the second Avalanche/Nordiques player with four points in a potential series-clinching game, joining Claude Lemieux in Game 6 of the 1997 Conference Quarterfinals (1-3—4 at CHI).

* MacKinnon recorded 10 of his 13 points in the First Round (3-7—10 in 5 GP) to match his career high for most in a postseason series, a mark set as an 18-year-old rookie in the 2014 First Round against the Wild (2-8—10 in 7 GP). He became the fifth Avalanche/Nordiques player with a double-digit point total in multiple playoff series, joining Joe Sakic (5x), Peter Stastny (4x), Peter Forsberg (3x) and Michel Goulet (2x).

* Kadri, who scored two goals for a second straight contest (also 2-1—3 in Game 4), shares the NHL-lead with six overall this postseason (6-5—11 in 8 GP). His League-leading five power-play goals since Aug. 1 are already tied for the third-most by an Avalanche/Nordiques player in a single postseason, trailing only Goulet and Sakic.

BRUINS TAME HURRICANES, ALSO ADVANCE TO SECOND ROUND David Krejci (1-1—2) and Patrice Bergeron (1-1—2) scored second-period goals 4:36 apart to help the Bruins edge the Hurricanes and advance to the Second Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Bergeron, who collected 2-1—3 for the Bruins in their series-clinching win against the Hurricanes in 2019 Eastern Conference Final, netted the winning goal and boosted his career totals in potential series-clinching games to 9-13—22 (35 GP). Patrick Marleau (5) is the only active player with more series-clinching goals than Bergeron (3).

* The Bruins, who continue their pursuit of a second straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, advanced to the Second Round for the third straight postseason. Boston last made three consecutive appearances past the opening round from 2009 to 2011 – a streak that ended with a Stanley Cup win.

CANUCKS, CANADIENS EARN GAME 5 WINS Vancouver and each earned Game 5 wins to take a 3-2 series lead and stave off elimination, respectively:

* Tyler Motte (2-0—2), J.T. Miller (1-1—2) and Jake Virtanen (1-1—2) accounted for three unanswered Canucks goals as Vancouver rallied from a 3-1 deficit to move within one win of advancing to the Second Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Canucks hold a 3-2 lead in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoffs series for the ninth time in franchise history – they went 6-2 in the previous eight series, including three instances where the clinching win was earned in Game 6.

* Vancouver overcame a multi-goal deficit to win a contest for the second time this postseason, following Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers (5-4 OT W at MIN). It marked the first time in which the Canucks recorded multiple multi-goal comeback wins in a single postseason.

* Joel Farabee pulled Philadelphia even after Montreal erased a 2-1 deficit to go up 3-2, but Nick Suzuki (1-1—2) scored the winner 22 seconds later as the Canadiens forced Game 6 in their First Round series. Suzuki (21 years, 9 days) became the fourth-youngest Montreal player to score a winning goal in a game where the Canadiens faced elimination.

* Carey Price (26 saves) improved to 7-5 in 12 career games where the Canadiens faced elimination. He passed Georges Vezina (6-1) and Ken Dryden (6-2) for the most such wins in franchise history.

MEDIA REMINDER: Schedules and recordings of all Zoom media availabilities (including post- game) are available daily on the NHL’s media site – you must have an account to access this content. The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Information Guide as well as team playoff media guides also are available on the site.

QUICK CLICKS

* NHL announces start times for Stanley Cup Playoff games on Aug. 20, 21 * NHL, Fastenal announce multiyear global partnership * NHL Stick Tap for Service finalists named * Josh Fuss wins 2020 U.S. Regional Final of NHL Gaming World Championship * Cam Talbot inspired by , tries to keep Flames alive in Game 6

PREVIEW OF TODAY’S ACTION The Islanders and Stars can both advance to the Second Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* Teams that hold a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series own an all-time series record of 282-29 (.907), including a 4-0 mark in 2020.

* Teams that hold a 3-2 lead in a best-of-seven series own an all-time series record of 316-87 (.784).

* When a best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 owns an all-time series record of 211-58 (.784).