document_title: Clay Morrow

question_text: what's wrong with clay's hands in sons of anarchy

question_tokens: what 's wrong with clay 's hands in sons of anarchy

text: Clay Morrow

text: Biography[edit]

text: Morrow, of Irish descent, was born in 1949 but is not a native of Charming, California. He is one of the original "First 9" members of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, formed in 1967, but was not a founding member. Of the first nine, he was the youngest and one of only three who were not war veterans. He did later go on to serve in the military, however, joining the US Army as an Airborne qualified Infantryman in 1969 and was deployed to Vietnam until 1972 (commemorated by a tattoo on his left arm and the paratrooper pin on his vest). When he returned from service, he remained a member of the club and opened the Teller-Morrow Automotive Repair shop with John Teller, the club President and his best friend. Whilst serving as the Vice President during the early 1990s, he was responsible for a number of murders during the SAMCRO-Mayan War, including that of Lowell Harland, Sr., a mechanic at the auto shop who became an ATF informant.

text: In 1993, he became the President of the club's Mother Charter, based in Charming (which also means that he was International President), after the death of John Teller. He went on to marry John Teller's widow Gemma Teller Morrow in the mid-1990s and made their son, Jax Teller, Vice-President. It is implied that under Morrow, SAMCRO has become more of a criminal enterprise than before, much to Jax's disillusionment.[1]

text: On his colors he wears patches reading "First 9" and "President". He suffers from osteoarthritis (degenerative arthritis) in his hands, which is slowly worsening as the series progresses. He makes several attempts to hide it from his brothers to protect his position as President, as a rule among members of the Sons of Anarchy prevents members from leading if they can't hold the grip of their motorcycle and ride effectively.

text: Season One[edit]

text: Season One begins with the Sons of Anarchy finding their weapon storage warehouse being burned down. The SOA rush to the scene, where local police officers are already investigating. Clay talks to Sheriff Vic Trammel about the blaze, who claims that propane tanks inside the building blew up, and that he suspects arson due to the bootprints inside. Trammel then shows Clay the burned corpses of the people hidden beneath the building, who were illegal immigrants. It is later revealed that they were Mexican prostitutes "owned" by the club's Sergeant-at-Arms, Tig Trager. Clay then goes to meet Laroy, the leader of the One-Niners, in the East Bay. He is due to sell guns to the gang, but as they were destroyed, he must explain what happened at the warehouse. Laroy needs the guns to protect their heroin trade from another motorcycle club, the Mayans, and eventually lets Clay have some more time to get more guns together for him. The Sons of Anarchy then work out that it was the Mayans who stole the guns and destroyed the storage warehouse, and decide to get some payback. Juice Ortiz, the club's intelligence officer, finds out where the Mayans stored the guns and Clay, Tig, Jax and Chibs Telford all head out to San Leandro to retrieve them. When they arrive at the industrial storage warehouse and find the guns, three Mayans turn up in a car outside. Clay and Tig then shoot and kill the Mayans. Jax is shot by another man, who has a number of Nazi and White supremacist tattoos. He was a member of the Nordics, a local skinhead gang who are allied with the Mayans, and it later emerges that his name is Whistler. Jax turns around and shoots Whistler twice, killing him. They escape with the weapons and destroy the building using explosives.[2]

text: Wayne Unser, the Chief of the Charming Police Department, has always gotten on well with the Sons of Anarchy during his time in charge, and has even employed them as muscle, at times. However, he is dying from cancer and will retire at the end of the month, handing power over to his Deputy, David Hale, who is overtly suspicious of the SOA and will almost definitely begin an investigation into the club. To warn Unser to keep Hale off their case, Clay, Bobby Munson (the club's Treasurer) and Opie Winston hijack a shipment that they are supposed to protect, and threaten to hijack more. As a goodwill gesture, they give the contents of the truck to the local Italian American Mafia, as their gun delivery is late. Meanwhile, Tig comes forth and tells Clay that he has been having sex with both of the women found at the warehouse and that his DNA is in the police database. Clay orders Tig and Bobby to get rid of the bodies. The pair then retrieve the corpses from the police site and burn them in a furnace. Hale is enraged when he discovers that the bodies are missing, and he threatens Clay that he will close the SOA down for good.[3]

text: Local businessman Elliot Oswald goes to Clay after his 13-year-old daughter is raped at a carnival and asks the Sons of Anarchy to hunt down the rapist and kill him, in exchange for money. Clay refuses the money but insists that if they catch him, he must carry out the punishment himself. Juice and Gemma discover that the rapist is one of the carnies and the gang capture him and bring him to Oswald, who tries to castrate him but cannot bring himself to do it. Clay then carries the punishment out, but wears gloves whilst doing it. He then frames Oswald for the crime, as only Oswald's fingerprints are on the knife, because Oswald was about to sell off much of the land around Charming to big business and housing, which would challenge the SOA's reign over the town. Jax is unhappy that Clay did not tell him of the plan, however, and tells him to always inform him on his future motives.[4]

text: When a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent arrives in Charming and begins investigating the club, Clay decides that they should move their weapons to Indian Hills, Nevada, where their brother club, the Devil's Tribe, are based. He also sends Bobby and Jax to inform the Devil's Tribe that the Sons of Anarchy will be patching over them, and Tig and Juice to steal a truck to transport the guns in. Clay also travels to Indian Hills to perform the patch-over ceremony and brings a number of SOA Washington members as protection in case the Mayans retaliate for an earlier conflict involving Jax, Bobby and five Mayans. At the patch-over party, he has sex with Cherry, a woman whom Half-Sack likes, as revenge for his calling Gemma a MILF earlier. The Mayans eventually retaliate, as predicted, by attacking the Devil's Tribe clubhouse, and a large shootout ensues.[5]

text: Otto Delaney and a number of other imprisoned SAMCRO members have been protecting Chuck in Stockton prison. He is wanted by the Triads because he stole money from them, then informed on a number of their members when he was arrested. When Clay and Jax visit Otto in prison, he tells them that if they protect Chuck when he is released, he will inform them where the money that he has skimmed from the Asian Triads gang is located. They agree and pick him up from prison and bring him to the clubhouse. SAMCRO intends to wait until the restaurant, where the money is stored, closes before raiding it, but Chuck's frequent unconscious masturbating is unbearable for them and they decide to raid the restaurant straight away. However, just after they steal the money and some counterfeiting plates, the Triads turn up. Instead of starting a war, Clay decides to make a deal; SAMCRO hands over Chuck and the plates for $60,000 from the Triads as the skim money is all counterfeit. Meanwhile, Kyle Hobart, a disgraced former SAMCRO member, goes to Jax and asks him if the Sons want in on his deal selling stolen car parts. Jax accepts and invites him to the clubhouse that night. This was a setup, however, to punish him for not having his SOA tattoo removed after being disowned by the club. At the clubhouse, they tie him up and Tig uses a blowtorch to burn off the tattoo.[6]

text: Jax and Piney sell five AK-47s to Nate Meineke and his right-wing state militia. They then use these guns to ambush a prison convoy and free one of their members, Frank Cison. Three police officers are killed during the assault. Meineke drops his cell phone at the scene, and his last calls have been to Clay Morrow. When the ATF finds the phone, they arrest Clay and raid the clubhouse. Clay is later released because no evidence is found, meaning he can no longer be kept in custody. Meanwhile, Jax, Piney and Opie Winston decide to kill Meineke and his gang to keep them from snitching if they are apprehended by the authorities. They pretend to sell them more weapons. The "boxes of guns" are actually filled with explosives, however, and the militia load their trucks with them. All of the militia are killed when the bombs are detonated.[7]

text: Workmen working for the Water and Power Board near the highway dig up three skeletons, two of which were Mayans killed in the war of 1992. The other was Lowell Harland, Sr., a mechanic at Teller-Morrow. He was killed for being a "junkie rat". To stop the bodies from being identified, Clay, Jax and Tig break into the local morgue, prepared to steal the bones. However, the corpses have already been identified. When Clay tells Lowell, Jr. about his father's death, Lowell runs away. Clay tracks him down and eventually brings him back to town.[8]

text: Clay is almost killed when the Mayans attempt to shoot him while at a deal with Cameron Hayes of the True IRA at a bar. The two Mayan soldiers are gunned down by Tig and the shotgun-toting barman, however. Clay then calls in the Sons of Anarchy State Presidents and Vice-Presidents from Washington, Utah and Nevada, in a bid to wipe out the Mayans. After the shooting, he questions Jax's commitment to the club and Jax's willingness to kill.

text: Clay is taken to the local police station for questioning about the recent shootings, by Wayne Unser. Ernest Darby is also being held there, and Clay tells Unser to bring Álvarez in, in order for the three gang leaders to hold a meeting and, hopefully, prevent further bloodshed. He meets with Darby first, and tells him not to retaliate because it would start a war on the streets of Charming. He then meets with Álvarez and the pair make a deal; the Sons of Anarchy will begin selling guns to the Mayans, and all Mayan-SOA disputes (over turf, businesses, etc.) end in the SOA's favor. Álvarez also gives the Sons permission to kill Esai, as revenge for the attempted hit on Clay.[9]

text: After the clubhouse is raided and Bobby is arrested for the murder of Brenan Hefner, Clay and Tig suspect Opie of being the witness who identified him. It was another person, however. When Opie turns up at the clubhouse, Tig checks his car for bugs and finds a microphone. He also finds a recording device in Opie's mobile phone. Both were planted by the ATF without Opie's knowledge. Clay and Tig then decide to kill him.

