SCSU's Dowd Strikes in Playoff Opener for Caps

Nic Dowd (St. Cloud State) made it Washington's night to open the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Dowd tipped home a slapshot by T.J. Oshie (North Dakota) just under five minutes into overtime to lift the Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the visiting Boston Bruins tonight in the opener of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. Washington leads the best-of-seven series, one game to none.

Oshie, who tallied an emotional hat trick earlier this month in a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers shortly after the passing of his father, finished the night with two assists. Charlie McAvoy (Boston University) assisted on Boston's tying goal late in the second period, which knotted the game at 2-2.

Dowd, 30, a native of Huntsville, Ala., now has two goals in 16 career Stanley Cup playoff outings, all with Washington. He tallied 52 goals and 121 points in 154 NCAA contests with St. Cloud from 2010 to 2014, and was also a First Team All-America selection as a senior captain for the Huskies.

Game Two will be Monday night in Washington, D.C.

UND Alumni Star in Capitals/Devils Contest

It was a day for North Dakota alumni in Washington, D.C.

T.J. Oshie scored two goals for the host Washington Capitals, and also assisted on the game-winner, in a 4-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils. For the visitors, Aaron Dell made his Devils debut with a 37-save effort in net, while forward Travis Zajac played in his 1,000th NHL contest, all of them with New Jersey.

Oshie, 34, skated for UND from 2005 to 2008, notching 142 points in 129 games while also helping the then-Fighting Sioux to three consecutive NCAA Frozen Fours.

Zajac, 35, played two years at UND (2004-06), including one with Oshie, and helped the Sioux to two Frozen Fours while recording 86 points in 91 appearances.

Dell, 31, who was claimed off waivers from the San Jose Sharks last month, backstopped UND from 2009 to 2012. He compiled a 49-20-5 record with a 2.15 goals-against average and nine shutouts in three years, while also backstopping UND to a berth in the 2011 Frozen Four.

Washington One Win from Stanley Cup

T.J. Oshie (North Dakota) opened the scoring in a three-goal first period on Monday night, and later added two assists as the Washington Capitals moved to within one victory of their first-ever NHL championship.

The Capitals opened the week with a 6-2 rout of the visiting Vegas Golden Knights at Capital One Arena in Game Four of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. Washington now leads the best-of-seven series, three games to one, while having won the last three contests, including both played in Washington, D.C.

Reilly Smith (Miami) had one goal for Vegas, which hit several goal posts early on and then trailed, 4-0, after 40 minutes. The expansion Golden Knights, who have lost three straight games in regulation for the first time since Nov. 28-Dec. 1, then pulled within two goals in the final period before Washington tacked on two more scores in the final seven minutes of play.

The Capitals finished 3-for-5 on the power play despite being outshot, 30-23, overall for the evening. Washington also blocked 24 opposing shots in all, and killed off all four Vegas power plays.

The Caps will look to sew up the series—and the Stanley Cup—on Thursday night in Game Five at Vegas (8 p.m. ET; NBC TV, CBC TV).

Caps Take 2-1 Cup Final Lead

Jay Beagle (Alaska Anchorage) assisted on two of his team's three goals Saturday night as the Washington Capitals took the lead in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Vegas Golden Knights at Capital One Arena.

Washington now leads the best-of-seven NHL title series, two games to one. It was the first-ever home victory for the Caps in the Stanley Cup Final in franchise history.

T.J. Oshie (North Dakota) combined with Beagle on Washington's second goal, by Evgeny Kuznetsov, to make it 2-0 in the second period. After Vegas pulled within one early in the third period, Beagle fed Devante Smith-Pelly in front of the Golden Knights net with just over six minutes remaining in regulation for a score that regained Washington's two-goal advantage.

Game Four is Monday night (8 p.m. ET, NBC TV, CBC TV) in Washington, D.C.

Vegas Takes Game One of 2018 Cup Final

Reilly Smith (Miami) scored one goal and set up another as the Vegas Golden Knights took a one game-to-none lead in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final with a 6-4 victory over the visiting Washington Capitals on Monday night at T-Mobile Arena.

The goal by Smith, who helped Miami to the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four, broke a 2-2 tie early in the second period, after he had previously set up Vegas' second goal of the game. Erik Haula (Minnesota) drew the only assist on the Golden Knights' game-opening goal in the first period.

T. J. Oshie (North Dakota) had two assists for the Capitals, who squandered 2-1 and 4-3 leads en route to surrendering three third-period goals, including an empty-net tally with three seconds remaining in regulation.Washington outshot Vegas, 28-24 on the evening, and will try to even the best-of-seven NHL championship series in Game Two on Wednesday night.

