Updated 2025 NHL Playoff Bracket, Schedule and Top Highlights from April 24

The Toronto Maple Leafs forced the Ottawa Senators to the brink of playoff elimination in front of a Sens home crowd on Thursday night.

Simon Benoit scored just over one minute into overtime of Game 3 to give the Leafs a 3-0 series lead in Ottawa.

That wasn't the only playoff action that took place during a busy Thursday night.

Here's a look at tonight's results and highlights as well as what to expect when the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs continues Friday.

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Thursday Stanley Cup playoffs Round 1 results

Florida Panthers 2, Tampa Bay Lightning 0 (FLA leads 2-0)

Toronto Maple Leafs 3, Ottawa Senators 2, OT (TOR leads 3-0)

Minnesota Wild 5, Vegas Golden Knights 2 (MIN leads 2-1)

St. Louis Blues 7, Winnipeg Jets 2 (WPG leads 2-1)

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Friday Stanley Cup playoffs Round 1 schedule

Washington Capitals at Montreal Canadiens, 7 p.m. ET (WSH leads 2-0)

Carolina Hurricanes at New Jersey Devils, 8 p.m. ET (CAR leads 2-0)

Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers, 10 p.m. ET (LAK leads 2-0)

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Thursday highlights

Panthers 2, Lightning 0

Sergei Bobrovsky recorded the fourth playoff shutout of his career to help the defending champions claim a 2-0 series lead.

First, Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt remained one of the hottest players of the postseason by opening scoring with his third goal of the series.

Aleksander Barkov left the game after taking a hit from the Lightning's Brandon Hagel in the third period.

Sam Bennett sealed the win with an empty-netter after Bobrovsky stopped all 19 of the Lightning's shots on net.

The defending champions will now wait for an update on Barkov's status while preparing for the series to swing back to Sunrise on Saturday.

Maple Leafs 3, Senators 2 (OT)

The Senators came within one shot of the team's first playoff win since 2017 on Thursday night.

Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark started out the game by turning aside William Nylander on a first-period breakaway.

The Sens' offense meanwhile set a physical tone early by leading in hits through the first 20 minutes.

In the second period, Claude Giroux opened scoring for the Senators on a two-man advantage minutes before Leafs winger Matthew Knies took advantage of a Sens penalty and a crowded netfront to tie the game.

The Leafs came within inches of scoring late in the second period, but Ullmark again managed to keep the game tied.

Auston Matthews finally beat Ullmark less than a minute into the third period to give the Leafs the lead.

Brady Tkachuk finished off a Senators rush to tie the game with just under nine minutes remaining in regulation.

It was ultimately Benoit and the Leafs who triumphed in Ottawa. The Senators will now play for their postseason when the series returns to Ottawa on Saturday.

Wild 5, Golden Knights 2

The Wild grabbed their first series lead of the 2025 postseason on Thursday night.

Minnesota surged out to an early lead thanks to goals from Kirill Kaprizov on the power play and Marco Rossi at even strength.

Alex Pietrangelo got the Golden Knights on the board with a slapshot that snuck through the pads of Wild netminder Filip Gustavsson midway through the first period.

Matt Boldy helped the Wild regain the two-goal lead by capitalizing on a Golden Knights turnover behind the net in the second period.

Kaprizov padded the lead with two seconds left in the second by deflecting in his second power-play goal of the night.

Reilly Smith gave the Knights a late burst of momentum with a shorthanded goal in the final nine minutes of regulation.

The Knights got an opportunity to cut the deficit to one on a late power play, but Gustavsson made a clutch save before Marcus Foligno iced the game with a shorthanded empty-netter.

The Wild will now look to put the Knights on the edge of elimination with another win in Saturday's Game 4.

Blues 7, Jets 2

The St. Louis Blues are looking to turn around this series at home.

After falling into a 2-0 series deficit in Winnipeg, the Blues celebrated their first home game of the first round with three goals in the opening 16 minutes of Game 3.

David Gustaffson got the Jets on the board early in the third, but Buchnevich answered by completing the first playoff hat trick of his career.

The game got messy during the final 15 minutes. A flurry of Blues goals led to Vezina contender Connor Hellbuyck getting pulled, and a series of fights led to power plays for both teams.

St. Louis ended up celebrating the first win of the postseason with one final fight.

The Blues will now get the chance to even the series when both teams return to St. Louis for Sunday's matinee matchup.