text: Clay and Tig again meet with One-Niners' leader Laroy, and they discuss taking out the Mayans. They agree that the Sons would meet the Mayans for an arms deal and when they left, the Niners would eliminate the Mayans and take the guns as payment. However, when Clay, Tig, Opie and Jax meet Álvarez and his crew at a warehouse in Oakland, the Niners try to take out the Mayans and SOA. The group escapes, but a number of Mayans and Niners are killed in the shootout. Tig attempts to kill Opie during the havoc, but finds himself unable to do so. Later on at Jax's son Abel's homecoming party, Tig follows Opie's car home and shoot the driver dead. However, the driver is Opie's wife, Donna, who has switched vehicles with Opie. Just after Tig leave to kill Opie, Clay is approached by Wayne Unser and told that Opie is, in fact, not an informant and that the ATF has set him up. Clay tries to phone Tig to tell him, but Tig is not carrying his phone.[10]

text: Rosen, the club's lawyer, meets with Clay and tells him that the ATF has put a warrant out for Opie's arrest and that he will most likely get convicted of Hefner's murder because of the witness. Clay, Tig and Juice then meet with Vic Trammel and offer him money to reveal the location of the witness. Trammell does not know, however, so they go to Elliot Oswald. They again blackmail him with the knife that he used to kill the rapist earlier in the season, this time to get his friends in the US Attorney's office to tell him the witness' case number and location. He then sends Chibs, Happy and Tig to kill the witness, who is at a safe house in San Joaquin. Jax goes to the safe house and stops the trio from killing the witness, but threatens her into leaving the state. At Church, Jax confronts Clay and asks if he killed Donna. Clay denies this. Season One ends at Donna's funeral, which is attended by Sons of Anarchy from all over the country. There, Jax and Clay stare at each other and it is plain to see that the club is coming apart from inside.[11]

text: Season Two[edit]

text: In the first episode of Season Two we see that Clay is still struggling with remorse for what he did to Donna, and that he is going head to head with Jax over her death. We see him giving Opie a fake story of how a Mayan MC member killed Donna and he throws a welcome back party for Bobby. When Ethan Zobelle and the L.O.A.N. start threatening members of SAMCRO, Clay is all for immediate retaliation, but he is at odds with Jax, who feels the club may be walking into a trap.

text: He has recently learned of his wife Gemma's rape at the hands of L.O.A.N. and settled his differences with Jax, so the two can work together to get revenge. Clay is now shown to be more in tune with Jax's method of operation, opting to do more recon work before entering potentially lethal situations.

text: In the season two finale, Clay neglects to inform Marcus Alvarez that Ethan Zobelle is an F.B.I. informant, knowing the Mayan leader would kill Zobelle himself, forfeiting Clay's opportunity to do the deed. Later in the episode, the Sons ambush the Mayan convoy containing Zobelle and Clay spares Alvarez's life. Clay and the others corner Zobelle in a deli, but decide to abandon the scene after learning of his grandson's kidnapping. He is last seen consoling his distraught stepson Jax, whose son Abel (Clay's grandson) has been kidnapped by IRA gun dealer Cameron Hayes.

text: Season Three[edit]

text: In the first episodes we see that Clay is still saddened by the loss of Abel, and is willing to help Jax at all costs. Also, his arthritis continues to worsen. As shown in the episode "Home", it got so bad that Jax had to tie Clay's hands to the handlebars. In the episode "Turas", when SAMCRO are nearly killed by a bomb hidden in a gun shipment put there by the SAMBEL Sergeant-at-Arms, Jax has a shell shocked vision of his biological father speaking to him but it turns out to actually be Clay. In the episode "Firinne", Clay kills McGee, member of the First 9 and President of the Belfast Chapter, for his treachery against the club by pushing him off a roof after taking his cut. He later burns the cut after expressing remorse for the killing. In the Season 3 finale, when Clay learns of Jax's betrayal, he appears enraged and says "Jax will die". In the end, it is revealed that he knew of Jax's deal with Stahl and that it was part of a plan to execute Jimmy O. and Stahl. When the plan is done, Clay and the others share a laugh, much to the confusion of the ATF agents. Also in the end of the episode, as Tara is reading the letters John Teller wrote to Maureen Ashby, Teller says he fears that Clay and Gemma will kill him because of his betraying Gemma by having an affair and attempting to alter the clubs focus on criminal activity, leading to much speculation that Clay and Gemma might have killed John Teller.

text: Season Four[edit]

text: Clay is seen as one of the many SAMCRO members released from prison. He later escapes their sheriff tail and accompanies Jax and Opie's meeting with the Russians, where he settles their differences and forms a partnership with them. He attends Opie's wedding and goes to test a new gun given to them by Putlova. As he's firing the gun he turns and shoots Putlova's bodyguards and Jax stabs Putlova to death as revenge for trying to kill him in prison. He also tells Gemma that his arthritis has gotten worse and that he has only 1 or 2 years left before he has to step down as President of SAMCRO. Also, while in prison, he set up a deal to run cocaine for the Gallindo Cartel, but this does not sit well with the other members of the club, as SOA avoids drugs. When the club goes to Arizona and meets the Tucson charter, SAMTAZ, he demands that the charter stop dealing meth. This request is denied, as selling generates too much money for the club to give up. Otto wants Luann's murderer dead, and the issue is raised in the chapel. Clay is then confronted by Piney, who threatens Clay that if Clay does not kill the cocaine deal with the Gallindo Cartel, Piney will distribute letters to the club about John Teller's murder to the other members. Clay discusses the threat with Gemma, revealing that Clay did kill Teller. Clay later meets Unser and obtains the letters from him, unaware that Gemma has the same plan. After Unser gets a copy of the letters, he confronts Clay. Clay replies he does not regret doing what he did because it protected the Club and Charming. When he visits a tied Georgie Caruso, he claims that he has connections with millionaire Japanese families. Clay immediately sees an opportunity to make Jacob Hale believe he has investors in time. His idea is that he will have the investors pull out at the last minute, which will put an end to Charming Heights. After retrieving the last brick of cocaine that Juice had stolen, framing Miles for it, Clay asks Romeo for help killing Tara, to keep the secret of the letters hidden.

text: Clay comes to Piney's cabin in the night. After discussing trust issues and differences in the cabin, Clay leaves, only to break down the door, knocking Piney off his feet. Piney begs Clay not to get Tara involved in the letters from JT. Clay shoots Piney in the chest with a shotgun, killing him. This makes Piney the 3rd member of the First 9, and the 2nd and final co-founding member of the Sons of Anarchy to be killed at the hands of Clay. Clay leaves the markings of the cartel to implicate them for the murder. Given the club's difficult circumstances, Clay calls the Irish Kings for a meeting to set a new deal that lets them survive the war against Lobo Sonora. He later learns that the One Niners have been dealing with the Sonora and the Sons plan an attack using the Niners to lure them. This fails, however, as Sonora's men were equipped with grenade launchers. Luis, Romero's right-hand man, gives Clay a cell phone with his contact to kill Tara. Jax confronts Clay when he hears from Bobby that Clay wanted Bobby, instead of Opie, as president as was the deal. Clay says it is Tara's fault that Jax changed, but Jax warns him to never insult her again. Gemma tells Clay that Tara will not reveal the letters to Jax for fear that Jax will get deeper into the club out of guilt. Clay promises to Gemma he won't hurt Tara, however he uses the cell phone Luis gave him, and the next morning pays the contact 25,000 dollars for the murder. After finding out that Jax and the babies are with her, Clay desperately tries to stop the hit, but is unsuccessful and Tara has her hand broken by a car door while struggling to escape. Clay meets Romeo and gets a refund, with Romeo taking the matter into his hands personally, and Clay reluctantly agrees that Tara is best dead. Gemma confronts Clay about the hit and a violent fight ensues between the two, including Gemma shooting at Clay (deliberately missing) and getting in a powerful punch and a kick against Clay with Clay getting injured but Clay gets the upper hand and severely beats Gemma's face. That night he decides to sleep in the clubhouse. Opie later finds out that Clay was behind the death of Piney and seeks revenge, ending up shooting Clay in the torso twice. Clay survived the shooting but was shown to be in intensive care. Later in the episode Gemma gave Jax his father's letters to Maureen Ashby. After reading the letters, and realizing Clay is responsible for the death of John Teller, Jax vowed to kill Clay. Jax puts a knife up to Clays throat and makes him step down as President and orders him to never go near his family again. Although Clay tries to explain his reasons Jax refuses to listen and takes his Presidents patch, thus ending Clays reign as President of SAMCRO.

