NHL Playoffs Roundup: Dominant Capitals Leave No Doubt They're a Juggernaut

The game's outcome might have been in question for a minute or two.

There's no doubt which way this series is going to go, however.

Coming off an emotional pregame tribute to late owner Ed Snider, the Philadelphia Flyers stormed off the bench looking determined to put a dent in the dominant Washington Capitals' 2-0 series lead. Michael Raffl scored in the opening minute, putting the Capitals behind and on their heels for the first time in the series.

But before members of the Orange Wave at the Wells Fargo Center could chug a half-beer in celebration, Washington responded with Marcus Johansson's power-play goal. Alex Ovechkin had his second goal of the series before the midway mark of the contest, and from there the outcome was almost inevitable as the Caps cruised to a 6-1 victory in Game 3 to put the Flyers on the brink of elimination. Sportsnet highlighed Ovechkin's goal:

That elimination could happen as early as Wednesday. It's hard to believe at this rate it will be extended Friday.

And as easy as it might be to point the finger at Philly goaltender Steve Mason—whose 100-foot flub in Game 2 will forever live in infamy and who looked unprepared when Ovechkin put the Caps ahead for good with a wrist shot from a long way out Monday night—it's more about what the Capitals are doing right than what the Flyers are doing wrong. The Fourth Period magazine's David Strehle shared Mason's acknowledgement, noting he has to make key saves, using Ovechin's goal as an example:

The Caps are a juggernaut, just as they appeared to be during a regular season to remember. They easily won the Presidents' Trophy with a 120-point campaign that ranked as the second-best in franchise history.

This 3-0 lead is the first the Caps have ever enjoyed in a best-of-seven series. Don't expect them to waste it. They look like they could sweep any opponent. Every single part of their game is working.

They got five (five!) power-play goals Monday alone, from Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, John Carlson, Ovechkin and Jay Beagle—who enjoyed some bonus time on the man advantage because of the Flyers' epic implosion in the third period. Having given up on winning, Philadelphia adopted more of an inflict-some-pain mentality over the last 20 minutes.

Even the fans got into the spirit, chucking their glow bracelets onto the ice and being assessed a delay-of-game penalty late in the contest. Twitter provided reaction to the events that transpired.

Zac Boyer of the Washington Times shared Caps head coach Barry Trotz's thoughts regarding the Flyers players seemingly deciding to give up, Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated shared Trotz's thoughts on the fans' decision to disrupt the game and Pete Blackburn of Uproxx noted a "Flyers fan pelted Orlov with a bracelet": 

But the game was over well before the four goals in the final 20 minutes.

The Flyers—and perhaps any Eastern Conference team that lies ahead of the Capitals—just can't be expected to match the level of play Ovechkin and Co. exhibited.

Goaltender Braden Holtby has stopped 91 of 93 shots and may have seen the flight path of every single one of the pucks coming his way, as his defenders have played extremely well in front of him.

The Caps are getting goal production from all over, too, with Kuznetsov's goal just his first point of the series and Ovechkin's pair of tallies just his second and third of the series. The Caps captain, by the way, passed Dale Hunter for the top spot in franchise playoff points with 74.

The Washington power play has been frightening, which is not surprising considering the names it can throw out there in any fashion—Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Johansson, T.J. Oshie, Justin Williams, Nicklas Backstrom and Andre Burakovsky. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Mike Sielski highlighted the Caps' strengths:

The Capitals have had some spectacular regular-season teams. Most notably, that 121-point squad in 2009-10.

But the playoffs have not been prosperous. Their play hasn't translated into postseason success the way they have hoped or anticipated. They've lost in the first round in six of the 10 seasons they've qualified for the playoffs since making it to the Stanley Cup Final in 1998. They haven't made it past the second round in any of those postseasons.

This could be the year—the season in which they grab their first 3-0 series lead. The Fourth Period magazine's Dennis Bernstein is optimistic:

"

Rest of East was hoping #Flyers would give #Caps at minimum a long, grueling series. Instead, it looks like a bye into division final

— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) April 19, 2016"

It looks like only serious injuries could derail this team right now. Caps fans will watch closely to see if defenseman Brooks Orpik will be able to return quickly after taking a hard hit into the glass from Flyers center Ryan White in the second period Monday.

But his absence—if he misses time—will be of no consequence in this series, and the Capitals will get plenty of rest while they wait for their second-round opponent.

The Kings Are Alive and Dangerous As Ever After OT Win

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The line between life and death was razor-thin for the Los Angeles Kings. But Tanner Pearson's goal at 3:47 into overtime in Game 3 gave the Kings a massive 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night and cut their series deficit in half.

