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Series highlights: Chris Kreider almost single-handedly eliminates the Hurricanes
James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Last night, two NHL games were on the bill.

First, the Rangers tried to end the Hurricanes’ comeback hopes, then the Oilers and Canucks played the fifth game of their series.

Here’s what caught the eye on the Bettman circuit:

Chris Kreider (almost single-handedly) eliminates the Hurricanes

The Hurricanes were back in front of their fans to try and level the series at 3-3, after trailing 0-3 earlier in the series.

And clearly, the home side had the knife between their teeth, as they scored three of the game’s first four goals to take a 3-1 lead.

The fans on hand were beginning to dream of game #7.

And clearly, everything was smiling on the Hurricanes at this stage of the game.

Even Jordan Martinook made a spectacular save to deny the Rangers a certain goal. More and more, the Canes looked destined to win…

But in the third period, Chris Kreider had clearly had enough. The Rangers forward scored not one, not two, but three unanswered goals to give his side the lead.

Clearly, Kreider was fed up with the Hurricanes hanging on.

Barclay Goodrow completed the scoring in an empty net, giving the Rangers a 5-3 victory.

They now win the series in six games, and will face the winner of the Panthers-Bruins series in the Eastern Final.

Canucks overcome controversial penalty to push Oilers to the wire

Game 5 of the series between the Canucks and Oilers took place last night in Vancouver.

And Evander Kane clearly understood the importance of the moment, giving his team the lead in the opening minutes of the first period.

Nice pass from Leon Draisaitl on the sequence.

The end of the first saw a little more action. Carson Soucy brought both teams back to square one… before seeing Mattias Janmark restore the Oilers’ lead seconds later.

The score was 2-1 after 20 minutes.

In the second, Phil Di Giuseppe once again brought both clubs back to square one.

He scored the first playoff goal of his career on the sequence.

At the end of the period, we were treated to an extremely controversial sequence, as Elias Pettersson was sent to the dungeon for “charging the opponent”.

I’ll let you make up your own mind about that… but let’s just say it didn’t go down too well with everyone.

At the end of the third, the score was still 2-2… but J.T. Miller clearly didn’t feel like going into overtime: with 32 seconds to go, he threaded the needle to score the winning goal.

And the fans on hand honored him by chanting his name.

A 3-2 victory for the Canucks, who take a 3-2 lead in the series.

They’ll have a chance to eliminate the Oilers tomorrow night in Edmonton.

Overtime

– Incredible.

– We’re trying to help him in Vancouver despite a (very) difficult series.

– Nice gesture.

– Here’s the Rangers’ first goal, scored by Vincent Trocheck.

Oops.

– Great company.

– He wasn’t happy.

– Top scorers of the night.

(Credit: Screenshot/NHL.com)

– Two games on the bill tonight.

  • Panthers vs Bruins (7pm). Florida leads the series 3-2.
  • Stars vs Avalanche (10pm). Dallas leads series 3-2.

This article first appeared on Dose.ca and was syndicated with permission.

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