text: Season Five[edit]

text: Clay is shown to have been discharged from the hospital, but requires an oxygen tank due to his lung injury. He is shown trying to make amends with Gemma, but she coldly brushes him off. He later reveals to the club he murdered Piney, but states that Piney was drunk and tried to kill him first and Opie found out and is the one who shot him. The club's rules (due to him having killed a member) means they must vote on kicking him out. When Jax questions his motives for telling the club, he denies any. His arthritis is shown to have reached the point to where he can't ride his bike at all. He later goes to his and Gemma's burglarized house and expresses concern over his safe being stolen. He then goes and visits Opie and convinces him not to walk away from the club because of him, seeing as though he's "half dead already". He later finds out where Gemma has been going from Juice. He goes to the brothel and confronts Nero, the owner and Gemma's new suitor. He then "seeks comfort" with a young prostitute to anger Gemma. Gemma then attacks the girl causing her to leave. When Nero's operation is later shut down, and he and Gemma are arrested, it's likely Clay was behind it.

text: The next episode "Small World" shows Clay having recovered to the point of no longer needing his oxygen tank, though he continues to wear it (either for sympathy or to keep people off-guard). He later helps Gemma take care of a dead body (Nero's half-sister) and the two seem to be on better terms. At the end of the episode, he confronts the three Nomads responsible for the Charming burglaries and the death of Sheriff Roosevelt's wife. He punches one in the face exclaiming "You weren't supposed to kill her!" This shows Clay to have been pulling the strings behind the home invasions. The next episode "Toad's Wild Ride" reveals the Nomads, (Go-Go, Greg and Frankie) made a deal with Clay to help him get back at the head of the table in exchange for a cut of Clay's share of the guns and cocaine money. The break-ins were Clay's way of turning Charming against Jax. When Unser (who has been investigating the break-ins) comes close to discovering the truth, Go-Go and Greg meet with Clay to discuss killing him, while Frankie goes underground. Clay meets with Unser in his trailer talking about the trust and friendship between them. When Go-Go and Greg break in the door, Unser shoots Go-Go with a double-barreled shotgun and Clay betrays them, shooting Greg in the head with his pistol. When Juice (who saw Go-Go and Greg going to Unser's trailer) asks Clay what is happening, Clay denies involvement. Jax and the rest of the club find out about their attack on Unser and Jax privately accuses Clay of using the Nomads to undermine his leadership. Clay states that Pope is the one who hired the Nomads, Jax claims they'll find Frankie and learn the truth. In "Ablation" Clay visits Gemma, Abel, and Thomas in the hospital after a marijuana-induced car crash. He tells Jax that a truck ran her off the road to protect her. When Jax learns about the lie, he tells Clay he understands why he lied and that Gemma is dead to his family, and he wants him to take care of her. "Andare Pascare" shows the club discovering that Frankie is hiding with a Mafia family, paying them with money stolen from Nero. They take a unanimous vote to kill him after extracting the information they need. When Clay learns from Jimmy Cacuzza the location of a Mafia safehouse where Frankie is hiding, Clay and Juice go there to kill him to keep him from outing Clay (Juice acting under the pretense of scouting it out). When Frankie barricades himself in the house and shoots at the two, Clay drives the van into the gas tank outside, blowing up the house. Just as Clay is about to kill Frankie, Jax and the others show up, having seen the explosion. However Frankie is quickly gunned down by the enraged Mafia Don for killing one of his men before he can tell them anything. Bobby later asks Clay if there's anything he wants to tell him (implying he also knows about his dealings with the Nomads). When Clay claims his conscience is clear, Bobby states "I hope you're as smart as you think you are, cause I'm sicking of burning friends". The episode ends with Gemma coming to Clay to help him with his cortisone shots.

text: The next episode "Crucifixed" shows Clay negotiating with Romeo and Luis for protection as once the RICO case is gone, he will no longer need Clay and will most likely kill him. Romeo suggests getting rid of Jax and putting Clay back at the head of the table. Clay disagrees to taking the deal, Romeo states "Yes you will." Later, Gemma and Clay draw closer at Clay's place, where Gemma insists they return home. They are last seen sitting on their bed talking, where Clay confesses he can't bear losing her again. Gemma kisses him passionately and they sink onto the bed. The next episode "To Thine Own Self" shows Clay learning of Otto's murder of a nurse, ending the RICO case. He is shown, for unknown reasons, trying to save Jax from Romeo and warns him to work with the cartel long enough to make the Club legitimate and leave. He refuses stating "I'm done bowing down to greedy men who have nothing to believe in". When Jax reveals a new deal to the Club, which would allow the Mayans and Triads to take over muling the cocaine and selling big guns, respectively, Clay votes yes along with everyone else. He is later shown moving legal documents given to him by the Nomads to another location, to protect himself from the Club finding this important evidence of his betrayal. The end of the episode shows Bobby going to Clay and Gemma's house to talk to him about "trying to keep you alive." It's revealed in "Darthy" that Bobby convinced Clay to confess his role in the Nomad attacks in exchange for vetoing his death: club-sanctioned assassinations (known as "A Visit from Mr. Mayhem") require a unanimous vote. Clay also meets with Gaylen, tells him he plans on starting his own crew to run any guns SAMCRO doesn't pick up, and asks for a plane to Belfast to wait out any immediate danger. He also gives Juice a gun that he values for all he has done for him. At the end of the episode, Clay has been voted out of the club after revealing everything. After Jax beats Clay in frustration for not being allowed to kill him, Happy removes the former Club President's SAMCRO tattoos on his back and arm by smudging them over with a needle and black tattoo ink as the rest of the club looks on.

text: He is shown to be ready to leave in the season finale when Roosevelt and several policemen state they found his gun (the same one he gave Juice) at a crime scene as the murder weapon that killed Damon Pope and three of his men. When he asks Gemma to vouch for him, she states he was gone with the gun and she didn't know he was going to kill anyone. He is arrested and is last seen in a prison transport van with two black men. Meanwhile, Jax has convinced Pope's lieutenants that Clay was Pope's killer; per Pope's standing order in the event of his death, they offer a $5 million reward for Clay's murder.

text: Season Six[edit]

text: At the beginning of the season, Clay is being held in protective custody after his arrest for Damon Pope's murder. Clay is visited by retired US Marshall Lee Toric, the brother of the nurse Otto murdered. Toric, who had sworn revenge against the motorcycle club, tells Clay he can only remain in protective custody if he cooperates in building a case against SAMCRO. Clay initially refuses, but after being transferred to general population and realizing he is certain to be murdered in retaliation for two deaths he had nothing to do with and didn't even approve, he agrees to help Toric and is returned to protective custody. He later demands a sit-down with Gemma and Jax before he signs the deal. He meets with Gemma and seems apologetic, though Gemma suspects he has ulterior motives. He meets Jax and states that he will give Toric nothing and that he is sorry. In response to this he is shipped to Stockton, where he is attacked by three black men, but they spare him and offer him a shank. He later uses it to kill a member of a Neo-Nazi group and gets protection from the black gang. He is visited once more by Toric, who shows him the brutalized Otto. Clay slips Otto a shank and leaves. Despite threats that he will meet the same fate, Clay refuses to sign. Toric is later killed by Otto with the shank Clay gave him and Otto is killed by the guards in response.

text: Following the fallout between Jax and the IRA, Clay is contacted by Galen O'Shea with the opportunity to continue as the main weapon distributor for the IRA in Northern California. The IRA will arrange to have Clay escape from the prison transport on the way to his hearing and he will retreat to Belfast and build his own new crew. Clay requests a conjugal visit with Gemma so that he can have her relate this information to Jax. He pays off two guards to allow him to chat with Gemma, but when the visit is over, the guards demand to watch Clay and Gemma have sex while they masturbate. They threaten to have Clay killed and Gemma grudgingly agrees to do it. Afterwards Clay vows to kill the two guards, but Gemma tells him that SAMCRO needs him alive. When Clay's transport date is moved up, Galen enlists SAMCRO to assist in attacking his transport truck to free him; Bobby is shot during the attack and Juice kills a guard. After meeting up with the Irish, Jax kills Galen and his men. He explains the situation, stating the Club took a unanimous vote how to handle the situation. Clay, accepting of his fate, stands ready. Jax then executes Clay by shooting him in the neck and then five times in the chest while he is on the floor. Jax then arranges the bodies to make it look like Clay had a falling out with the Irish and they all died in a shootout, allowing him to finally get revenge against Clay as well as Galen.


document_title: 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs

question_text: when does the stanley cup finals 2018 start

question_tokens: when does the stanley cup finals 2018 start

root

text: 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs

text: Playoff seeds[edit]

text: This was the fifth year in which the top three teams in each division made the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference (for a total of eight playoff teams from each conference).

