Tuesday night brought another wild slate of games in the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs as two of the four contests of the evening went to overtime, with one tilt needing three extra frames to be settled.
In the Eastern Conference, the Red Wings came home to Detroit for Game 3 of their series with the Tampa Bay Lightning nodded up at 1-1 while the New York Islanders hosted the Washington Capitals in a pivotal Game 4 clinging to a 2-1 series lead.
Over in the Western Conference, the Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Nashville Predators in Game 4 leading 2-1 in the series entering play while the Calgary Flames had home ice against the Vancouver Canucks also up 2-1 in the set.
Here are the five players of the night for Tuesday's Stanley Cup playoff games:
5) Johnny Gaudreau: Johnny Hockey scored his first-career playoff goal Tuesday night to get the Flames on the board with 3:23 remaining in the opening frame. The Calder Trophy candidate's tally was one of three markers Calgary scored in its second home game of these playoffs after bringing postseason hockey back to the Saddledome for the first time since 2009. The Flames went on to win 3-1 and take a 3-1 series lead over the Canucks with the series set to shift back to Vancouver.
Honorable Mention: Flames forward Jiri Hudler (goal, assist).
4) Nicklas Backstrom: The Capitals forward helped tie his team's series with the New York islanders at 2-2 by beating goalie Jaroslav Halak for his third goal of the postseason 11:09 into overtime, which lifted Washington to a 2-1 victory. It marked Backstrom's third-career playoff overtime goal. The Swede also contributed to the Capital's first goal as he assisted on Alex Ovechkin's first-period tally. The series heads back to Washington tied 2-2.
3) Scott Darling: After displacing Corey Crawford as the No. 1 goalie and winning Game 3, Darling was amazing in Chicago's triple overtime thriller in Game 4. Darling stopped 50 of the 52 shots he faced in what was almost two games rolled into one and helped keep the Blackhawks in it long enough for the team to win the game 3-2. (More on that later). Darling is 3-0-0 this postseason with a stingy 1.05 goals-against average and a .969 save percentage.
2) Petr Mrazek: The rookie netminder had a dazzling performance in Game 3 as the series shifted to Detroit for the first time and he gave the raucous home crowd something to cheer for. Mrazek stopped all 22 shots he faced during the contest to improve to 2-1-0 on the postseason with a 2.25 GAA and a .930 save percentage. The Red Wings rolled on to a 3-0 victory and host Game 4 looking for a commanding 3-1 series lead.
1) Brent Seabrook: The hero of the night was the Blackhawks defenseman, who put an end to a marathon triple overtime game by blasting a one-timer from the blue line past Predators goalie Pekka Rinne a minute into the third extra frame in what marked his second tally of the postseason. The goal propelled the Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory and they took a commanding 3-1 series lead.
The NHL Stanley Cup playoffs have been highly entertaining and they roll on Wednesday with four more games.
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