Oshie, Capitals Force Game Seven Versus Lightning

T.J. Oshie (North Dakota) scored two goals, including the game-winner, on Monday night to keep the Washington Capitals season alive.

Two days after the Caps were pushed to the brink of Stanley Cup Playoff elimination, Washington responded with a 3-0 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final. The deciding seventh game will be played Wednesday night in Florida, where the Caps have already won two of three games in this series.

Oshie opened the scoring on Monday with a power-play goal late in the second period, the Caps' only power play of the game. After Washington made it 2-0 midway through the third stanza, with Jay Beagle (Alaska Anchorage) drawing an assist, Oshie closed out matters with an empty-net goal with 50 seconds remaining in regulation. Washington outshot Tampa Bay on the evening, 34-24.

Wednesday's winner will face the Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights in the 2018 Stanley Cup Final. The expansion Golden Knights advanced to the NHL championship with a 2-1 win at Winnipeg on Sunday that wrapped up that series in five games.

Round Two of NHL Playoffs Starts Tonight

The second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs begins tonight, with eight teams remaining in the hunt.

Three of the top scorers so far in the NHL postseason were college-trained. Phil Kessel (Minnesota) is third overall with two goals and six assists for eight points for the Pittsburgh Penguins, while T. J. Oshie (North Dakota) is fifth with 3-4—7 points in six outings with the Washington Capitals. Jake Guentzel (Omaha) has posted 5-1—6 totals in six games with the Penguins as a rookie, and leads all NHl players in playoff goals so far this spring.

Among defensemen, Kevin Bieksa (Bowling Green) has four assists in four appearances with Anaheim, while in goal Cam Talbot (Alabama-Huntsville) led the Edmonton Oilers to their first playoff victory in 10 seasons with a 4-2 record (2.03, .927) and two shutouts in the first round against San Jose.

The Western Conference gets underway Wednesday, with Nashville visiting St. Louis and Edmonton dropping in on Anaheim. On Thursday, it's the Eastern Conference's turn to get going, as Ottawa will host the New York Rangers while Washington will entertain Pittsburgh.

NCAA Players Prominent in Start to NHL Playoffs

Former NCAA players made their mark during the first two days of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

On Wednesday, Tanner Glass (Dartmouth) backhanded home the game-winning goal for the New York Rangers in a 2-0 victory at Montreal, while rookie Frank Vatrano (UMass Lowell) tied the game for the Boston Bruins in an eventual 2-1 overtime win at Ottawa. Bryan Rust (Notre Dame), Phil Kessel (Minnesota) and Nick Bonino (Boston University) accounted for the Pittsburgh Penguins' goals in a 3-1 win over Columbus.

In Minnesota, Zach Parise (North Dakota) tied the game late for the host Wild, but Jaden Schwartz (Colorado College) set up the game-winner in OT to lift the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 triumph. In Edmonton, Paul Martin (Minnesota) scored the tying goal and Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) assisted on the overtime winner as the San Jose Sharks came back for a 3-2 win over the Oilers, who got 41 saves from Cam Talbot (Alabama-Huntsville).

On Thursday, James van Riemdsyk (New Hampshire) set up the first goal of the postseason for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but the host Washington Capitals escaped with a 3-2 overtime victory, with T. J. Oshie (North Dakota) and Kevin Shattenkirk (Boston University) drawing assists on the evening. In Anaheim, Kevin Bieksa (Bowling Green) set up the tying goal and Patrick Eaves (Boston College) assisted on the winner as the Ducks edged the Calgary Flames, 3-2, despite 38 saves by Brian Elliott (Wisconsin).

U.S. Edges Russia, 3-2, in Olympic Shootout

 

T.J. Oshie (North Dakota) scored four shootout goals and the U.S. defeated Russia, 3-2, in a men’s hockey preliminary-round game at the Bolshoy Ice Dome at the XXII Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Unlike in the NHL, IIHF rules allow players to make multiple attempts in shootouts. Oshie's took six of the Americans' eight shots, ultimately beating Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovski between the pads to end it.

Cam Fowler and Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin) scored for the U.S. in regulation, with James van Riemsdyk (New Hampshire) and Phil Kessel (Minnesota) drawing assists on the first goal and Patrick Kane and Kevin Shattenkirk (Boston University) assisting on the second.

Russia, which had a 1-0 lead before surrendering two straight U.S. goals, got its own two goals from Pavel Datsyuk. A goal by Fyodor Tutin that would have put the host team up by a goal in the third period was disallowed because the American net had been knocked off moments before by U.S. goaltender Jonathan Quick (Massachusetts), who finished with 29 saves in regulation and then stopped 5 of 8 shots in the shootout.

The U.S. now faces Slovenia, a 3-1 winner over Slovakia today for its first-ever Olympic victory, on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET) to complete Group 'A' play.