tag: p

text: The following teams qualified for the playoffs:[8]

text: Eastern Conference[edit]

text: Atlantic Division[edit]

text:
Tampa Bay Lightning, Atlantic Division champions, Eastern Conference regular season champions – 113 points
Boston Bruins – 112 points
Toronto Maple Leafs – 105 points

tag: ol

text: Metropolitan Division[edit]

text:
Washington Capitals, Metropolitan Division champions – 105 points
Pittsburgh Penguins – 100 points
Philadelphia Flyers – 98 points

text: Wild Cards[edit]

text:
Columbus Blue Jackets – 97 points (39 ROWs, 6 points head-to-head vs. New Jersey)
New Jersey Devils – 97 points (39 ROWs, 2 points head-to-head vs. Columbus)

text: Western Conference[edit]

text: Central Division[edit]

text:
Nashville Predators, Central Division champions, Western Conference regular season champions, Presidents' Trophy winners – 117 points
Winnipeg Jets – 114 points
Minnesota Wild – 101 points

text: Pacific Division[edit]

text:
Vegas Golden Knights, Pacific Division champions – 109 points
Anaheim Ducks – 101 points
San Jose Sharks – 100 points

text: Wild Cards[edit]

text:
Los Angeles Kings – 98 points
Colorado Avalanche – 95 points

text: Playoff bracket[edit]

text: In each round, teams compete in a best-of-seven series following a 2–2–1–1–1 format (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). The team with home ice advantage plays at home for games one and two (and games five and seven, if necessary), and the other team is at home for games three and four (and game six, if necessary). The top three teams in each division make the playoffs, along with two wild cards in each conference, for a total of eight teams from each conference.

text: In the First Round, the lower seeded wild card in the conference plays against the division winner with the best record while the other wild card plays against the other division winner, and both wild cards are de facto #4 seeds. The other series match the second and third place teams from the divisions. In the first two rounds, home ice advantage is awarded to the team with the better seed. Thereafter, it is awarded to the team that had the better regular season record.

text: viewtalkedit

tag: ul

text:
First Round

Second Round

Conference Finals

Stanley Cup Finals

A1

Tampa Bay

4

WC

New Jersey

1

A1

Tampa Bay

4

A2

Boston

1

A2

Boston

4

A3

Toronto

3

A1

Tampa Bay

3

Eastern Conference

M1

Washington

4

M1

Washington

4

WC

Columbus

2

M1

Washington

4

M2

Pittsburgh

2

M2

Pittsburgh

4

M3

Philadelphia

2

M1

Washington

4

P1

Vegas

1

C1

Nashville

4

WC

Colorado

2

C1

Nashville

3

C2

Winnipeg

4

C2

Winnipeg

4

C3

Minnesota

1

C2

Winnipeg

1

Western Conference

P1

Vegas

4

P1

Vegas

4

WC

Los Angeles

0

P1

Vegas

4

P3

San Jose

2

P2

Anaheim

0

P3

San Jose

4

tag: table

text:
A1, A2, A3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Atlantic Division, respectively
M1, M2, M3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Metropolitan Division, respectively
C1, C2, C3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Central Division, respectively
P1, P2, P3 – The first, second, and third place teams from the Pacific Division, respectively
WC – Wild Card teams

text: First Round[edit]

text: Eastern Conference First Round[edit]

text: (A1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (WC2) New Jersey Devils[edit]

text: The Tampa Bay Lightning finished first in the Atlantic Division earning 113 points. New Jersey finished as the Eastern Conference's second wild card, earning 97 points. This was the third playoff meeting between these teams with New Jersey winning both previous series. They last met in the 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which New Jersey won in six games. New Jersey won all three games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Lightning defeated the Devils in five games. Although Taylor Hall scored his first playoff goal in game one, the Devils were beaten 5–2 as Ondrej Palat recorded three points for Tampa Bay.[9] In game two, a four-goal barrage by the Lightning during the second period forced Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid to be pulled. Tampa won the game 5–3.[10] The Devils recovered in game three as Taylor Hall scored a goal and two assists in a 5–2 victory.[11] J. T. Miller and Nikita Kucherov both had three points in a 3–1 victory for the Lightning in game four.[12] In game five, Kucherov's goal was the series-winner as the Lightning held off a late attack by the Devils to win 3–1.[13]

text:
April 12

New Jersey Devils

2–5

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

15:00 – Ondrej Palat (1)19:31 – Tyler Johnson (1)

Taylor Hall (1) – 13:55

Second period

01:54 – pp – Yanni Gourde (1)

Travis Zajac (1) – pp – 09:35

Third period

12:14 – Alex Killorn (1)18:48 – en – Nikita Kucherov (1)

Keith Kinkaid 27 saves / 31 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 29 saves / 31 shots

text:
April 14

New Jersey Devils

3–5

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

Nico Hischier (1) – 13:38

First period

12:15 – Brayden Point (1)

Sami Vatanen (1) – 19:34

Second period

03:14 – pp – Alex Killorn (2)04:36 – Tyler Johnson (2)06:01 – Nikita Kucherov (2)13:12 – pp – Alex Killorn (3)

Blake Coleman (1) – 11:57

Third period

No scoring

Keith Kinkaid 10 saves / 15 shotsCory Schneider 10 saves / 10 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 41 saves / 44 shots

text:
April 16

Tampa Bay Lightning

2–5

New Jersey Devils

Prudential Center

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Alex Killorn (4) – pp – 00:42

Second period

12:24 – Taylor Hall (2)

Steven Stamkos (1) – pp – 00:38

Third period

04:03 – pp – Will Butcher (1)12:55 – Stefan Noesen (1)19:02 – sh-en – Blake Coleman (2)19:22 – en – Ben Lovejoy (1)

Andrei Vasilevskiy 36 saves / 39 shots

Goalie stats

Cory Schneider 34 saves / 36 shots

text:
April 18

Tampa Bay Lightning

3–1

New Jersey Devils

Prudential Center

Recap

show

J. T. Miller (1) – 11:30Nikita Kucherov (3) – 15:02

First period

08:23 – pp – Kyle Palmieri (1)

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

Nikita Kucherov (4) – en – 18:52

Third period

No scoring

Andrei Vasilevskiy 27 saves / 28 shots

Goalie stats

Cory Schneider 34 saves / 36 shots

text:
April 21

New Jersey Devils

1–3

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

08:07 – Mikhail Sergachev (1)

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

Patrick Maroon (1) – 17:00

Third period

12:27 – Nikita Kucherov (5)19:58 – en – Ryan Callahan (1)

Cory Schneider 35 saves / 37 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 26 saves / 27 shots

text: Tampa Bay won series 4–1

text: (A2) Boston Bruins vs. (A3) Toronto Maple Leafs[edit]

text: The Boston Bruins finished second in the Atlantic Division earning 112 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned 105 points to finish third in the Atlantic Division. This was the fifteenth playoff meeting between these two teams with Toronto winning eight of the fourteen previous series. They last met in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Boston won in seven games. Toronto won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs in seven games. Tuukka Rask made 26 saves for the Bruins in game one, winning the game 5–1.[14] During the game, Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri was given a five-minute major for a charging penalty for his hit on Tommy Wingels; he would later be suspended for three games.[15] David Pastrnak had a hat trick and three assists in a 7–3 victory for the Bruins in game two, becoming the first player since Claude Giroux in 2012 to score a hat trick and three assists.[16] In game three, Patrick Marleau scored twice for the Maple Leafs in a 4–2 victory.[17] Pastrnak assisted twice on two goals in a 3–1 triumph for the Bruins, taking a 3–1 series lead in the process.[18] In game five, Toronto prevented a come-back by Boston, fending off the Bruins 4–3 as Frederik Andersen made 42 saves for the Maple Leafs.[19] Nikita Zaitsev assisted twice in a 3–1 Maple Leafs victory, forcing a seventh game in the series.[20] In game seven, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron scored a goal and recorded two assists in a 7–4 victory to advance his team to the second round.[21]

text:
April 12

Toronto Maple Leafs

1–5

Boston Bruins

TD Garden

Recap

show

Zach Hyman (1) – 16:52

First period

05:28 – pp – Brad Marchand (1)

No scoring

Second period

15:43 – pp – David Backes (1)19:22 – David Pastrnak (1)

No scoring

Third period

07:41 – Sean Kuraly (1)11:29 – pp – David Krejci (1)

Frederik Andersen 35 saves / 40 shots

Goalie stats

Tuukka Rask 26 saves / 27 shots

text:
April 14

Toronto Maple Leafs

3–7

Boston Bruins

TD Garden

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

05:26 – David Pastrnak (2)09:46 – pp – Jake DeBrusk (1)12:13 – Kevan Miller (1)15:00 – pp – Rick Nash (1)

Mitchell Marner (1) – 01:22Tyler Bozak (1) – 09:02

Second period

03:46 – David Krejci (2)

James van Riemsdyk (1) – pp – 14:53

Third period

12:34 – David Pastrnak (3)18:24 – David Pastrnak (4)

Frederik Andersen 2 saves / 5 shotsCurtis McElhinney 19 saves / 23 shots

Goalie stats

Tuukka Rask 30 saves / 33 shots

text:
April 16

Boston Bruins

2–4

Toronto Maple Leafs

Air Canada Centre

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

17:05 – pp – James van Riemsdyk (2)

Adam McQuaid (1) – 03:06Zdeno Chara (1) – 06:19

Second period

03:49 – Patrick Marleau (1)14:47 – Auston Matthews (1)

No scoring

Third period

16:25 – Patrick Marleau (2)

Tuukka Rask 26 saves / 30 shots

Goalie stats

Frederik Andersen 40 saves / 42 shots

text:
April 19

Boston Bruins

3–1

Toronto Maple Leafs

Air Canada Centre

Recap

show

Torey Krug (1) – 00:28

First period

07:43 – Tomas Plekanec (1)

