Chandler Stephenson scored two goals to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a series-clinching, 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 of a Western Conference first-round playoffs series on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Mark Stone added a goal and two assists and William Karlsson also scored for Vegas, which roared back from a 5-1 loss in Game 1 to win the best-of-seven series four games to one.

Stephenson registered the first two-goal playoff game of his career, and Stone notched his second three-point game of the 2023 playoffs. Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit finished with 29 saves to improve to 9-1-0 in his past 10 starts dating back to the regular season.

Kyle Connor scored and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves for Winnipeg.

Devils 4, Rangers 0

Erik Haula scored twice in a three-point game and goaltender Akira Schmid posted his first career playoff shutout as New Jersey claimed a victory over New York in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series in Newark, N.J.

Dawson Mercer collected one goal and one assist and Ondrej Palat scored in the opening minute for the Devils, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. New Jersey has won three consecutive games after losing the first two of the series, all since Schmid was given the net. The rookie made 23 saves in the Game 5 victory.

The Devils will look to close out the series on Saturday in New York. Igor Shesterkin stopped 39 shots for the Rangers, who have scored only two goals in the past three games after tallying 10 times in the series’ first two contests.

Lightning 4, Maple Leafs 2

Michael Eyssimont and Anthony Cirelli each had a goal and an assist and visiting Tampa Bay avoided elimination in the first-round playoff series with a victory over Toronto.

The Maple Leafs lead the best-of-seven series three games to two.

Nicholas Paul and Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots. Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews scored for the Maple Leafs. John Tavares added two assists. Ilya Samsonov made 34 saves.

–Field Level Media

Chandler Stephenson scored two goals to lead the Vegas Golden Knights to a series-clinching, 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5 of a Western Conference first-round playoffs series on Thursday in Las Vegas.

Mark Stone added a goal and two assists and William Karlsson also scored for Vegas, which roared back from a 5-1 loss in Game 1 to win the best-of-seven series four games to one.

Stephenson registered the first two-goal playoff game of his career, and Stone notched his second three-point game of the 2023 playoffs.

The Golden Knights will face the Edmonton Oilers-Los Angeles Kings winner in the second round. The Oilers hold a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6 on Saturday in Los Angeles.

Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit finished with 29 saves to improve to 9-1-0 in his past 10 starts dating back to the regular season.

Kyle Connor scored and Connor Hellebuyck made 21 saves for Winnipeg.

Vegas scored on its first shot 50 seconds into the game to take a 1-0 lead. Stephenson put a backdoor tap-in into an open left side of the net off a pass from Stone.

The Golden Knights then scored three times in the first 8:37 of the second period to break the game open.

Stone made it 2-0 just 42 seconds into the period. His wrist shot from the high slot went into the top right corner of the net for his third goal of the playoffs. It was the 26th playoff goal of his career.

Karlsson increased the lead to 3-0 at the 4:41 mark. He one-timed a Michael Amadio pass into an open right side of the net for his fourth goal of the playoffs and 23rd of his career.

Stephenson finished the spurt with a power-play goal, snapping a shot off a Stone pass from the left circle under Hellebuyck’s pads for his fourth goal of the playoffs.

Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness pulled Hellebuyck for an extra attacker with 8:18 left in the third period. Connor, shortly after Stone just missed an empty-netter, broke the shutout with 5:38 to go when he shoveled in a Blake Wheeler pass from the low slot.

The Jets appeared to cut it to 4-2 with 2:35 left when Pierre-Luc Dubois jammed in a rebound of a Adam Lowry shot. However, the goal was taken off the board when Vegas successfully challenged that Wheeler had made a hand pass while winning a faceoff to start the play.

Vegas forward Phil Kessel was a healthy scratch, the first time he missed a game since Oct. 31, 2009. However, Kessel’s NHL ironman record of 1,064 consecutive games remains intact because playoff games don’t count for that mark.

–Field Level Media

Erik Haula scored twice in a three-point game and goaltender Akira Schmid posted his first career playoff shutout as the New Jersey Devils claimed a 4-0 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series in Newark, N.J.

Dawson Mercer collected one goal and one assist and Ondrej Palat scored in the opening minute for the Devils, who hold a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

New Jersey has won three consecutive games after losing the first two of the series, all since Schmid was given the net. The rookie made 23 saves in the Game 5 victory, and he has stopped 80 of 82 shots faced in his trio of decisions.

The Devils will look to close out the series on Saturday in New York.

Igor Shesterkin stopped 39 shots for the Rangers, who have scored only two goals in the past three games after tallying 10 times in the series’ first two contests.

Palat opened the scoring just 39 seconds into the clash. Off a faceoff, the puck came right to Shesterkin, who left a rebound that Palat buried off a defender’s stick for his second goal of the playoffs and second in as many outings.

Haula doubled the lead 3:27 into the second period when he was parked in front of the net and deflected Mercer’s shot for a power-play goal.

