Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 10: Golden Knights prevail in OT, Penguins refuse to lose

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are back, which means that for the next two months, we’ll get non-stop action as we witness 16 teams get whittled down to the one that will be crowned as the 2026 Stanley Cup champions. Here at Daily Faceoff, we’ll be keeping you in the loop on everything that happens in the playoffs, every day until the Stanley Cup is hoisted in June.

Monday night was the first “light” night of action, with only two games on the docket. However, that didn’t deter the four teams in action from providing some drama.

Lucky bounce helps Penguins stay alive

After avoiding elimination on Saturday, the Pittsburgh Penguins were on a mission to refuse to lose. In returning home for Game 5 of the Metropolitan Division Semifinal against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Penguins needed some help from Lady Luck to keep the series going, using a fortuitous bounce to come away with a 3-2 win.

The Penguins got off on the right foot in Game 5. On the team’s first shot on goal, big man Elmer Soderblom scored his first-ever NHL postseason goal, much to the delight of the home fans.

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After the teams traded a number of chances in the opening period, the final 40 minutes of the game were low-event, scoring chance-wise. Yet, the red light came on a few times in period two. Pittsburgh was able to extend its lead just minutes into the frame, as Connor Dewar absolutely sniped Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar. However, the Flyers quickly got on the board, as Alex Bump scored his first playoff goal just 12 seconds later.

Then, with less than five minutes to go in the second, a rather innocent-looking wrister from Travis Sanheim snuck its way through traffic and in, tying the game at two.

The mood inside PPG Paints Arena was a complete 180 from earlier in the game, as the Flyers had the momentum and hoped to carry it to grab the lead. Yet, the Penguins somehow took the lead back with one of the strangest goals of these playoffs so far.

Just over two minutes after Sanheim’s marker, Kris Letang fired a shot that went well wide of the Flyers’ goal, but Vladar overplayed the attempt, failing to catch the sailing puck. After the biscuit ricocheted off the glass, it bounced off the back of Vladar’s leg, creeping across the goal line.

That set up a very tense third period. While Philadelphia was seeking the tying goal, the Pens’ defense made things tough for the visitors’ top offensive weapons. Pittsburgh hung on for the win, cutting the deficit in the series to 3-2.

The Penguins led the shot count, 21-20, with Arturs Silovs making 18 saves in his second straight start. Vladar also made 18 stops in the losing effort.

Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Flyers defenseman each had two assists in the game. Both teams went 0-for-2 on the man advantage.

Now, the Flyers return home for Game 6, having lost all the momentum that carried the team to a 3-0 lead earlier in the series. They will have a third chance to knock out their in-state rivals on Wednesday night.

Golden Knights blow lead, beat Utah in overtime

The second game of the night went far beyond what it should have. The Vegas Golden Knights squandered a big lead in Game 4 of the Pacific Division Semifinal against the Utah Mammoth, but bounced back to grab a 5-4 win in extra time.

The game had a similar start to what we saw on Friday, with Vegas controlling the play in the early going. Unlike Game 3, the visitors made the most of their chances. A beautiful setup by Jack Eichel and Ivan Barbashev led to Pavel Dorofeyev notching his first of the series just over a minute into the game.

The Golden Knights continued to pin the Mammoth on their heels, outshooting Utah 8-3 in the first period. Even when the Mammoth had a power play late in the first period, a lazy breakout attempt led to Mitch Marner forcing a turnover, feeding Brett Howden for his first of the series to put Vegas up by two heading into the break.

Things were looking even more bleak for the home team once Cole Smith added to the Golden Knights’ lead a little over three minutes into the middle frame. However, the Mammoth sprang to life in the second. First, Nick Schmaltz cleaned up a rebound just past the eight-minute mark to put Utah on the board. Then, just 29 seconds later, Ian Cole wired a shot by Vegas netminder Carter Hart to put his team within one.

The Golden Knights were able to settle things down for the rest of the frame, but the Mammoth restored their confidence heading into the second intermission. That carried into the third, as Michael Carcone tied the game 105 seconds into the stanza with a howitzer.

The noise inside Delta Center was deafening, the momentum was with their team, and it led to Clayton Keller scoring a fluky goal of his own, his first-ever playoff goal, to give the Mammoth the lead a little over five minutes into the third.

That tally seemed to catch the Golden Knights’ attention, as they started to take the play back in the following minutes. Just past the halfway mark of the third, Howden tipped in a point shot from Noah Hanifin to level the score at four.

Each team sought the next goal, but neither was able to score for the remainder of regulation, giving us overtime for the first time in the series. There were several chances in the extra frame, with Utah pushing for the winner. However, it seemed that Vegas scored just past the halfway mark of the period when Dorofeyev tapped home a strange rebound off Karel Vejmelka, but a video review determined the play was offside.

However, the Golden Knights pulled it out in the final minute of overtime. A mad scramble put Vejmelka out of position, and Shea Theodore hammered home his first of the series to give Vegas the win, evening the series as it heads back to Sin City.

After giving up home-ice advantage earlier in the series, the Golden Knights have managed to turn this series into a best-of-three.

Vegas outshot Utah 36-31. The miscues in OT overshadowed what was a solid performance from Vejmelka, who turned away 31 shots in the loss. Carter Hart made 27 saves for the Golden Knights. As in the earlier game, neither team could score on the PP, with Vegas going 0-for-4 and Utah 0-for-3.