NHL
The two surprise teams of the first play-off round in the North American ice hockey league NHL also started successfully in the second round. The Florida Panthers won the first game of the best-of-seven series at the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Tuesday. The Seattle Kraken beat the Dallas Stars 5-4 after extra time – four goals from Joe Pavelski didn’t help the Texans.
The 38-year-old was the dominating man on the ice with four goals, no older player has ever scored four goals in a play-off game. But it wasn’t enough for the hosts to win.
Seattle, who had ended Colorado Avalanche’s hopes of successfully defending their title in round one, ended the turbulent game with a 13th-minute overtime goal from Yanni Gourde. Seattle had turned a 1-2 deficit into a 4-2 lead within 52 seconds of the first period.
Florida, who had knocked out the outstanding team in the regular season and favorites to win the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins, initially gambled away a 0-2 deficit in Toronto. Thanks to Carter Verhaeghe (38th) and Brandon Montour (53rd), the Panthers still managed to win the opening game.