Brad Marchand (2) – 16:55

Second period

No scoring

Jake DeBrusk (2) – 04:17

Third period

No scoring

Tuukka Rask 31 saves / 32 shots

Goalie stats

Frederik Andersen 18 saves / 21 shots

text:
April 21

Toronto Maple Leafs

4–3

Boston Bruins

TD Garden

Recap

show

Connor Brown (1) – 06:36Andreas Johnsson (1) – 10:12

First period

No scoring

Tyler Bozak (2) – 10:36James van Riemsdyk (3) – pp – 11:55

Second period

09:45 – pp – David Backes (2)17:18 – Sean Kuraly (2)

No scoring

Third period

05:56 – Noel Acciari (1)

Frederik Andersen 42 saves / 45 shots

Goalie stats

Tuukka Rask 9 saves / 13 shotsAnton Khudobin 8 saves / 8 shots

text:
April 23

Boston Bruins

1–3

Toronto Maple Leafs

Air Canada Centre

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Jake DeBrusk (3) – 01:02

Second period

01:37 – William Nylander (1)13:25 – Mitchell Marner (2)

No scoring

Third period

18:46 – en – Tomas Plekanec (2)

Tuukka Rask 27 saves / 29 shots

Goalie stats

Frederik Andersen 32 saves / 33 shots

text:
April 25

Toronto Maple Leafs

4–7

Boston Bruins

TD Garden

Recap

show

Patrick Marleau (3) – pp – 02:01Patrick Marleau (4) – 06:12

First period

04:47 – pp – Jake DeBrusk (4)09:10 – Danton Heinen (1)19:23 – Patrice Bergeron (1)

Travis Dermott (1) – 02:07Kasperi Kapanen (1) – sh – 06:05

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

01:10 – Torey Krug (2)05:25 – Jake DeBrusk (5)11:39 – David Pastrnak (5)19:09 – en – Brad Marchand (3)

Frederik Andersen 29 saves / 35 shots

Goalie stats

Tuukka Rask 20 saves / 24 shots

text: Boston won series 4–3

text: (M1) Washington Capitals vs. (WC1) Columbus Blue Jackets[edit]

text: The Washington Capitals finished first in the Metropolitan Division earning 105 points. The Columbus Blue Jackets finished as the Eastern Conference's first wild card earning 97 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Washington won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Capitals came back from a 2–0 series deficit to defeat the Blue Jackets in six games. Columbus came back from a two-goal deficit in game one to force overtime, during which Artemi Panarin scored 6:02 into the extra session to give the Blue Jackets their first lead in a playoff series.[22] The Blue Jackets overcame another two-goal deficit in game two, taking the game into overtime yet again. Matt Calvert scored the game-winning goal for Columbus as they took a 2–0 series lead.[23] The Capitals took game three 3–2 in double-overtime as Lars Eller scored the game winner.[24] The Capitals tied the series after game four as Washington's Alexander Ovechkin had a goal and an assist in a 4–1 victory.[25] Nicklas Backstrom's tip-in was the overtime-winner for the Capitals in game five as they prevented a two-goal comeback by the Blue Jackets.[26] In game six, Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin scored twice to seal the series for Washington, winning the affair 6–3.[27] With playoff series victories by Winnipeg and Vegas this season, Columbus is now the only NHL franchise without a playoff series win.

text:
April 12

Columbus Blue Jackets

4–3

OT

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

17:52 – pp – Evgeny Kuznetsov (1)18:21 – pp – Evgeny Kuznetsov (2)

Alexander Wennberg (1) – 04:48

Second period

No scoring

Thomas Vanek (1) – pp – 01:31Seth Jones (1) – pp – 15:34

Third period

05:12 – Devante Smith-Pelly (1)

Artemi Panarin (1) – 06:02

First overtime period

No scoring

Sergei Bobrovsky 27 saves / 30 shots

Goalie stats

Philipp Grubauer 23 saves / 27 shots

text:
April 15

Columbus Blue Jackets

5–4

OT

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

Cam Atkinson (1) – 18:25

First period

02:12 – Jay Beagle (1)13:26 – pp – Alexander Ovechkin (1)

Josh Anderson (1) – 08:49Cam Atkinson (2) – pp – 11:13Zach Werenski (1) – pp – 18:52

Second period

04:09 – pp – Alexander Ovechkin (2)

No scoring

Third period

16:25 – pp – T.J. Oshie (1)

Matt Calvert (1) – 12:22

First overtime period

No scoring

Sergei Bobrovsky 54 saves / 58 shots

Goalie stats

Philipp Grubauer 18 saves / 22 shotsBraden Holtby 7 saves / 8 shots

text:
April 17

Washington Capitals

3–2

2OT

Columbus Blue Jackets

Nationwide Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Tom Wilson (1) – 05:52John Carlson (1) – pp – 14:43

Second period

11:18 – Pierre-Luc Dubois (1)

No scoring

Third period

04:12 – Artemi Panarin (2)

Lars Eller (1) – 09:00

Second overtime period

No scoring

Braden Holtby 33 saves / 35 shots

Goalie stats

Sergei Bobrovsky 42 saves / 45 shots

text:
April 19

Washington Capitals

4–1

Columbus Blue Jackets

Nationwide Arena

Recap

show

Tom Wilson (2) – 06:16

First period

No scoring

T. J. Oshie (2) – pp – 09:19

Second period

No scoring

Alexander Ovechkin (3) – 02:49Evgeny Kuznetsov (3) – en – 17:41

Third period

06:22 – Boone Jenner (1)

Braden Holtby 23 saves / 24 shots

Goalie stats

Sergei Bobrovsky 29 saves / 32 shots

text:
April 21

Columbus Blue Jackets

3–4

OT

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

Matt Calvert (2) – sh – 10:08

First period

13:22 – Nicklas Backstrom (1)

Matt Calvert (3) – 04:45

Second period

03:21 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (4)16:42 – pp – T. J. Oshie (3)

Oliver Bjorkstrand (1) – 02:30

Third period

No scoring

No scoring

First overtime period

11:53 – Nicklas Backstrom (2)

Sergei Bobrovsky 25 saves / 29 shots

Goalie stats

Braden Holtby 39 saves / 42 shots

text:
April 23

Washington Capitals

6–3

Columbus Blue Jackets

Nationwide Arena

Recap

show

Dmitry Orlov (1) – 12:12

First period

No scoring

Alexander Ovechkin (4) – 12:50Alexander Ovechkin (5) – pp – 18:23

Second period

08:40 – Nick Foligno (1)

Devante Smith-Pelly (2) – 03:56Chandler Stephenson (1) – sh – 05:30Lars Eller (2) – en – 19:46

Third period

02:25 – Pierre-Luc Dubois (2)08:22 – Nick Foligno (2)

Braden Holtby 35 saves / 38 shots

Goalie stats

Sergei Bobrovsky 22 saves / 27 shots

text: Washington won series 4–2

text: (M2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (M3) Philadelphia Flyers[edit]

text: The Pittsburgh Penguins finished second in the Metropolitan Division earning 100 points. The Philadelphia Flyers earned 98 points to finish third in the Metropolitan. This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two rivals with Philadelphia winning four of the six previous series. They last met in the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which Philadelphia won in six games. Pittsburgh won all four games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Penguins defeated the Flyers in six games. In game one, Sidney Crosby capped off a hat trick to end a 7–0 rout over the Flyers.[28] The Flyers defeated the Penguins in game two, riding on Sean Couturier's goal and two assists in a 5–1 victory.[29] Pittsburgh took game three 5–1 as Crosby recorded a goal and three assists.[30] Matt Murray recorded a shutout in game four stopping all 26 shots he faced in a 5–0 victory for Pittsburgh.[31] Prior to game five, Flyers captain Claude Giroux guaranteed his team a victory.[32] Giroux scored the first goal of the game, and Couturier scored game-winning goal with 1:15 left in regulation time to force a sixth game in a 4–2 victory for Philadelphia.[33] In game six, Jake Guentzel recorded a natural hat trick and scored four goals in total, including two within ten seconds of each other, to seal the series for the Penguins in an 8–5 victory.[34]

text:
April 11

Philadelphia Flyers

0–7

Pittsburgh Penguins

PPG Paints Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

02:38 – Bryan Rust (1)10:07 – Carl Hagelin (1)14:09 – Evgeni Malkin (1)

No scoring

Second period

07:50 – pp – Jake Guentzel (1)09:01 – Sidney Crosby (1)

No scoring

Third period

07:41 – Sidney Crosby (2)10:42 – Sidney Crosby (3)

Brian Elliott 14 saves / 19 shotsPetr Mrazek 12 saves / 14 shots

Goalie stats

Matt Murray 24 saves / 24 shots

text:
April 13

Philadelphia Flyers

5–1

Pittsburgh Penguins

PPG Paints Arena

Recap

show

Shayne Gostisbehere (1) – pp – 19:23

First period

No scoring

Sean Couturier (1) – 00:47

Second period

No scoring

Travis Konecny (1) – 01:29Nolan Patrick (1) – pp – 05:10Andrew MacDonald (1) – en – 19:44

Third period

05:27 – Patric Hornqvist (1)

