![\"Edmonton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777515974_445_image.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nBUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 David Pastrnak embraces what comes from being the face of the Boston Bruins, heavy as the responsibility might be.<\/p>\n
With their season on the line, leave it to the 12th-year forward and team\u2019s leading scorer to deliver in the clutch.<\/p>\n
Leaning on his knack for anticipation, tenaciousness around the net and ability to change course on a dime, Pastrnak\u2019s breakaway goal 9:14 into overtime sealed a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. Buffalo leads the series 3-2, with Game 6 in Boston on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI put a lot of pressure on myself. I\u2019ve been through a lot in my career, so use it as motivation,\u201d the player nicknamed \u2018Pasta\u2019 said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, I just want to play well.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t the only member of the Bruins’ veteran core making a difference, with coach Marco Sturm also praising Jeremy Swayman following the goalie’s 25-save outing.<\/p>\n
\u201cBig moments, big game, the big guys show up,\u201d Sturm said. \u201cAnd (Swayman\u2019s) one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same is evident across the league, as the first round of the NHL playoffs reaches the elimination stage for some of the teams still playing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl celebrates a goal by center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the bench during the first period of Game 4 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Anaheim Ducks, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. Credit: AP\/Kyusung Gong<\/p>\n
Staying alive in face of elimination<\/p>\n
In Edmonton, the familiar combo of Leon Draisaitl (2 goals) and Connor McDavid (2 assists) kept the Oilers alive following a 4-1 win over the Ducks to force Game 6 at Anaheim on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Minnesota is getting timely production from its top players, led by Kirill Kaprizov (2 goals, 7 assists), in building a 3-2 series lead over Dallas following a 4-2 win. Game 6 is at Minnesota on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The concerns in Dallas, aside from missing center Roope Hintz (lower-body injury), is Mikko Rantanen being relatively kept in check. Rantanen has one goal and five assists on a team that’s scored four goals in 5-on-5 situations, fewest of NHL teams still competing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gets frustrating sometimes. But this is really not the time of year to get frustrated,\u201d Rantanen said. \u201cYou got to just keep plugging away, you got to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777515974_622_image.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy, left, celebrates his second period power play goal with left wing Kirill Kaprizov in Game 5 of a first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs hockey series against the Dallas Stars, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Dallas. Credit: AP\/Julio Cortez<\/p>\n
The Atlantic Division champion Sabres are in the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, and entered Game 5 with just 10 players who had previously appeared in series-clinching situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat elimination game was the first time for our players dealing with it,\u201d Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. \u201cI think they got a real good taste of it. Now we know we got to improve in a couple areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville’s assessment was no different.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey threw their best shot at us, and we didn\u2019t respond correctly,\u201d Quenneville said. \u201cWe learned that you better be ready at puck drop, and we\u2019ve got to play that lesson going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dallas Stars at Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n
When\/Where to Watch: Game 6, Thursday, 7:30 p.m. EDT (TNT).<\/p>\n
Series: Wild lead 3-2.<\/p>\n
Stars coach Glen Gulutzan is looking for more production beyond Jason Robertson’s five goals and three assists.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to win a series, or even win multiple series, you need all contributors, whether they\u2019re at the top of your line or at the bottom,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we need a little bit more from everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Minnesota, Mats Zuccarello was set up by Kaprizov to score the opening goal in Game 5, his first after missing three due to injury. Kaprizov added another assist and sealed the win with an empty-netter two days after turning 29.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t teach him anything. He\u2019s got it all,\u201d the 38-year-old Zuccarello said of Kaprizov. \u201cHe\u2019s a top player in the league. He\u2019s got a lot of pressure on him. And my job sometimes is to keep telling him how good he is. He\u2019s really hard on himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edmonton Oilers at Anaheim Ducks<\/p>\n
When\/Where to Watch: Game 6, Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT (TNT).<\/p>\n
Series: Ducks lead 3-2.<\/p>\n
Edmonton\u2019s Game 5 win was the first time in the high-scoring series one of the teams has failed to score three goals. Oilers goalie Connor Ingram was hardly tested in stopping 29 shots in his return after a one-game benching.<\/p>\n
Anaheim repeatedly shredded the Oilers\u2019 defensive structure and made Edmonton look flat in building a 3-1 series lead. The momentum appears to have shifted toward Edmonton, which has closed out nine playoff series in the past four years.<\/p>\n
The Ducks are making their first playoff appearance since 2018, and their regular-season flaws resurfaced with a painfully slow start and defensive breakdowns.<\/p>\n
Anaheim entered Tuesday with just eight players having appeared in series-clinching games. The Oilers, meantime, featured 18 players who have appeared in games when facing elimination.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll we did is survive one more day,\u201d McDavid said. \u201cThe pressure\u2019s on us, but it\u2019s a big game for them too. I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be feeling that too. Closeout games are tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP Sports Writers Greg Beacham, in Los Angeles, and Stephen Hawkins, in Dallas, and The Canadian Press contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 David Pastrnak embraces what comes from being the face of the Boston Bruins, heavy as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,824,165,164,2063,2064,2069,404,3563],"class_list":["post-292429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-ducks","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-boston-bruins","tag-buffalo-sabres","tag-dallas-stars","tag-nhl","tag-wires-bot"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}