Western Semifinal Nightly Recap

Western Semifinal

Anaheim Ducks - 4 @ Arizona Coyotes - 2

• Series tied 2-2

Patrice Bergeron sure picked a great time to score his first goal of the series. 

The Anaheim Ducks avoided falling behind 3-1 in their series with the Arizona Coyotes buoyed by the performance of their captain. Bergeron, who had 38 goals during the regular season to lead all Ducks skaters, had yet to find the back of the net against Arizona. He made up for it by scoring two massive goals, the equaliser and game-winner. He had a game-high 11 shots on net. 

Head coach Bruce Boudreau made some minor tweaks to the line-up that paid off. Mike Hoffman and Sonny Milano swapped spots up front while Jakob Chychrun and MacKenzie Weegar did the same on defense. The moves worked out for Weegar has he got his first two points of the playoffs (1-1-2).

Tristan Jarry was shaky in net for Anaheim as he only stopped 14 of the 16 shots he faced, but it was enough. Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 38 of 42.

Winnipeg Jets - 5 @ Columbus Blue Jackets - 4

• Winnipeg leads series 3-1

It wasn't Mikko Rantanen or Elias Lindholm that led the Jets to victory. It was.....Brandon Tanev. 

Brandon Tanev and the rest of Winnipeg's third line dominated in a Game 4 victory over the Blue Jackets. They'll have the opportunity to advance to the Conference Final at home in Game 5.

It was an off night for both team's top lines as they combined for a single point (a Mitch Marner goal). The second line of Filip Forsberg, Bo Horvat and Lucas Raymond nearly got the job done for the Avs, as they came together for 9 points and helped string together a 4 goal rally after being down 3-0.

But it was Brandon Tanev who stole the show. He hadn't scored a goal since Game 2 of the Dallas series, but erupted for a hat trick. He scored two in the first period to help stake the Jets to a 3-0 lead. He completed the trick in the third, finishing off a slick feed from Tyler Bozak to tie the game at 4. 

It looked like the game could be headed to overtime but Scott Mayfield intercepted a pass and slid the puck up the ice to Bozak who snapped one past Mike Smith with 45 seconds left to play. 

THREE STARS

Brandon Tanev (WPG): 3 goals, +4, 2 hits, 6 shots, 1 blocked shot, 14:01 TOI
Patrice Bergeron (ANH): 2 goals, 1 assist, +2, 11 shots, 1 SB, 2 GA, 21:54 TOI
Tyler Bozak (WPG): 1 goal (GWG), 2 assists, +4, 1 shot, 11:18 TOI