schema:articleBody
| - Semyon Varlamov posted his second straight shutout as the New York Islanders used a balanced scoring attack to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0 in the opening game of their playoff series on Monday. Andy Greene, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Anders Lee and Devon Toews each scored in game one of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final series in the NHL's quarantine bubble in Toronto. Varlamov is the first Islanders goalie with consecutive shutouts in the playoffs. "We're playing well defensively," Varlamov said. "The guys played unbelievable again in front of me. "It feels good to get back-to-back shutouts, but at this point it's not about shutouts. It's playoff hockey; the most important thing for me is to get the win and get ready for the next game." Varlamov made all 29 saves and stretched his shutout streak to 136 minutes, 20 seconds. He made 21 saves in a 4-0 win over the Washington Capitals in game five of their first round series. The second game of the best-of-seven series will be played Wednesday. Goaltender Carter Hart stopped 25 shots for the top seeded Flyers, who eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in six games in the first round. "They were the better team in the first, we were the better team in the second and couldn't find a way to capitalize on some of our real good looks," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said. "I believe if we get the same looks sooner or later we'll be able to put the puck in the net. But the third period got a little bit away from us. We lost a couple of battles that they were able to capitalize on." The Islanders outshot Philadelphia 15-4 and scored once in the first period before igniting for three goals in the third. Pageau, with his fifth of the playoffs, beat Hart from the front of the net early in the third to make it 2-0. Lee, on a pass from Canadian star Mathew Barzal, and Toews, into an empty net late, rounded out the scoring in the final period. In the late game, the Dallas Stars scored five straight goals in a 5-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche to extend their lead in the second round series to 2-0. Anton Khudobin made 38 saves, and Russian Alexander Radulov had a goal and an assist for the third seeded Stars. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each had a goal and an assist for Colorado. Goaltender Pavel Francouz made 22 saves. Game three is Wednesday in Edmonton. gph/th
|