Brian Elliott 34 saves / 35 shots

Goalie stats

Matt Murray 15 saves / 19 shots

text:
April 15

Pittsburgh Penguins

5–1

Philadelphia Flyers

Wells Fargo Center

Recap

show

Sidney Crosby (4) – 10:25

First period

No scoring

Derick Brassard (1) – pp – 02:48Evgeni Malkin (2) – pp – 06:48Brian Dumoulin (1) – 06:53

Second period

13:42 – Travis Sanheim (1)

Justin Schultz (1) – pp – 07:08

Third period

No scoring

Matt Murray 26 saves / 27 shots

Goalie stats

Brian Elliott 21 saves / 26 shots

text:
April 18

Pittsburgh Penguins

5–0

Philadelphia Flyers

Wells Fargo Center

Recap

show

Evgeni Malkin (3) – pp – 04:33Phil Kessel (1) – 14:37

First period

No scoring

Kris Letang (1) – 08:04Sidney Crosby (5) – 10:56

Second period

No scoring

Riley Sheahan (1) – 15:46

Third period

No scoring

Matt Murray 26 saves / 26 shots

Goalie stats

Brian Elliott 14 saves / 17 shotsMichal Neuvirth 11 saves / 13 shots

text:
April 20

Philadelphia Flyers

4–2

Pittsburgh Penguins

PPG Paints Arena

Recap

show

Claude Giroux (1) – 17:29

First period

No scoring

Valtteri Filppula (1) – sh – 18:15

Second period

12:00 – Bryan Rust (2)16:45 – Jake Guentzel (2)

Sean Couturier (2) – 18:45Matt Read (1) – en – 19:42

Third period

No scoring

Michal Neuvirth 30 saves / 32 shots

Goalie stats

Matt Murray 21 saves / 24 shots

text:
April 22

Pittsburgh Penguins

8–5

Philadelphia Flyers

Wells Fargo Center

Recap

show

Sidney Crosby (6) – 06:30Carl Hagelin (2) – 07:17

First period

02:15 – Sean Couturier (3)15:48 –  Andrew MacDonald (2)

Patric Hornqvist (2) – 13:35Jake Guentzel (3) – 19:06

Second period

00:40 – Sean Couturier (4)12:14 – Scott Laughton (1)

Jake Guentzel (4) – 00:30Jake Guentzel (5) – 12:48Jake Guentzel (6) – 12:58Bryan Rust (3) – en – 19:29

Third period

17:07 – Sean Couturier (5)

Matt Murray 21 saves / 26 shots

Goalie stats

Michal Neuvirth 20 saves / 27 shots

text: Pittsburgh won series 4–2

text: Western Conference First Round[edit]

text: (C1) Nashville Predators vs. (WC2) Colorado Avalanche[edit]

text: The Nashville Predators earned the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best regular season team with 117 points. The Colorado Avalanche finished as the Western Conference's second wild card earning 95 points. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Nashville won all four games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Predators defeated the Avalanche in six games. Filip Forsberg scored twice in Nashville's 5–2 game one victory, one of which was considered a highlight-reel goal.[35][36] Nashville had five different players score in their 5–4 victory over Colorado in game two to take a 2–0 series lead.[37]Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and two assists in game three to take game three for the Avalanche 5–3.[38] In game four, Pekka Rinne made 31 saves for the Predators who took a 3–1 series lead with a 3–2 win.[39] Andrew Hammond made 44 saves and Sven Andrighetto scored with 1:28 left in the third period to force a sixth game for the Avalanche in a 2–1 triumph.[40] The Predators shut out the Avalanche in game six, with Rinne stopping all 22 shots he faced in a 5–0 victory.[41]

text:
April 12

Colorado Avalanche

2–5

Nashville Predators

Bridgestone Arena

Recap

show

Nikita Zadorov (1) – 06:36

First period

No scoring

Blake Comeau (1) – 04:51

Second period

03:16 – Austin Watson (1)08:50 – pp – Craig Smith (1)

No scoring

Third period

06:08 – Filip Forsberg (1)12:10 – Filip Forsberg (2)18:03 – en – Colton Sissons (1)

Jonathan Bernier 26 saves / 30 shots

Goalie stats

Pekka Rinne 25 saves / 27 shots

text:
April 14

Colorado Avalanche

4–5

Nashville Predators

Bridgestone Arena

Recap

show

Gabriel Bourque (1) – 02:34

First period

No scoring

Nathan MacKinnon (1) – 17:08

Second period

01:01 – pp – Kevin Fiala (1)12:36 – Viktor Arvidsson (1)16:32 – Ryan Johansen (1)

Gabriel Landeskog (1) – pp – 09:14Alexander Kerfoot (1) – 19:24

Third period

07:16 – Austin Watson (2)18:51 – en – Ryan Hartman (1)

Jonathan Bernier 28 saves / 32 shots

Goalie stats

Pekka Rinne 26 saves / 30 shots

text:
April 16

Nashville Predators

3–5

Colorado Avalanche

Pepsi Center

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

01:50 – Blake Comeau (2)13:24 – Gabriel Bourque (2)18:07 – Nathan MacKinnon (2)

Ryan Johansen (2) – pp – 10:23

Second period

04:25 – Nathan MacKinnon (3)

Colton Sissons (2) – 07:12Austin Watson (3) – 18:45

Third period

18:24 – en – Gabriel Landeskog (2)

Pekka Rinne 11 saves / 15 shotsJuuse Saros 18 saves / 18 shots

Goalie stats

Jonathan Bernier 29 saves / 32 shots

text:
April 18

Nashville Predators

3–2

Colorado Avalanche

Pepsi Center

Recap

show

Filip Forsberg (3) – 15:33

First period

No scoring

Colton Sissons (3) – 07:18Craig Smith (2) – 11:49

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

05:20 – pp – Gabriel Landeskog (3)11:01 – Alexander Kerfoot (2)

Pekka Rinne 31 saves / 33 shots

Goalie stats

Jonathan Bernier 23 saves / 26 shotsAndrew Hammond 8 saves / 8 shots

text:
April 20

Colorado Avalanche

2–1

Nashville Predators

Bridgestone Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

Gabriel Landeskog (4) – 15:49Sven Andrighetto (1) – 18:32

Third period

10:18 – Nick Bonino (1)

Andrew Hammond 44 saves / 45 shots

Goalie stats

Pekka Rinne 25 saves / 27 shots

text:
April 22

Nashville Predators

5–0

Colorado Avalanche

Pepsi Center

Recap

show

Mattias Ekholm (1) – 07:02Austin Watson (4) – 10:19

First period

No scoring

Filip Forsberg (4) – 00:38Nick Bonino (2) – 08:26

Second period

No scoring

Viktor Arvidsson (2) – 02:36

Third period

No scoring

Pekka Rinne 22 saves / 22 shots

Goalie stats

Andrew Hammond 32 saves / 37 shots

text: Nashville won series 4–2

text: (C2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (C3) Minnesota Wild[edit]

text: The Winnipeg Jets finished second in the Central Division earning 114 points. The Minnesota Wild earned 101 points to finish third in the Central. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Winnipeg won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Jets defeated the Wild in five games and earned their first playoff series victory in franchise history after entering the league in 1999 as the Atlanta Thrashers. The Jets also became the first Winnipeg-based NHL team to advance past the opening round of the playoffs since 1987. After firing 40 shots on Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk, the Jets won game one 3–2, winning their first playoff game in franchise history and the city's first playoff victory since 1996.[42] In game two, Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist to provide the Jets a 4–1 victory as well as a 2–0 series lead.[43] In game three, the Wild scored four goals in the second period to chase Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in a 6–2 affair.[44] Hellebuyck came back in game four, stopping all 30 shots he faced in a 2–0 victory.[45] Hellebuyck continued his shutout streak in game five, stopping another 30 shots after a first period blitz by the Jets to win the series-clinching game 5–0.[46]

text:
April 11

Minnesota Wild

2–3

Winnipeg Jets

Bell MTS Place

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

No scoring

Second period

17:37 – pp – Mark Scheifele (1)

Matt Cullen (1) – 01:46Zach Parise (1) – 03:58

Third period

04:51 – Patrik Laine (1)12:47 – Joe Morrow (1)

Devan Dubnyk 37 saves / 40 shots

Goalie stats

Connor Hellebuyck 18 saves / 20 shots

text:
April 13

Minnesota Wild

1–4

Winnipeg Jets

Bell MTS Place

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

No scoring

Second period

08:41 – Tyler Myers (1)

Zach Parise (2) – pp – 19:15

Third period

07:42 – Paul Stastny (1)09:24 – Andrew Copp (1)17:58 – Patrik Laine (2)

Devan Dubnyk 40 saves / 44 shots

Goalie stats

Connor Hellebuyck 16 saves / 17 shots

text:
April 15

Winnipeg Jets

2–6

Minnesota Wild

Xcel Energy Center

Recap

show

Blake Wheeler (1) – pp – 04:50

First period

09:47 – pp – Mikael Granlund (1)17:50 – pp – Zach Parise (3)

Tyler Myers (2) – 06:42

Second period

03:32 – Matt Dumba (1)14:40 – Eric Staal (1)15:00 – Jordan Greenway (1)18:23 – Marcus Foligno (1)