Mercer’s short-handed goal 10 minutes later made it a three-goal edge. Haula led a two-on-one rush and fed a cross-ice pass that Mercer launched with a one-timer for his first career playoff goal.

Although the Rangers were trailing, they failed to mount any form of an attack in the third period. They were outshot 20-2 in the final frame, which was capped by Haula’s empty-net goal, his third of the playoffs, with 5:12 remaining.

Through the first two periods, though, Schmid was the difference-maker. In the first period, he made a big glove save on Artemi Panarin. Schmid came up with a clutch diving glove stop on Kaapo Kakko seconds after his team established a 2-0 lead.

–Field Level Media

Michael Eyssimont and Anthony Cirelli each had a goal and an assist and the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning avoided elimination in the first-round playoff series Thursday night with a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs lead the best-of-seven series three games to two.

Nicholas Paul and Alex Killorn also scored for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots.

The Maple Leafs have not advanced from the first round of the playoffs since 2004.

Morgan Rielly and Auston Matthews scored for the Maple Leafs. John Tavares added two assists. Ilya Samsonov made 34 saves.

The teams scored 26 seconds apart early in the first period.

Rielly scored in his third successive game with a 39-footer from the slot at 5:46 of the first. Matthew Knies and Tavares earned assists on the goal that came against the early flow of the game.

Cirelli answered with a 16-foot wrist shot from the slot for his third goal of the series. Brandon Hagel and Nick Perbix earned the assists.

The Lightning had a 14-9 advantage in shots on goal in the first period. Each team had one power play in the period.

Eyssimont’s 14-foot shot from a sharp angle caught Samsonov deep in the goal to give the Lightning the lead at 4:23 of the second period. It was his first goal of the series. Zach Bogosian and Ian Cole picked up assists.

Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point hit a goal post with a 19-foot shot at 15:44 of the second period.

Tampa Bay had a 24-6 edge on shots on goal after two periods.

Toronto started the third period on a power play when Tampa Bay’s Patrick Maroon was called for roughing at the end of the second period. The Lightning killed off the penalty.

Vasilevskiy stopped Toronto’s Mitchell Marner on a breakaway at 5:11 of the third.

Paul gave Tampa Bay a two-goal lead at 11:53 of the third.

Samsonov was removed for an extra attacker with four minutes to play.

Matthews scored his fourth goal of the series at 16:26 of the third.

Killorn scored into an empty net at 19:55.

–Field Level Media

The Seattle Kraken, making their first playoff appearance, are one victory away from eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champions.

The Kraken can accomplish that feat Friday night at home, where they’ll play the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Seattle took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 3-2 victory Wednesday in Denver.

“We know that the fourth (victory) is going to be the toughest, and they’re going to bring everything they have,” Kraken defenseman Justin Schultz said. “I think we’ve done a pretty good job all year of just focusing on the task at hand, not listening to any outside noise.”

The Avalanche, who won the Central Division title with a 51-24-7 record (109 points), admitted they’re feeling some pressure.

“I’ve said it a million times,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said, “we’re putting the most pressure on ourselves out of anybody, right? ‘Cause we want to win and we want to get rewarded for the hard work we put in for the season, They’re a second-year team. They got in the playoffs. They got a good team. They’re playing loose. They’re confident. Obviously, the guys in the room, in their room, are like, ‘Well, yeah, we want to win,’ but expectations are on our team.

“But that’s nothing new to our group, either. We’ve dealt with that over the last three or four years, last year especially, and they got the job done. I believe in our team to be able to deal with the expectations.”

The Avalanche will get Cale Makar, last year’s Conn Smythe Award winner as the playoff MVP, back Friday after he received a suspension because of a late hit along the boards on Seattle’s Jared McCann in Game 4. But they might be without fellow defenseman Josh Manson, who left Wednesday’s game in the second period after reaggravating a lower-body injury.

Left winger McCann, who led the Kraken with 40 goals in the regular season, didn’t make the trip to Denver for Wednesday’s game and doesn’t appear likely to return Friday.

“He just sent a quick text (Wednesday) night congratulating us,” Schultz said. “Obviously, we miss him, and it’s probably tough for him to be watching but, hopefully, he heals quickly and we get him back quick. We miss ‘Canner’ a lot, but guys are doing a really good job of stepping up right now.”

Tye Kartye, the American Hockey League’s rookie of the year, scored in his NHL debut for the Kraken and goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 26 saves against his former team.

“Jared’s a big part of our team,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We did what we’ve done in the past. Somebody (Kartye) stepped in and filled a hole, filled a big hole.”

Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon scored his third goal of the series Wednesday, but it wasn’t enough. The Kraken have scored the opening goal in each of the five games.

“It’s tough, yeah. We didn’t have our A-game or our B-game (Wednesday), I don’t know why,” MacKinnon said. “We just got to find a way to bring Game 7 back here. I think we’re just shooting ourselves in the foot. I know it’s cliche to say, but I think there’s plays to be made out there and we’re just not making them for whatever reason right now. It’s not a matter of work or competitiveness or anything like that.”

–Field Level Media