Golden Knights tie Wild with OT win - Marin Independent Journal

NHL PLAYOFFS ROUNDUP

Golden Knights tie Wild with OT win

Draymond Green (23) of the Warriors reacts after being called for traveling during the second quarter in Game 3 of a Western Conference first-round series against the Rockets at Chase Center in San Francisco. EZRA SHAW — GETTY IMAGES

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Some puck luck finally went the Vegas Golden Knights’ way and they avoided getting pushed to the brink of elimination.

Ivan Barbashev scored at 17:26 of overtime and the Golden Knights beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 in Game 4 on Saturday at St. Paul, Minn., to even their first-round playoff series.

Nicolas Roy and Tomas Hertl each had a goal and assist, and Shea Theodore also scored for the Pacific Division champion Golden Knights. Adin Hill made 29 saves.

Late in the extra period, Smith forced a Wild turnover deep in its own zone. Roy’s centering attempt that deflected off Wild defenseman Jake Middleton and Barbashev knocked in the loose puck off a scramble in front. It was his first goal of the playoffs after scoring 23 in the regular season.

Vegas killed a power play earlier in the extra frame.

Marco Rossi, Marcus Foligno and Jared Spurgeon scored for Minnesota. Filip Gustavsson made 42 saves.

Lightning 5, Panthers 1 >> Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 33 shots and Tampa Bay came back to win at Florida to cut its deficit in the first-round series to 2-1.

Tampa Bay’s offense came alive, with goals from Jake Guentzel, Brayden Point, Nick Paul and Luke Glendening. Anthony Cirelli added an empty-netter with five minutes left, and Nikita Kucherov had three assists.

The Lightning will try to even things up in Game 4 on Monday at Sunrise. The Panthers, however, are 5-0 after taking a 2-0 lead in a playoff series.

Senators 4, Maple Leafs 3 (OT) >> Defenseman Jake Sanderson scored on a long wrist shot from the left boards at 17:42 of overtime and Ottawa beat Toronto to force a fifth game in the first-round series.

Sanderson kept the puck in at the blue line and fired the wrist shot that sailed through traffic and past goalie Anthony Stolarz into the top, right corner.

The teams needed extra time for the third straight game, with Ottawa finally breaking though after 3-2 overtime losses in Games 2 and 3. Toronto missed a chance for its first sweep since beating Ottawa in the 2001 first round.

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Toronto.