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What’s Going On In the Playoffs: Avalanche and Wild scored 15 combined goals in Game 1
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Ryley Delaney
May 7, 2026, 17:00 EDTUpdated: May 7, 2026, 16:53 EDT
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The second round of the playoffs has already begun.
In last week’s edition of What’s Going On In the Playoffs, we looked at how the Ottawa Senators and Los Angeles Kings were swept. Fast forward a week, and the six other series wrapped up, with the final eight teams already beginning their series.
Let’s take a look at what happened in the playoffs this past week.

First round

There were 12 teams who played a first round match-up this past week. The Vegas Golden Knights took on the Utah Mammoth, the Edmonton Oilers took on the Anaheim Ducks, the Dallas Stars took on the Minnesota Wild, the Tampa Bay Lightning took on the Montréal Canadiens, the Buffalo Sabres took on the Boston Bruins, and the Pittsburgh Penguins took on the Philadelphia Flyers.

Golden Knights/Mammoth

In last week’s article, the Golden Knights were all knotted up at two with the series returning to Sin City for Game 5. The game before, the Mammoth overcame a big Golden Knights’ lead, but allowed the game-tying goal midway through the third, then lost 5-4 in overtime.
Game 5 was the exact same score, albeit in double overtime. The two teams each scored a goal in the first, then the Knights took a 3-2 lead into the third. Dylan Guenther tied it for the Mammoth, then Michael Carcone scored to give them a lead. But with just 53 seconds left, Pavel Dorofeyev tied it. Brett Howden scored an overtime goal on the penalty kill to put the Golden Knights up 3-2 in the series.
Game 6 wasn’t nearly as close. Brett Howden scored with five left in the first, then Mitch Marner scored in the final minute of the second, Kailer Yamamoto cut the lead in half, but Colton Sissons scored less than two minutes later. Marner scored a power play goal, and Cole Smith iced the series with an empty-netter.

Oilers/Ducks

With the Oilers’ backs against the wall returning to Alberta, they needed to have a comeback similar to that of their 2024 Stanley Cup Final series. They didn’t. In the first period of Game 5, Vasily Podkolzin, Zach Hyman, and Leon Draisaitl all scored within the first 10 minutes, but the Ducks dominated from there.
Alex Killorn scored a power play goal, which the Oilers responded in kind less than two minutes later. In the end, the Oilers won Game 5 by a score of 4-1, but were unable to handle the Ducks in Anaheim. Ryan Poehling scored 10 minutes into the first, followed by Chris Kreider’s first of the post-season.
Connor Murphy scored to cut the Ducks’ lead in half, but the Ducks’ power play once again scored on the Oilers, putting them up 3-1 heading into the first intermission. It went from bad to worse for the Oilers, as Troy Terry scored late in the second. Podkolzin scored early in the first to give the Oilers some life, but they were unable to get another one by Lukáš Dostál, ultimately falling 5-2.

Stars/Wild

The Wild only needed one win against the Stars to win their first series since 2015. They did just that in Game 6 on home ice. Quinn Hughes opened the scoring in the first, but the Stars took a 2-1 lead with four to play in the second period.
Less than a minute after Mavrik Bourque’s goal to make it 2-1, Vladimir Tarasenko got on the board with his first of the post-season. Hughes scored his second of the game midway through the third period, then Matt Boldy scored a pair of empty netters for the 5-2 victory.

Lightning/Canadiens

For the first time since 2018, there were more sweeps than Game 7s in the first round. The lone series that went the distance was the Canadiens/Lightning series, and with how good that series was, it needed it.
Three games were played last week. Returning to Tampa for Game 5, Brendan Gallagher scored his first goal in his first post-season game. The Lightning scored twice in the second to the Canadiens’ one goal, but early in the third, Alexandre Texier scored to make it 3-2 for the Habs. They were able to hold on.
With a chance to win the series on home ice, the two teams return to Québec for Game 6. Despite more than 50 shots split between the teams in the first three periods, neither netminder was beaten, forcing the fourth overtime of the series. Nine minutes in, Gage Goncalves beat Jakub Dobeš to force a Game 7.
Funnily enough, Game 7 came after the second round had already started. It was on Sunday, and it was another one-goal game. Late in the first, Nick Suzuki opened the scoring, but the Lightning answered with six and a half left to play in the second thanks to Dominic James’ power play goal. Midway through the third, Alex Newhook scored to give the Canadiens the 2-1 lead, which they were able to hold on to.
The Canadiens registered just four shots in the first and five in the third, with the Lightning out-shooting the Habs 12-0 in the second. Overall, their nine shots are the fewest in a playoff victory of all time.

Sabres/Bruins

Before the start of the season, I did reviews of all 32 teams and their moves in the off-season. In the Sabres’ review, I noted that they hadn’t won a playoff series in 18 years, the legal drinking age in Alberta. Unfortunately, that joke is no longer valid thanks to their series victory over the Boston Bruins.
Thanks to a 2-1 overtime victory in Game 5, the Bruins forced a Game 6 in Massachusetts. It didn’t go well for the Original Six team. Alex Tuch opened the scoring for the Sabres just over three minutes in, then Mattias Samuelsson scored to make it 2-0 heading into the first intermission. 
David Pastrňák cut the lead in half early in the first, but Zach Benson scored six minutes into the third to give the Sabres a 3-1 lead. An empty netter by Josh Norris gave the Sabres a 4-1 lead, all they needed for their first series victory since 2007.