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

Connor Hellebuyck 16 saves / 22 shotsSteve Mason 7 saves / 7 shots

Goalie stats

Devan Dubnyk 29 saves / 31 shots

text:
April 17

Winnipeg Jets

2–0

Minnesota Wild

Xcel Energy Center

Recap

show

Mark Scheifele (2) – 19:32

First period

No scoring

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

Mark Scheifele (3) – en – 19:49

Third period

No scoring

Connor Hellebuyck 30 saves / 30 shots

Goalie stats

Devan Dubnyk 26 saves / 27 shots

text:
April 20

Minnesota Wild

0–5

Winnipeg Jets

Bell MTS Place

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

00:31 – Jacob Trouba (1)05:42 – Bryan Little (1)11:10 – Brandon Tanev (1)11:59 – Joel Armia (1)

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

00:32 – pp – Mark Scheifele (4)

Devan Dubnyk 6 saves / 10 shotsAlex Stalock 15 saves / 16 shots

Goalie stats

Connor Hellebuyck 30 saves / 30 shots

text: Winnipeg won series 4–1

text: (P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC1) Los Angeles Kings[edit]

text: The Vegas Golden Knights finished first in the Pacific Division earning 109 points. The Los Angeles Kings earned 98 points to finish as the Western Conference's first wild card. This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams and the first playoff series for the Golden Knights. These teams split their four-game regular season series.

text: The Golden Knights defeated the Kings in a four-game sweep. In game one, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 30 shots to give the Golden Knights their first playoff victory.[47] Even though Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick made 54 saves in game two, the Golden Knights topped Los Angeles in double overtime thanks to Erik Haula's goal at 15:23, taking a 2–0 series lead.[48] After the Golden Knights took the lead late in the third period of game three with two goals in 21 seconds Vegas pushed the Kings to the brink of elimination with a 3–2 win; Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury made 37 saves in the victory.[49] In game four, former-King Brayden McNabb scored the only goal of the game for the Golden Knights as they swept Los Angeles for their first playoff series victory.[50] This series tied the record for the fewest number of goals scored by both teams in a best-of-seven playoff series: the Golden Knights scored seven goals to the Kings' three goals for a total of ten goals, tying the record set in 2003.

text:
April 11

Los Angeles Kings

0–1

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

03:23 – Shea Theodore (1)

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

Jonathan Quick 27 saves / 28 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 30 saves / 30 shots

text:
April 13

Los Angeles Kings

1–2

2OT

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

14:47 – pp – Alex Tuch (1)

Paul LaDue (1) – pp – 15:55

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

No scoring

Second overtime period

15:23 – Erik Haula (1)

Jonathan Quick 54 saves / 56 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 29 saves / 30 shots

text:
April 15

Vegas Golden Knights

3–2

Los Angeles Kings

Staples Center

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

13:14 – Alex Iafallo (1)

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

Cody Eakin (1) – 06:10James Neal (1) – 14:23William Karlsson (1) – 14:44

Third period

17:56 – Anze Kopitar (1)

Marc-Andre Fleury 37 saves / 39 shots

Goalie stats

Jonathan Quick 23 saves / 26 shots

text:
April 17

Vegas Golden Knights

1–0

Los Angeles Kings

Staples Center

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Brayden McNabb (1) – 04:04

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

Marc-Andre Fleury 31 saves / 31 shots

Goalie stats

Jonathan Quick 20 saves / 21 shots

text: Vegas won series 4–0

text: (P2) Anaheim Ducks vs. (P3) San Jose Sharks[edit]

text: The Anaheim Ducks finished second in the Pacific Division earning 101 points. The San Jose Sharks earned 100 points to finish third in the Pacific Division. This was the second playoff meeting between these teams. They last met in the 2009 Western Conference Quarterfinals, which Anaheim won in six games. San Jose won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Sharks defeated the Ducks in a four-game sweep. Evander Kane scored twice in his first playoff game and Sharks goaltender Martin Jones posted a 25-save shutout blanking the Ducks 3–0 in game one.[51] In game two, Logan Couture scored a goal and recorded an assist in a 3–2 victory.[52] Martin Jones made 45 saves as the Sharks routed the Ducks 8–1 in game three; eight different players scored for San Jose in the victory.[53] Tomas Hertl broke the tie for San Jose, scoring the series-clinching goal midway through the third period of game four as the Sharks defeated Anaheim 2–1.[54]

text:
April 12

San Jose Sharks

3–0

Anaheim Ducks

Honda Center

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Evander Kane (1) – pp – 07:07Evander Kane (2) – 13:51Brent Burns (1) – 15:15

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

Martin Jones 25 saves / 25 shots

Goalie stats

John Gibson 31 saves / 34 shots

text:
April 14

San Jose Sharks

3–2

Anaheim Ducks

Honda Center

Recap

show

Marcus Sorensen (1) – 09:41Logan Couture (1) – pp – 14:41

First period

00:40 – Jakob Silfverberg (1)

Tomas Hertl (1) – 01:11

Second period

07:51 – pp – Hampus Lindholm (1)

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

Martin Jones 28 saves / 30 shots

Goalie stats

John Gibson 32 saves / 35 shots

text:
April 16

Anaheim Ducks

1–8

San Jose Sharks

SAP Center

Recap

show

Rickard Rakell (1) – pp – 13:40

First period

03:44 – Logan Couture (2)

No scoring

Second period

01:15 – Joonas Donskoi (1)03:41 – Marcus Sorensen (2)13:43 – Eric Fehr (1)16:49 – pp – Tomas Hertl (2)

No scoring

Third period

10:04 – pp – Joe Pavelski (1)17:16 – pp – Evander Kane (3)19:36 – pp – Timo Meier (1)

John Gibson 19 saves / 24 shotsRyan Miller 9 saves / 12 shots

Goalie stats

Martin Jones 45 saves / 46 shots

text:
April 18

Anaheim Ducks

1–2

San Jose Sharks

SAP Center

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

05:43 – Marcus Sorensen (3)

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

Andrew Cogliano (1) – 07:53

Third period

09:09 – Tomas Hertl (3)

John Gibson 22 saves / 24 shots

Goalie stats

Martin Jones 30 saves / 31 shots

text: San Jose won series 4–0

text: Second Round[edit]

text: Eastern Conference Second Round[edit]

text: (A1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (A2) Boston Bruins[edit]

text: This was the second playoff meeting between these two teams. Their only previous series occurred in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals, which Boston won in seven games. Boston won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Lightning defeated the Bruins in five games. In game one, the line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak combined for eleven points in a 6–2 triumph.[55] Brayden Point scored a goal and recorded three assists in the Lightning's 4–2 victory in game two, evening the series.[56] Ondrej Palat scored twice in the Lightning's 4–1 win in game three taking a 2–1 series lead.[57] Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos forced overtime in game four with his goal in the third period and Daniel Girardi scored the game-winning goal to give the Lightning a 4–3 victory.[58] During game four, Brad Marchand licked the face of Tampa Bay forward Ryan Callahan during a scrum. Marchand received no penalty or further punishment from the League.[59] The Lightning scored twice in the second period of game five to take the lead and Anton Stralman scored an empty-net goal to give Tampa Bay a 3–1 victory and a 4–1 series win.[60]

text:
April 28

Boston Bruins

6–2

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

Rick Nash (2) – pp – 17:11

First period

No scoring

Patrice Bergeron (2) – 00:42Rick Nash (3) – 12:33

Second period

02:31 – Daniel Girardi (1)13:22 – pp – Mikhail Sergachev (2)

Brad Marchand (4) – 03:32Patrice Bergeron (3) – 10:11Jake DeBrusk (6) – en – 13:41

Third period

No scoring

Tuukka Rask 34 saves / 36 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 18 saves / 23 shots

text:
April 30

Boston Bruins

2–4

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

Charlie McAvoy (1) – 18:30

First period

11:47 – pp – Yanni Gourde (2)

No scoring

Second period

10:14 – Tyler Johnson (3)

Torey Krug (3) – 15:58

Third period

14:08 – Ondrej Palat (2)19:34 – en – Brayden Point (2)

Tuukka Rask 27 saves / 30 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 18 saves / 20 shots

text:
May 2

Tampa Bay Lightning

4–1

Boston Bruins

TD Garden

Recap

show

Ondrej Palat (3) – 01:47Ondrej Palat (4) – 03:19Anthony Cirelli (1) – 16:43

First period

14:12 – pp – Patrice Bergeron (4)

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

Steven Stamkos (2) – en – 19:18

Third period

No scoring

Andrei Vasilevskiy 28 saves / 29 shots

Goalie stats

Tuukka Rask 33 saves / 36 shots

text:
May 4

Tampa Bay Lightning

4–3

OT

Boston Bruins

TD Garden

Recap

show

Brayden Point (3) – 04:36Nikita Kucherov (6) – pp – 09:53

First period

15:28 – pp – David Pastrnak (6)

No scoring

Second period

02:04 – pp – Patrice Bergeron (5)

Steven Stamkos (3) – 12:56

Third period

06:36 – sh – Patrice Bergeron (6)

Daniel Girardi (2) – 03:18

First overtime period

No scoring

Andrei Vasilevskiy 29 saves / 32 shots

Goalie stats

Tuukka Rask 24 saves / 28 shots

text:
May 6

Boston Bruins

1–3

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

David Krejci (3) – pp – 19:12

First period

No scoring

No scoring

Second period

10:43 – Brayden Point (4)14:00 – pp – J. T. Miller (2)

