The Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights are at the same intersection and face a 2-1 deficit before the road playoff game on Monday.
The first of the timetable is Volkswagen-Carolina Hurricane (7pm and TNT), then the Golden Knight - Edmonton Oiler (9:30 pm and TNT).
With ESPN Research's statistical insights, continue reading the game preview, reviewing what happened in Sunday's match and Ardaöcal's Sunday three-star rating.
Showdown notes
The capital of Washington, Carolina hurricane
Game 4 | 7 pm ET | TNT
With the lead in the 2-1 series, Canes is now a favorite of the -650 to win the series, while the Capitals is +425. Carolina also jumped to second place at +350 at the Stanley Cup futures table, while the capital is now +2500.
This is the second series in which the Canes lead 2-1 (they beat the Devil in Round 1). Carolina/Hartford has been 9-4 in seven innings when leading 2-1.
Game 3 is the second playoff knockout since the second round against the Rangers in 2022. This is Caps' first closed loss since Game 5 against the Islanders in the first round in 2020.
Frederik Andersen's closing date was fourth in his playoff career, but his first postseason clean sheet was the Hurricane. He joined Cam Talbot as the only active goalkeeper, winning three different franchises for the playoffs.
Andrei Svechnikov now has six goals in the playoffs, the 17th instance of a Hurricane/Whaler player scoring six or more goals in one playoff.
Logan Thompson allowed four goals in Game 3 than his total goals in Game 1 and 2, the third game against Montreal (Five).
Edmonton Oiler's Vegas Golden Knight
Game 4 | 9:30 ET | TNT
After Vegas' Game 3 victory, the series odds for the Oilers and Cavaliers have shrunk. Edmonton is now winning -250, while Vegas is +200. The Oiler's third Cup futures odds are +360, while the Cavaliers' longest third place is +1000.
Vegas's Reilly Smith scored a win in Game 3, with 0.4 seconds left after the puck tilted on Leon Draisaitl's stick. On the record, there is a second left in the third stage - and tied for the latest Stanley Cup Playoffs history regulations as Colorado's 2020 Colorado's Nazem Kadri and Carolina's jussi Jokinen in 2009.
Jack Eichel enters Game 4 and rides a six-game winning streak, which is related to the Golden Knights' playoff record. Mark Stone (2023) and Smith (2018) also achieved this feat.
Connor McDavid now has 40 professional playoff goals. He is the seventh Oilers player to meet that benchmark.
Edmonton's Corey Perry scored two goals in the first phase of Game 3, becoming the third-largest player in Stanley Cup playoff history and is in multiple seasons. In 39, 359 days old, he lags behind Nicklas Lidstrom (41) and Teemu Selanne (40) when they had most of the playoffs.
Öcal Three stars starting on Sunday
The dominant Stanley Cup champion played the best in the playoffs. They limited Maple Leaf to 22 on the goal, had a neutral zone and scored Maple Leaf’s shooting percentage with a 2-0 win with 37. (Screaming to Woll, he's great - this game is easily 8-0.)
With goals and two assists in Game 3, Rantanen became the first player in Stanley Cup playoff history, with five three-pointers in the team's first 10 games. His first game was in the fifth round of the first round.
Bobrovsky didn’t have the busiest nights in his playoff career, but he stopped all 22 goals in his fifth career playoff playoffs.
Sunday's review
Dallas Star 5, Winnipeg Jets 2
Dahl leads 2-1 | Game 4 Tuesday
The stars won the home advantage of the series in Winnipeg’s first two games, gaining home advantage from the series, and since then, they don’t seem to want to give it back. Dallas's Roope Hintz scored 2:27 in the power play, and when Kyle Connor answered midway through the first game, Thomas Harley responded thereafter, giving Dallas a 2-1 advantage after the first time. Nino Niederreiter scored his fourth playoff goal to two-two, but the third stage was the All-Star. Alexander Petrovic and Mikko Rantanen scored in 50 seconds for each other, and Wyatt Johnston threw an exclamation mark with a 14:06 goal in the game. Complete review.
Florida Black Panther 2, Toronto Maple Leaf 0
Series tied 2-2 | Game 5 Wednesday
This is the best two-thirds for the Atlantic Division champion. Carter Verhaeghe started the Panthers’ scoring at 15:45 in Game 1, while the 1-0 score would last until 12:09 in the third inning, when Sam Bennett joined his fifth playoff in the playoffs to 2-0. That's enough for Sergei Bobrovsky, who saved all 23 shots from the Maple Leafs with a goal. Joseph Woll wasn't lazy in the leaf's cage, and saved 35 of 37 people. After Toronto's Max Domi ascended Panther Captain Aleksander Barkov and the small melee that followed, he was furious. Will that continue to Game 5? Complete review.