Monday night was one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nights in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Dallas Stars opened the scoring just nine seconds into Game 5 of their series with the Colorado Avalanche and there were five second-period goals — including three in the final 5:22 — in a contest that wound up 6-2 (with one empty-netter) in favour of the Stars, who now hold a 3-2 edge in the series.
Meanwhile, in South Florida, both the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning set new franchise records for the fastest two goals in a playoff contest.
In addition to some quick-strike offence, it was also another mean one between the two clubs, as the Panthers used a late flourish to defeat Tampa 4-2 in Game 4 and grab a 3-1 series lead. The victory was the first ‘W’ for a home team in this set.
As for trends that continued in the series, Game 4 marked the third consecutive contest that featured a player being issued a major penalty. In fact, all three of the majors called in the playoffs have come in this heated, in-state matchup between the Cats and Bolts.
There’s a lot to get to from both games, so let’s dive in.
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Ekblad in the middle of everything
The Florida defenceman who was assessed a five-minute major in Game 4 was Niko Mikkola, who crunched a fallen Zemgus Girgensons into the boards early in the third period while the Tampa forward was in a defenceless position. That play came on the heels of Tampa’s Brandon Hagel being whistled for a major in Game 2 for a hit on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov (for which Hagel received a one-game suspension) and Panthers agitator Matthew Tkachuk being given an interference major for contact with Bolts winger Jake Guentzel in Game 3 (a play that did not prompt supplemental discipline from the NHL).
Really, though, the most egregious play by a Florida blue-liner occurred when Aaron Ekblad jumped up and delivered a blow with his forearm directly to Hagel’s head in the second period. The Tampa winger was flattened by the hit and struck his head on the ice. Hagel left the contest and did not return.
Ekblad — who just returned in Game 3 from a 20-game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL and NHLPA performance-enhancing drug policy — may be in line for another sentence from the league, even though no penalty was called on the play. Speaking on the Sportsnet intermission panel, both Justin Bourne and Sam Consentino said they expected another suspension to be coming Ekblad’s way.
As it turned out, a game Ekblad could have easily been booted from wound up turning in the third when — on a couple occasions, in fact — he put the puck in the net to pull Florida even.
First, it appeared Ekblad had netted a power-play equalizer, but the goal was called back when it was determined Florida was off-side on its initial zone entry. With just 3:47 to go in the third, though, Ekblad found the net again and this time it counted, tying the game 2-2.
Now that Florida has been reminded of what the 29-year-old can bring to the lineup, coach Paul Maurice can probably bank on game-planning to not have Ekblad on his bench for at least Game 5 of this series.
11 seconds
In the middle frame, not long after watching Hagel forced from the game by Ekblad’s hit, Tampa Bay struck for a goal when Mitchell Chaffee — a scratch in Game 1 — swatted a loose puck past Sergei Bobrovsky for his first-ever playoff tally to make it a 1-1 game. If seeing Chaffee score was a surprise, it was shocking to watch Erik Cernak — who entered the night with two goals in 82 playoff games — wire one past Bobrovsky just 11 seconds later to suddenly give Tampa the lead.
The Lighting held that advantage until late in the third period, when Ekblad knotted things up. The Florida fans were still buzzing from Ekblad’s goal when his fellow D-man, Seth Jones, floated one on goal that ticked off Tampa defenceman Ryan McDonagh, caught a piece of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy’s arm and fluttered into the net.
The time between Cats goals? 11 seconds.
In both cases, the teams set new franchise marks for the fastest two goals in a playoff game.
Wyatt Johnston enters the chat
For a player who is still a couple weeks away from his 22nd birthday, Wyatt Johnston has already built an impressive playoff resume. Entering the 2025 post-season, Johnston had scored 10 times in his past 17 playoff outings.
That said, Johnston was held to a couple of assists through four games against Colorado and was kept off the scoresheet completely during Games 3 and 4 in Denver.
His first goal of the series came early in Game 5, though, as it was Johnston who got the American Airlines Arena jumping with a sharp-angle marker on Mackenzie Blackwood just nine ticks into the night. Any team is going to receive a boost from scoring that early, but goal was especially huge for Dallas given how little time the Stars had played with the lead through four games. Entering Game 5, Dallas had held the advantage on Colorado for a minuscule 1:02 in the entire series.
After setting up Thomas Harley’s goal in the final minute of the first, Johnston buried his second of the game on a Dallas power play late in the middle frame. That was a crucial tally as it restored a two-goal cushion for Dallas just a couple minutes after its 3-0 lead had shrunk to 3-2 on a goal by Nathan MacKinnon.
Speaking of MacKinnon, his former linemate got off the schneid, too. Mikko Rantanen — the one-time Avalanche turned Hurricane turned Star — got to his old team early in the second when he streaked down the ice and converted a nice 2-on-1 pass from Roope Hintz and wired it past Blackwood.
Through four games, Rantanen had managed just a single assist in the series. If he and Johnston are finding their touch, it would be a big development for a Dallas squad that is still playing without injured top-line winger Jason Robertson.
Blackwood struggles
Goaltending has certainly been a point of concern for Colorado in recent springs, but Blackwood — in his first season with the team and playing the first playoff contests of his career — had been strong through four games, posting a .939 save percentage.
The first period of Game 5 was not his best work, however, as both pucks that got by him were shots the Avs have grown accustomed to seeing his stop. Johnston was basically positioned right on the goal line when he squeezed one between Blackwood and the short-side post, while Harley’s shot struck the goalie’s blocker, went up in the air, kicked off Blackwood’s back and into the net.
After Blackwood allowed three more in the second period, backup Scott Wedgewood came in for the final frame.
While it would be misguided to lay the ‘L’ at the skates of the starting goalie, Colorado will need Blackwood at his best to extend the series with a Game 6 win at home on Thursday night.
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