NHL News and Notes from Saturday, August 8th, 2020

News

• The following First Round matchups have been confirmed:
  • Western Conference
    • Chicago Blackhawks v. Vegas Golden Knights
    • Arizona Coyotes v. Colorado Avalanche
  • Eastern Conference
    • Montreal Canadiens v. Philadelphia Flyers

Game Recaps

Vegas Golden Knights v. Colorado Avalanche – 3p EST Start Time

In Edmonton the lone game for the Western Conference would take place as the Golden Knights and Avalanche played for first place in the West. After a scoreless first period Jonathan Marchessault would score on the powerplay to open the scoring, but Nathan MacKinnon would tally on the powerplay to tie the game back up at one. Then later in the period both teams would trade goals again as Nicolas Roy would score for Vegas and Joonas Donskoi would tally for Colorado. In the third period Marchesseault would net his second of the game to retake the lead for Vegas, but with 62 seconds left in regulation JT Compher would tie the game at three to force overtime. In the extra frame with 16 seconds left it would be Alex Tuch netting the winner as the Golden Knights claim first place with the 4-3 victory and will face the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round.

Philadelphia Flyers v. Tampa Bay Lightning – 8p EST Start Time

In Toronto we end the day with our only other game of the day as the Flyers and Lightning play for first place in the East. In the first period Nicolas Aube-Kubel would score a pair of goals to give the Flyers the 2-0 lead. Then in the second period Tyler Johnson would score on the powerplay for the Lightning to cut the Flyers lead to one, but Joel Farabee would score to regain the two goal lead. Then in the third period Tyler Pitlick would net the empty netter to give the Flyers the 4-1 victory and the number one seed in the first round of the Playoffs.

Today’s Games

12p ET – Boston v. Washington

3p ET – Dallas v. St. Louis

8p ET – Columbus v. Toronto