Stanley Cup playoffs daily: Previews, stats, schedule, bracketESPN staffApr 25, 2026, 08:00 AM ETMultiple Authors
tamil yogi
Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators, we hardly knew ya.
The Philadelphia Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes are up 3-0 against those teams, respectively, making Saturday’s Game 4s a potential clincher for one side and an eliminator for the other.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars have won two straight against the Minnesota Wild after getting blown out in Game 1. Which version shows up in Game 4?
Read on for previews of Saturday’s games, a best bet for Saturday, scores and highlights from Friday’s contests, and updated playoff stat leaders.
Read more:
Full schedule
Playoff Central
Stanley Cup odds
First-round overreactions
Top 50 player rankings
Saturday’s schedule
Carolina Hurricanes at Ottawa Senators
3 p.m. ET (TBS) | Game 4, CAR leads 3-0
Given the series tally, things are looking bleak for Ottawa: The Hurricanes have won all three best-of-seven series in their history when up 3-0, and the Senators have lost all six prior instances of being down 3-0 in a seven-game series.
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Getting out to a lead after two periods has been a recipe for success for Carolina. The Canes have won their past 18 games (regular season and playoffs) when leading after two periods. Their last loss was Jan. 31 against the Capitals (4-3 in overtime).
With the game’s first goal in each game this series, Logan Stankoven joined Toronto’s George Armstrong as the only players in NHL history to score the game-opening goal in the first three contests of a postseason. He also matched Pat Verbeek (current Ducks GM) for the longest postseason-opening goal streak in Hurricanes/Whalers history.
Ottawa’s power play was eighth in the regular season at 24.0%. The Sens have scored zero power-play goals so far this series, going 0-for-12. They are also the only team in the 2026 postseason to not lead at any point.
Carolina’s Taylor Hall laid a hit on Ottawa’s Jake Sanderson in Game 3 in which Hall’s shoulder made contact with Sanderson’s head. The Ottawa blueliner is out for Game 4 with a concussion. Hall will not receive any supplemental discipline from the NHL in addition to the two-minute penalty with which he was charged in the game.
Dallas Stars at Minnesota Wild
5:30 p.m. ET (TBS) | Game 4, DAL leads 2-1
The Stars have a 19-7 overall record in best-of-seven series when leading 2-1, and an 11-2 record in such series when they begin the series at home.
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Wyatt Johnston’s overtime goal in Game 3 was the second of his playoff career; the other was in Game 3 of the 2024 first round against the Golden Knights. Johnston now has six game-winning playoff goals, which is tied for sixth most in Stars/North Stars franchise history with Tyler Seguin, Joe Pavelski, Jamie Langenbrunner and Brett Hull.
Jason Robertson is the fourth player in franchise history with a three-game goal streak to begin a postseason, joining Steve Payne (1981), Dino Ciccarelli (1981) and Dave Gagner (1994).
Minnesota’s Quinn Hughes had an assist in Game 3, and his three-game point streak is the longest to begin a postseason in Wild franchise history; it’s tied for the second-longest streak at any point in the playoffs by a Wild defenseman, behind Filip Kuba’s four-game point streak in 2003.
Joel Eriksson Ek has three goals this postseason, which is tied for the most in a single postseason of his career; he also had three goals in six games during the 2022 playoffs.
Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers
8 p.m. ET (TBS) | Game 4, PHI leads 3-0
The Flyers are 10-0 in franchise history when taking a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series. The Penguins are 0-6 when falling behind 3-0.
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Philly’s Game 3 win was its first on home ice since Game 4 of the 2016 first round against the Capitals. Trevor Zegras was 15 years old on that date, while Porter Martone was 9.
The Flyers became the first team since 2017 to have four players score their first career playoff goal in the same contest: Zegras, Nick Seeler, Rasmus Ristolainen and Noah Cates.
For Ristolainen, this goal was a long time coming. He played in 820 regular-season games before the first playoff game of his career and is the third player in NHL history to play in 800 or more regular-season games before reaching the playoffs. Jeff Skinner (1,078 games before playoffs) and Ron Hainsey (907) are the other two.
Evgeni Malkin scored playoff goal No. 69 of his career, which was also his 15th postseason goal against the Flyers. That ties the record for most playoff goals against Philly, also held by Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby.
Saturday’s best bet
The bet: Sidney Crosby 2-plus points (+190)
Has Sid ever been more “due”? In Wednesday’s Game 3, the Crosby-Rickard Rakell-Bryan Rust trio held a staggering 16-0 shot-attempt advantage, and they’ve out-attempted the Flyers 30-4 at five-on-five for the series. They aren’t just winning their minutes, they’re playing a game of keep-away.
With the Penguins’ backs against the wall, and the refs hopefully a little less punishing, expect the captain to finally turn that dominance into production. Parlay it with a Penguins win (+100), as a Flyers sweep feels like far too simple a narrative for what might be the final postseason run of the Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang era. — Sean Allen
Friday’s scoreboard
Montreal Canadiens 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 2 (OT)
Canadiens lead 2-1
For the third straight game, the Canadiens and Lightning needed overtime to decide a winner. Montreal’s Alexandre Texier sent the spirited home crowd into a frenzy with his game-opening goal in the first period, but Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point answered minutes later. The teams traded a goal apiece in the second as well, before a tense, scoreless third filled with many chances. Overtime was settled quickly, with a Lane Hutson laser beam zipping past Andrei Vasilevskiy 2:09 into the extra frame. The two teams face off again on Sunday in Montreal for Game 4. Full recap.
Utah Mammoth 4, Vegas Golden Knights 2
Mammoth lead 2-1
For the first time in NHL history, a Stanley Cup playoff game was hosted in Utah. The home crowd was ready, and nearly blew the roof off of the Delta Center after two first-period Mammoth goals from MacKenzie Weegar and Dylan Guenther. Lawson Crouse added a pair in the second, and that was more than enough, as the Golden Knights mustered only two goals (from Jack Eichel and Nic Dowd) in the contest. The two clubs will square off again in Utah on Monday, with the Mammoth in position to go up 3-1. Full recap.
Anaheim Ducks 7, Edmonton Oilers 4
Ducks lead 2-1
The Oilers have scored four goals in each of their games against the Ducks this postseason, which is pretty good; the Avalanche were tops in the NHL in the regular season, scoring 3.63 goals per game. Unfortunately, goal suppression has been a problem for Edmonton; they won Game 1 (4-3), but allowed six goals in a Game 2 loss, and seven goals in their Game 3 loss. After Anaheim carried a 2-1 lead into the end of the first period, the Oilers rallied back and the clubs were tied 3-3 after two. However, that’s when Anaheim turned it on, with four third-period goals to the Oilers’ one.
Seven players scored for Anaheim — Mason McTavish, Mikael Granlund, Alex Killorn, Beckett Sennecke, Leo Carlsson, Jeffrey Viel and Jackson LaCombe — and if there’s any consolation for Edmonton, it’s that Connor McDavid finally got on the scoresheet, via a second-period assist and a third-period goal. Game 4 is Sunday in Anaheim. Full recap.
Playoff scoring leaders
PlayerGPGAPT-1. Jackson LaCombe, D, Ducks
Click here for full list of stats leaders.
Playoff goaltending leaders
PlayerGPWGAASV%1. Alex Lyon, Sabres
Click here for the full list of goaltender stats.
Stanley Cup playoff bracket
Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket ESPN
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