Jake Sanderson – the third blueliner to score an overtime winner in as many days – netted his first career playoff goal in front of 19,094 fans in Ottawa to force a Game 5 in the ‘Battle of Ontario’. Sanderson became the eighth-youngest defenseman to score in overtime, less than 24 hours after Simon Nemec became the second.
* Gabriel Landeskog scored his first goal in nearly three years to help the Avalanche become the second Western Conference team to even their series Saturday, after the Golden Knights did so thanks to an Ivan Barbashev overtime winner earlier in the day.
* Jake Guentzel’s three-point night saw him score his 40th career playoff goal en route to Tampa Bay’s first win of the postseason.
* The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs are the fourth postseason under the current format (since 2013-14) with no sweeps in the First Round (also 2023, 2020 & 2016).
* Sunday will mark the second straight day with a guaranteed 11 hours of playoff action and will feature a slate of Game 4s in series that have each seen the home team win the previous contest.
SANDERSON SCORES OVERTIME WINNER TO STAVE OFF ELIMINATION
Despite the Maple Leafs erasing 2-0 and 3-2 deficits, the Senators prevailed through the overtime heroics of defenseman Jake Sanderson (1-1—2), who scored his first career playoff goal to stave off elimination for the Senators and force a Game 5 in the ‘Battle of Ontario.’ Ottawa’s all-time record in Game 5s is 15-9 (.625), including a 9-7 (.563) mark on the road.
* Sanderson became the fourth player in Senators history to stave off elimination with an overtime goal, joining Matt Carkner (Game 5 of 2010 CQF), Mike Fisher (Game 6 of the 2004 CQF) and Chris Phillips (Game 6 of 2003 CF). He also became just the sixth defenseman in franchise history to record an overtime tally and first since Dion Phaneuf in Game 2 of the 2017 First Round.
* Sanderson became the sixth defenseman in the past 20 years to score an overtime goal to stave off elimination. He joined Ivan Provorov (Game 6 of 2020 R2 w/ PHI), Ryan McDonagh (Game 5 of 2015 R2 w/ NYR), Alec Martinez (Game 7 of 2014 CF w/ LAK), Brent Seabrook (Game 7 of 2013 CSF w/ CHI) and Matt Carkner (Game 5 of 2010 CQF w/ OTT).
* Less than 24 hours after Simon Nemec (21 years, 69 days) became the second-youngest defenseman in NHL history to score an overtime goal in the playoffs when he did so for the Devils in Game 3, Sanderson (22 years, 292 days) became the eighth youngest to do so. The only other active defenseman on that list is Kris Letang.
AVALANCHE AND GOLDEN KNIGHTS BOTH EVEN FIRST ROUND SERIES 2-2
The Avalanche and Golden Knights both picked up crucial Game 4 victories to even their opening round series at 2-2, with the latter doing so in the extra frame. Saturday marked the sixth consecutive day the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs have featured at least one overtime game – the longest postseason stretch since a span of seven days from April 21-27, 2019.
* In just his second game back since missing more than 1,000 days due to injury, Gabriel Landeskog (1-1—2) scored his first goal since June 20, 2022 – Game 3 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final – while Mackenzie Blackwood (23 saves) posted his first career postseason shutout as the Avalanche evened the series before it heads back to Dallas.
* Blackwood became the fifth goaltender in franchise history to record his first postseason shutout within his first four playoff games with the club. He joined Pavel Francouz (1 GP), Dan Bouchard (3 GP), Craig Anderson (3 GP) and Patrick Roy (3 GP).
* The Golden Knights faced a one-goal deficit entering the third period, but goals from Nicolas Roy and Tomas Hertl gave Vegas a brief lead before Wild captain Jared Spurgeon netted a tying goal 54 seconds later to force overtime, where two-time Stanley Cup champion Ivan Barbashev (2019 w/ STL & 2023 w/ VGK) would play the role of hero with his first career overtime winner in the postseason.
* The Golden Knights have captured 10 third-period comeback wins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since their inaugural season in 2017-18 – the second most among all teams during that span behind just the Avalanche (11).
GUENTZEL, KUCHEROV PROPEL LIGHTNING TO FIRST WIN OF SERIES
Jake Guentzel (1-2—3) and Nikita Kucherov (0-3—3) each recorded three-point outings to help the Lightning score five on the road in a playoff game for the first time since 2023 and earn their first victory in a series that has seen the road team win each of the first three contests.
* Kucherov recorded his 11th career three-assist game to surpass Connor McDavid (10) and move into a tie for third most all-time. Only Wayne Gretzky (28) and Mark Messier (12) have more three-assist playoff performances than Kucherov. Kucherov now has 118 career playoff assists, which moved him ahead of Larry Robinson (116) for 13th in NHL history.
* Guentzel, who scored a career-high 41 regular-season goals in his first season with the Lightning, improved his career playoff totals to 40-31—71 (72 GP) and ranks third among active U.S.-born skaters in playoff goals and fourth in that category in postseason points.
QUICK CLICKS
* #NHLStats: Live Updates for April 26, 2025
* Cam Fowler becomes stabilizing force for Blues heading into Game 4 against Jets
* Phil Pritchard lookalike crowned at Stanley Cup KeeperCon in Toronto
* Josh Anderson (MTL) and Tom Wilson (WSH) fined for unsportsmanlike conduct
* Jeff Gorton discusses growth of Canadiens on ice and off in Q&A with NHL.com
HOME ICE IS NICE, BUT WILL A ROAD TEAM BREAK THROUGH?
All four games scheduled across a full 11 hours of playoff action on Sunday will be Game 4s in a series that have seen the home team win each contest. Stars such as Jordan Binnington in St. Louis, Nico Hischier in New Jersey, Cole Caufield in Montreal and Connor McDavid in Edmonton will look to lead their teams to another home win and even their respective series 2-2.
* The Jets (26-15-0, 52 points) had more road wins than any team in the 2024-25 regular season, and will need to tap into that success at Enterprise Center against the Blues, who last lost a game on home ice in February and have 13 consecutive home wins overall dating to the regular season. Binnington closed the 2024-25 regular season on a franchise-record 11-game home win streak and made 17 saves in Game 3 to backstop the Blues to their first win of the series.
* A close Hurricanes–Devils series will contest Game 4 with New Jersey looking to secure back-to-back home victories to tie the series after withstanding a Carolina comeback attempt with a double-overtime victory in Game 3. Through the first three games of the series, 81% of playing time has seen the two teams tied or within a goal (163:43 of 202:36).
* Cole Caufield (37 regular season & 2 playoffs) has 39 total goals this year and sits one away from becoming the first Canadiens player in a decade to score 40, last achieved by Max Pacioretty in 2014-15 (37 regular season & 5 playoffs). At the other end of the ice, 39-year-old Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has three goals through the first three games of this series, and his next playoff tally will tie Mario Lemieux (76) for 12th in NHL history.
* The Kings and Oilers have combined to average 10 goals per game through the first three contests of the series, including four game-tying goals, three of which came in Game 3. The teams are led in points by Adrian Kempe (4-5—9 in 3 GP) and Connor McDavid (2-5—7 in 3 GP). With a point in Game 4, Kempe would become the fastest Kings player to 10 points in a postseason, a mark currently held by Wayne Gretzky (5 GP in 1991) and Daryl Evans (5 GP in 1982). McDavid’s next three-point game (he already has two in 2025) will tie Denis Savard for the fifth most in Stanley Cup Playoffs history on a list loaded with Oilers greats.
