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The Philadelphia Flyers and the Colorado Avalanche will play in a Game 6, thanks to some late-game heroics on Friday night on enemy ice. The Flyers got a late goal in Game 5 from none other than injured Sean Couturier to beat the Penguins, 3-2, in Pittsburgh. The Avs, who have played top-ranked Nashville tough all series long, also managed to stay alive thanks to some late dramatics. Colorado scored two late goals to stun the Predators and force a Game 6 back in Denver this weekend.
In Friday's other game, the Winnipeg Jets will advance to the next round after dominating the Wild 5-0. Here, we've got you covered with everything you need for tonight's action:
Friday's full schedule
- Philadelphia Flyers 3, Pittsburgh Penguins 2
- Winnipeg Jets 5, Minnesota Wild 0
- Colorado Avalanche 2, Nashville Predators 1
Updated playoff bracket
Avs get two late goals for dramatic comeback win
The Colorado Avalanche managed to get a huge victory on Friday night in Nashville, staving off elimination and forcing a Game 6 in Denver.
The Predators got a controversial goal to open the scoring late in the game, but Colorado showed resolve and ripped off two straight goals for the dramatic win. Andrew Hammond -- the Avalanche's third-string goalie, playing in just his ninth NHL game over the past two seasons -- was outstanding, making 44 saves in a 2-1 victory.
It was a ground war for about two-and-a-half periods before someone finally made a dent on the scoreboard. Andrew Hammond and Pekka Rinne were spectacular in an evenly matched game, but it was Nick Bonino who managed to break the scoreless tie in the third period.
He did so on a play (and an officiating decision) that would've been questioned for days had it decided the game. Bonino was able to score on a rebound, but it was quickly waved off after the official determined he kicked the puck into the net. The play went to review, where officials then decided to reverse their call, explaining there was no distinct kicking motion from Bonino.
Do you agree with their determination that it's a good goal?
Either way, it ultimately didn't matter. The Avs stormed back, first with this goal from Gabriel Landeskog, which was set up thanks to incredible patience from Nathan MacKinnon.
Then, shortly after, Colorado was able to get the go-ahead (and eventual game-winning) goal with Sven Andrighetto picking up rebound duties on an odd-man rush.
As a result, the Avalanche stay alive and force the series back to their barn for a game on Sunday. Who saw this series going (at least) six games? Probably not many.
Flyers force Game 6 with late Couturier goal
After a long, arduous third period, it was the Flyers' Sean Couturier, playing injured, who delivered Friday's game-winning goal against the Penguins in Game 5. Couturier's heroics staved off elimination for the Flyers and ensures there will be a Game 6 back in Philly on Sunday. Couturier's shot was a snipe from the blue line the went through the entire defense, and Matt Murray never found it.
Michal Neuvirth then made an unbelievable save to maintain the lead for the Flyers, and an empty netter from Matt Read on Valterri Filppula's assist (his third point of the game) at 19:42 sealed the 4-2 win. Couturier's goal came at 18:45 at the tail end of a relentless Flyers attack. These teams will head back to Philly as the Penguins try again to clinch, and the Flyers try to force a deciding Game 7 after what was easily the best game of the series.
Earlier in the game, it took the Flyers 17:29 of grinding, but they finally got on the board in the first period on a wicked one-timer wrist shot from Claude Giroux for his first goal of the series. The Flyers got off to the perfect start, drawing a penalty after a strong stretch of pressure and then killing a penalty of their own while the Penguins struggled to get any momentum. Neuvirth started strong for the Flyers, making a few saves, and the team looked like it was clicking outside of a silly penalty that the Penguins couldn't capitalize on.
For Giroux, the goal snapped an 11-game streak without a goal, which should be a huge confidence booster for not only Giroux, but the entire team moving forward.
The Penguins also got a scare when one of their stars Evgeni Malkin stayed on the ice after the Flyers' Jori Lehtera fell on his leg. Malkin returned to the game in the second period.
The Penguins' equalizer came 12 minutes into the second period when Bryan Rust nudged a wraparound goal past the skate of Neuvirth, who had hung on by the skin of his teeth for the previous five minutes after a slashing penalty from Shayne Gostisbehere put the Penguins on the attack in the power play. Neuvirth made a few nice -- if dangerous -- saves, but he couldn't hold the lead after losing Rust behind the net.
Rust now has nine goals in 16 elimination games for Penguins, and he continued to live up to his clutch reputation with the tying goal on Friday. Slightly under five minutes later, the Penguins scored again on a goal where everything went wrong for the Flyers. A turnover led to a rush for Pittsburgh and Jake Guentzel rifled a shot past Neuvirth, who just seemed to lose the puck off the stick. The momentum change within PPG Paints Arena was palpable and it looked like the Flyers were in trouble down 2-1, and a penalty did nothing to assuage those concerns.
However, Filppula scored a goal shorthanded for his second point of the game on a rare rebound off of Murray. Filppula was excellent on the first line for the Flyers, and he was the difference between the Flyers trailing 2-0 and keeping the game tied heading into the third. The Flyers were fighting for all they're worth, and the gravity of this game was apparent after two periods tied 2-2. Heading into the third period, neither team could quite pull away, as the Flyers fought for their season and the Penguins tried to put them away.
The Flyers seemed to know that if this game went into overtime, it would be a huge momentum swing in favor of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh finished 0-for-5 on the power play, while the Flyers went just 0-for-1 in a game that saw a ton of 4-on-4 hockey. It was tough and physical, and far from Neuvirth's best game. But in the end, he came up clutch to keep the Flyers in the series, and that's why he got the start.
Jets dominate Wild to advance
The Minnesota Wild were facing a do-or-die Game 5 in Winnipeg and, boy, things did not go their way, with the Wild losing 5-0 after never recovering from a four-goal onslaught in the first period.
The Jets poured it on early, starting with a goal from Jacob Trouba just 31 seconds into the game, and that would have been the game winner on its own, but it didn't stop there.
Winnipeg's relentless attack just kept coming. They scored four goals on their first 10 shots of the first period, chasing Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk after just 12 minutes of action. The rest of the game was both teams just waiting on the game to be over, until Mark Scheifele scored his fourth goal of the series 32 seconds into the third period to go up 5-0. The Jets were simply the better team, as they have been for most of the series, and they'll go on to play the winner of Predators-Avalanche in the second round.
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Odds for each series
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