Penguins/Flyers

Down 3-0 in the series, the Penguins made the Flyers sweat with victories in Game 4 and 5. For the second time in the post-season, Game 6 in Philadelphia went to overtime with neither team scoring a goal.
Despite being the better team in overtime, it was the Flyers that found the game-winning goal to send them to the second round, as Cam York beat Artūrs Šilovs post and in for the 1-0 victory and 4-2 series win.

Second round

The Flyers’ win set up a match-up between them and the Carolina Hurricanes. As for the other Eastern Conference match-up, the Sabres will have home ice over the Canadiens. Then in the Western Conference, the Golden Knights take on the Ducks, while the Colorado Avalanche play the Wild.

Golden Knights/Ducks

Admittedly, I underestimated the Ducks quite a bit heading into their series against the Oilers, because they look great. The Knights opened the scoring in Game 1, as Howden scored his fifth of the post-season early in the second period. With about six minutes remaining in the game, Mikael Granlund scored to tie the game at one.
An icing that would’ve benefited the Ducks was waived off late with five to go in the third period. Seconds later, Ivan Barbashev scored to make it 2-1 for the Knights, with Marner icing the game with an empty netter. It was a bad missed call, though the Ducks benefited from a call in Game 4 of the first round, even if it ended up being the right call.
In the end, it didn’t matter as the Ducks picked up the split in Las Vegas. Midway through  the second, Beckett Sennecke scored to give the Ducks a 1-0 lead. Leo Carlsson scored six and a half minutes into the third to make it 2-0, then Jansen Harkins scored an empty netter for a 3-0 lead. With just six seconds remaining, Mark Stone scored a power play goal, but it was far too little, far too late.
Games 3 and 4 will be in Anaheim. Both games have a 7:30 p.m. MT start, with Game 3 being on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday. Game 5 will be in Vegas, same start time, on Tuesday.

Avalanche/Wild

Four years ago, the Calgary Flames and Oilers played the Battle of Alberta in the second round. Game 1, and really the series, was a throwback to the 1980s, as the Flames won 9-6. The Avalanche and Wild played another 9-6 game.
Just over 13 minutes into the game, the Avalanche already had a 3-0 lead, but the Wild scored twice before the end of the first. Four minutes into the second, the Avalanche scored to make it 4-2, but the Wild scored three consecutive goals in a 10 minute span, capped off by a Marcus Foligno short-handed goal with three to play in the second.
Shortly after that power play ended, the Avalanche tied the game thanks to Devon Toews’ second goal of the post-season, tying the game at five heading into the third. Before the six minute mark, the Avalanche scored twice, including Nazem Kadri’s first playoff goal since 2022. With four to play, the Wild got to within one, making it 7-6, but Cale Makar scored his second just over a minute later. Nathan MacKinnon iced the game with an empty netter.
The Battle of Alberta settled down from there, with three of the last four games seeing the winning team win by two or fewer goals. It was the same for Game 2 of the Wild/Avalanche series, as the Avalanche won 5-2.
It looked for a second it was going to be another barn burner, as the teams exchanged goals just six seconds apart early in the first, but the Avalanche settled down from there. With eight and a half to play in the first, Gabriel Landeskog scored a power play goal. 
Then 84 seconds into the second, Nicolas Roy scored what turned out to be the game-winner. MacKinnon scored a power play goal to make it 4-1, before Marcus Johansson scored to cut the lead in half. Valeri Nichushkin iced the game with an empty netter with five seconds left.
Game 3 is on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. MT. As for Game 4, it will be on Monday, but the time is yet to be determined. If needed, Game 5 will be on Wednesday, back in Denver.

Sabres/Canadiens

The Canadiens and Sabres series was the final to kick off thanks to the Canadiens’ first round match-up going seven. Game 1 was on Wednesday, and less than five minutes in, Josh Doan gave the Sabres a lead. Ryan McLeod scored a power play goal to make it 2-0, but in the final minute of the first, Suzuki scored to cut the lead in half.
Three and a half minutes into the  second, Jordan Greenway scored his first of the playoffs, which was followed by Bowen Byram’s fourth of the post-season thanks to a power play goal. Kirby Dach scored a Bobby Orr-esque goal late in the second, but the Canadiens were unable to score again. That was despite out-shooting the Sabres 11-1 in the third period.
Game 2 is also in Buffalo and has a start time of 5:00 p.m. MT on Friday. After that, the series will shift to Québec, with Game 3 on Sunday at the same time, and Game 4 on Tuesday, also at 5:00 p.m. MT.

Hurricanes/Flyers

The Flyers and Hurricanes began their season on Saturday, despite the ongoing first round match-up between the Canadiens and the Lightning. Game 1 saw the Hurricanes shutout the Flyers 3-0, with Logan Stankoven scoring just 91 seconds into the game. That was followed by Jackson Blake’s goal seven and a half minutes into the first. Late in the second, Stankoven scored another goal, as Frederik Andersen stopped all 19 shots he faced.
Game 2 was far closer. For the first time all season, the Lightning trailed a game thanks to Jamie Drysdale’s power play goal four minutes into the game. Then 39 seconds later, Sean Couturier scored to put the Flyers up 2-0.
But of course, the Hurricanes had some fight. Midway through the first, Nikolaj Ehlers scored on the power play to cut the lead in half. Seth Jarvis then scored midway through the third to tie the game at one, sending the two teams to overtime. There, Taylor Hall scored with 66 seconds left for the 3-2 victory.
The series shifts to Pennsylvania for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 is on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. MT, and Game 4 is on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. MT. If needed, Game 5 is in Raleigh on Monday, and Game 6 would be on Wednesday in Philadelphia. Something tells me that those games won’t be needed, though.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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