Instead of facing elimination at "the Shark Tank" on Wednesday, the Kings will have a chance to tie the series and head home.

And given their playoff history and experience, it's impossible to count them out. While it's true they basically sleepwalked (sleepskated?) through the first two games of the series—on home ice, no less—they looked like their dangerous selves again Monday.

Anze Kopitar scored a power-play goal—which ended his 14-game playoff goal drought—to tie things up after Sharks star Joe Thornton opened the scoring just 30 seconds into the contest.

Drew Doughty played every second shift and finished with 35:01 of ice time.

Goalie Jonathan Quick was stellar when the pressure was on, especially late in regulation when Los Angeles got into some penalty trouble. He finished with 29 stops and CBC analyst Kelly Hrudey's heart.

"He's all-world," Hrudey gushed after the game. "All-world."

That one goal—initiated by Kings captain Dustin Brown's big hit on Sharks winger Joonas Donskoi that knocked the puck loose at the San Jose blue line for Pearson to scoop up and wire past Martin Jones on the rush up the left side—significantly changed the series' complexion. Sportsnet highlighted Pearson's game-winning goal:

The Kings are poised, looking as confident as any team that's ever been down by two games after losing twice at home to open a best-of-seven series. They've been here before. They've been in worse situations, in fact. The 3-0 deficit against the Sharks in the first round two years ago that spawned one of the most miraculous runs to the Stanley Cup in NHL history is still ingrained in the Kings players' brains.

"There was never any panic in their game," Hrudey said. "They knew [they could come back] from their experience in the past."

What it means for the future is a heck of a battle between the California clubs, though the Kings are looking more and more dangerous. Marian Gaborik—who missed almost two months of hockey with a knee injury and rejoined the team for Game 2—seemed healthy. Having him go full tilt makes L.A. much more potent on offensive, as he's capable of a game-changing play anytime he's on the ice.

Pearson has that potential, too, as he showed on that final play. He had a rough regular season, but he's on a point-per-game pace in these playoffs.

"We've got a confident enough group in there. We've been in this situation before," Pearson told CBC after the game. "We know what's at stake, obviously. "

They've won what's at stake before, and thanks to this critical victory, the Kings still have a shot at a third Cup in five years.

Tyler Seguin's Injury Sinks the Stars

Ann Heisenfelt/Associated Press

The Dallas Stars suddenly look like they might miss Tyler Seguin.

They won Game 1 handily without him, and despite the star center's limited minutes in Game 2, Dallas got just enough scoring to push past the Minnesota Wild.

But for a team that relied on its top-ranked offense to take the Western Conference's top seed, playing without its second-best point producer is no winning formula.

That was evident Monday night, when Minnesota won Game 3 on home ice 5-3 to get some life and make their series deficit a more manageable 2-1.

The Wild had a perfect game, looking unified and balanced with goals from Chris Porter, Erik Haula, Jason Pominville and Mikko Koivu—firsts of the playoffs for each of those guys. Pominville added a second into an empty net to round out the scoring. Stars head coach Lindy Ruff noted continuing to lose the one-on-one matchups will eventually cause his team to lose the "big battle," per Michael Russo of the Star Tribune:

The Stars were a one-man show, and that show lasted less than five minutes into the first period, as Patrick Sharp scored at the 26-second mark and again less than four minutes later.

Sharp finished with seven of his team's 17 shots. Jamie Benn didn't have a legitimate scoring chance, and he didn't register a shot on goal. He missed his playmaker.

It's hard to say whether the news that Seguin suffered an injury in Game 2—it's related to the Achilles ailment that kept him out the last few weeks of the regular season—took some sort of emotional toll on the team or if it merely missed his presence on the ice, but Dallas played as poorly over 60 minutes as it has all year. Ruff assessed it was his team's worst performance in "maybe five weeks," according to Russo:

Though the Stars have Sharp, Benn and Jason Spezza, all capable of offensive wizardry, Seguin's absence makes them easier to match up against.

The Wild seemed to take advantage of that, with Koivu's line keeping Benn to a single assist and shutting down the Sharp, Benn and Patrick Eaves trio from the five-minute mark onward.

The Wild may have to be perfect—from goaltender Devan Dubnyk out—to have a chance to beat the Stars in three of the next four games. Dallas doesn't need perfection, but if Seguin's injury keeps him on the shelf for any length of time, the Stars will pose much less of a challenge—even for the conference's eighth seed.

And right now, Seguin's return is a question mark. He's considered day-to-day but didn't make the trip to Minnesota.