The Stanley Cup playoffs continued with three huge Game 2s on Sunday as the quest for the greatest trophy in sports continued.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens, the Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks and the Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks continued their matchups with Game 2 of their respective series' Sunday night.
Here are three takeaways from all the action around the NHL:
1) Lightning Strikes: Steven Stamkos lit the lamp for the Lightning in their Game 2 victory over the Canadiens to end a nine-game scoring drought dating back to the regular season. While Stamkos' goal was huge, the main storyline coming out of Game 2 was Montreal's inability to play a disciplined game. The Canadiens marched to the penalty box eight times in the game and awoke the sleeping giant that is the Tampa Bay man advantage. Valtteri Filppula and Victor Hedman each tallied on the power play Sunday while Nikita Kucherov lit the lamp twice with his team up a man. The Lightning went 4-for-8 on the man advantage and the team rolled on to a 6-2 victory and now takes a 2-0 series lead back to Florida.
2) Windy City Superstars: The Blackhawks' stars were all on display in Chicago's 4-1 Game 2 victory over the Wild Sunday at the United Center. Captain Jonathan Toews scored a short-handed goal and Patrick Kane found the twine shortly after to stake the team to a 2-0 first period lead. The tallies were their fourth of the playoffs and after Minnesota scored to pull to within 2-1, Patrick Sharp netted his fourth marker of the postseason and Kane added his team-leading fifth goal into an empty net. Sharp assisted on Kane's second goal. The Blackhawks took a 2-0 series lead over the Wild.
3) Unbeatable?: The Ducks blanked the Flames 3-0 in Game 2 of their best-of-seven series to improve to an impressive 6-0 thus far in the postseason. Matt Beleskey scored his second goal of the playoffs to kick off the scoring in the first period while Hampus Lindholm tallied in the third period and Nate Thompson found the empty net to ice the game. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf each had two assists in the game, to bring their total to eight apiece, which is tied for the NHL lead. Perry paces the NHL playoff field with 13 points thus far. After sweeping the Winnipeg Jets in Round 1, the Ducks have taken a 2-0 series lead on the Flames. Anaheim has outscored its opponents 25-10 in the playoffs thus far.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs continue on Monday when the Washington Capitals host the New York Rangers at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. in Game 3 of their series, which is tied 1-1.
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