
Updated 2025 NHL Playoff Bracket, Schedule and Top Highlights from April 26
There will be no sweeping in Round 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson scored in overtime of Saturday's Game 4 to stave off elimination by the Toronto Maple Leafs and extend the series to at least five games.
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The Tampa Bay Lightning also secured their first win of the postseason on Saturday, while the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche each evened their respective series.
Here's a look at the results, highlights and upcoming schedule after a busy night of hockey.
Saturday, April 26 Results
Tampa Bay Lightning 5, Florida Panthers 1 (FLA leads 2-1)
Vegas Golden Knights 4, Minnesota Wild 3, OT (Series tied 2-2)
Ottawa Senators 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3, OT (TOR leads 3-1)
Colorado Avalanche 4, Dallas Stars 0 (Series tied 2-2)
Sunday, April 27 Schedule
Winnipeg Jets at St. Louis Blues, 1 p.m. ET (WPG leads 2-1)
Carolina Hurricanes at New Jersey Devils, 3:30 p.m. ET (CAR leads 2-1)
Washington Capitals at Montreal Canadiens, 6:30 p.m. ET (WSH leads 2-1)
Los Angeles Kings at Edmonton Oilers, 9:30 p.m. ET (LAK leads 2-1)
Saturday, April 26 Highlights
Lightning 5, Panthers 1
The Tampa Bay Lightning have secured their first win of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.
At first, the Florida Panthers looked on track for a third straight dominant win when Matthew Tkachuk opened scoring less than three minutes into the first period.
The Lightning answered late in the first thanks to a slick setup from Nikita Kucherov.
Nick Paul finished off a two-on-one chance with Jake Guentzel to give the Lightning their first lead of the series midway through the second period.
Game 4 started to get chippy toward the end of the second:
Jake Guentzel extended the lead in the first 30 seconds of the third period.
Luke Glendening added to the advantage with a wrister late in the third.
Tkachuk spent the final five minutes of the game in the box for hitting Guentzel ahead of Anthony Cirelli's empty netter.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves in the victory. The Lightning will now have the chance to even the series at Amelie Arena when the puck drops for Game 4 on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.
Golden Knights 4, Wild 3 (OT)
Vegas Golden Knights center Ivan Barbashev scored 17 and a half minutes into overtime to even this first round series at two games apiece.
Earlier Saturday afternoon, Vinnie Hinostroza took a high-sticking penalty and the Golden Knights capitalized with Shea Theodore's opening goal.
The Wild's Justin Brazeau answered minutes later with a behind-the-net spinorama feed to Marco Rossi for the tying goal.
Minnesota's Marcus Foligno gloved down a puck at the netfront before scoring on a rebound to put the Wild ahead late in the second period.
Vegas' Nicolas Roy tied the game on a third-period power play.
Tomas Hertl put the Knights back in front with a deflection less than one minute of game time before Minnesota's Jared Spurgeon answered with a tying wraparound goal.
Vegas goaltender Adin Hill helped send the game to overtime with a stop on a one-timer from Kirill Kaprizov.
The Golden Knights had to kill off an overtime penalty, but successfully held off the Wild long enough for Barbashev to play hero at 17:26 of extra time.
Both teams will have the chance to grab a series lead when the series returns to Las Vegas for Game 5 on Tuesday at a time yet to be determined.
Senators 4, Maple Leafs 3 (OT)
For the third straight game, the Battle of Ontario went to overtime.
This time it was the Ottawa Senators who emerged victorious thanks to Jake Sanderson's game-winning tally.
Earlier Saturday night, the Senators pulled ahead thanks to special teams dominance that led to a power-play goal from Tim Stutzle and a shorthanded strike by Shane Pinto.
Leafs forward John Tavares tipped in a late goal to end the first frame before Matthew Knies tied the game on a breakaway midway through the second period.
David Perron put the Sens ahead early in the third before Toronto's Oliver Ekman-Larsson tied the game with just over five minutes left in regulation.
Ottawa's Drake Batherson took a four-minute double minor for high-sticking Chris Tanev in overtime, but the Senators successfully killed off the penalty.
Sanderson then beat Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz at 17:42 of extra time to give the Senators their first win of the series.
The Leafs will get another chance to end this series at home when the Senators return to Toronto for Game 5 on Tuesday.
Avalanche 4, Stars 0
The Stars fell into an early deficit thanks to a shorthanded goal from Logan O'Connor and a power play strike from Nathan MacKinnon.
Gabriel Landeskog, who recently made his return from the knee injury that sidelined him for almost three full seasons, helped pad the Avs' lead in the second period with his first goal since 2022.
The Stars pulled Jake Oettinger after Landeskog's goal. The netminder had stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced through almost 40 minutes.
Casey DeSmith made seven saves of his own before Landeskog screened him on a Samuel Girard goal.
The game ended with a scrum at Ball Arena.
Mackenzie Blackwood recorded 23 saves in the first playoff shutout of his NHL career.
Whoever wins Game 5 in Dallas will now have the chance to lead the series when these two teams drop the puck again on Monday at 9:30 p.m. ET.

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