No scoring

Third period

18:31 – en – Anton Stralman (1)

Tuukka Rask 19 saves / 21 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 27 saves / 28 shots

text: Tampa Bay won series 4–1

text: (M1) Washington Capitals vs. (M2) Pittsburgh Penguins[edit]

text: This was the third consecutive year that these two rivals have met in the second round and was the eleventh overall playoff meeting with Pittsburgh winning nine of the ten previous series. They last met in the previous year's Eastern Conference Second Round which Pittsburgh won in seven games. These teams split their four-game regular season series.

text: The Capitals defeated the Penguins in six games, defeating Pittsburgh for the second time in franchise history and the first time since 1994. Pittsburgh rallied from a two-goal deficit to take game one 3–2 leading on Jake Guentzel's goal and two assists.[61] In game two, Braden Holtby made 32 saves for Washington, defeating the Penguins 4–1.[62] Alexander Ovechkin scored with 1:07 left in the third period of game three to give the Capitals a 4–3 victory.[63] During the game, Tom Wilson made an illegal check to the head of rookie Zach Aston-Reese who suffered a broken jaw along with a concussion. Wilson was suspended three games for his action.[64] In game four, Guentzel scored twice for Pittsburgh in a 3–1 victory, evening the series 2–2.[65] Both Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana had a goal and two assists for the Capitals in game five who took a 3–2 series lead after a 6–3 victory.[66] In game six, the Capitals fired 30 shots and Evgeny Kuznetsov's goal in overtime ended the series in a 2–1 victory, moving Washington to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1998.[67]

text:
April 26

Pittsburgh Penguins

3–2

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

00:17 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (5)

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

Patric Hornqvist (3) – 02:59Sidney Crosby (7) – 05:20Jake Guentzel (7) – 07:48

Third period

00:28 – Alexander Ovechkin (6)

Matt Murray 32 saves / 34 shots

Goalie stats

Braden Holtby 22 saves / 25 shots

text:
April 29

Pittsburgh Penguins

1–4

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

01:26 – Alexander Ovechkin (7)14:54 – pp – Jakub Vrana (1)

Kris Letang (2) – 13:04

Second period

02:08 – Brett Connolly (1)

No scoring

Third period

19:53 – en – Nicklas Backstrom (3)

Matt Murray 28 saves / 31 shots

Goalie stats

Braden Holtby 32 saves / 33 shots

text:
May 1

Washington Capitals

4–3

Pittsburgh Penguins

PPG Paints Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

John Carlson (2) – pp – 00:48Chandler Stephenson (2) – 11:04

Second period

04:33 – Jake Guentzel (8)06:49 – pp – Patric Hornqvist (4)16:27 – Sidney Crosby (8)

Matt Niskanen (1) – 05:06Alexander Ovechkin (8) – 18:53

Third period

No scoring

Braden Holtby 19 saves / 22 shots

Goalie stats

Matt Murray 18 saves / 22 shots

text:
May 3

Washington Capitals

1–3

Pittsburgh Penguins

PPG Paints Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

T. J. Oshie (4) – pp – 12:55

Second period

09:21 – Jake Guentzel (9)17:31 – pp – Evgeni Malkin (4)

No scoring

Third period

19:02 – pp-en – Jake Guentzel (10)

Braden Holtby 21 saves / 23 shots

Goalie stats

Matt Murray 20 saves / 21 shots

text:
May 5

Pittsburgh Penguins

3–6

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

Jamie Oleksiak (1) – 02:21

First period

18:22 – pp – John Carlson (3)18:55 – Brett Connolly (2)

Sidney Crosby (9) – pp – 04:43Patric Hornqvist (5) – pp – 07:45

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

00:52 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (6)15:22 – Jakub Vrana (2)18:29 – en – T. J. Oshie (5)19:54 – en – Lars Eller (3)

Matt Murray 26 saves / 30 shots

Goalie stats

Braden Holtby 36 saves / 39 shots

text:
May 7

Washington Capitals

2–1

OT

Pittsburgh Penguins

PPG Paints Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Alex Chiasson (1) – 02:13

Second period

11:52 – Kris Letang (3)

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

Evgeny Kuznetsov (7) – 05:27

First overtime period

No scoring

Braden Holtby 21 saves / 22 shots

Goalie stats

Matt Murray 28 saves / 30 shots

text: Washington won series 4–2

text: Western Conference Second Round[edit]

text: (C1) Nashville Predators vs. (C2) Winnipeg Jets[edit]

text: This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Nashville won three of the five games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Jets eliminated the Predators in seven games. Mark Scheifele scored twice and Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck made 47 saves in game one to defeat the Predators 4–1.[68] In game two, Kevin Fiala scored 5:37 into overtime to give the Predators a 5–4 victory to even the series.[69] The Jets overcame a three-goal deficit in game three with both Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien scoring twice in a 7–4 win.[70] Pekka Rinne made 32 saves for the Predators in game four, allowing his team to win 2–1 and even the series 2–2.[71] In game five, Kyle Connor scored twice and captain Blake Wheeler provided three assists in the Jets' 6–2 victory.[72] The Predators forced a seventh game following game six in which both Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg scored twice and recorded an assist along with Pekka Rinne stopping all 34 shots in a 4–0 shutout.[73] After recording a shutout the game prior, Pekka Rinne got pulled for the third time in the series after letting in the first two goals of game seven. His counterpart, Connor Hellebuyck, made 36 saves in the victory as the Jets won the game 5–1, advancing to the Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history.[74]

text:
April 27

Winnipeg Jets

4–1

Nashville Predators

Bridgestone Arena

Recap

show

Brandon Tanev (2) – 14:51

First period

No scoring

Paul Stastny (2) – 09:01Mark Scheifele (5) – 17:51

Second period

No scoring

Mark Scheifele (6) – en – 19:24

Third period

01:23 – Kevin Fiala (2)

Connor Hellebuyck 47 saves / 48 shots

Goalie stats

Pekka Rinne 13 saves / 16 shotsJuuse Saros 2 saves / 2 shots

text:
April 29

Winnipeg Jets

4–5

2OT

Nashville Predators

Bridgestone Arena

Recap

show

Dustin Byfuglien (1) – 12:47Mark Scheifele (7) – pp – 13:16

First period

00:27 – Ryan Johansen (3)

No scoring

Second period

05:04 – pp – P. K. Subban (1)18:41 – Viktor Arvidsson (3)

Brandon Tanev (3) – 05:11Mark Scheifele (8) – 18:55

Third period

05:45 – Ryan Johansen (4)

No scoring

Second overtime period

05:37 – Kevin Fiala (3)

Connor Hellebuyck 36 saves / 41 shots

Goalie stats

Pekka Rinne 46 saves / 50 shots

text:
May 1

Nashville Predators

4–7

Winnipeg Jets

Bell MTS Place

Recap

show

Mike Fisher (1) – 04:53P. K. Subban (2) – pp – 10:06Austin Watson (5) – 17:35

First period

No scoring

No scoring

Second period

02:38 – Paul Stastny (3)05:11 – Dustin Byfuglien (2)05:29 – Jacob Trouba (2)19:15 – Dustin Byfuglien (3)

Filip Forsberg (5) – pp – 07:40

Third period

15:01 – pp – Blake Wheeler (2)19:09 – en – Blake Wheeler (3)19:29 – en – Brandon Tanev (4)

Pekka Rinne 38 saves / 43 shots

Goalie stats

Connor Hellebuyck 26 saves / 30 shots

text:
May 3

Nashville Predators

2–1

Winnipeg Jets

Bell MTS Place

Recap

show

Ryan Hartman (2) – 17:20

First period

No scoring

P. K. Subban (3) – pp – 14:36

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

19:09 – pp – Patrik Laine (3)

Pekka Rinne 32 saves / 33 shots

Goalie stats

Connor Hellebuyck 27 saves / 29 shots

text:
May 5

Winnipeg Jets

6–2

Nashville Predators

Bridgestone Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Paul Stastny (4) – 07:44Kyle Connor (1) – 12:30Dustin Byfuglien (4) – 14:35Kyle Connor (2) – 17:01

Second period

11:08 – Yannick Weber (1)17:59 – sh – Ryan Johansen (5)

Mark Scheifele (9) – 00:28Mathieu Perreault (1) – pp – 06:23

Third period

No scoring

Connor Hellebuyck 38 saves / 40 shots

Goalie stats

Pekka Rinne 20 saves / 26 shotsJuuse Saros 6 saves / 6 shots

text:
May 7

Nashville Predators

4–0

Winnipeg Jets

Bell MTS Place

Recap

show

Viktor Arvidsson (4) – 01:02

First period

No scoring

Filip Forsberg (6) – 08:16

Second period

No scoring

Filip Forsberg (7) – 05:55Viktor Arvidsson (5) – en – 15:58

Third period

No scoring

Pekka Rinne 34 saves / 34 shots

Goalie stats

Connor Hellebuyck 25 saves / 28 shots

text:
May 10

Winnipeg Jets

5–1

Nashville Predators

Bridgestone Arena

Recap

show

Tyler Myers (3) – 08:41Paul Stastny (5) – 10:47

First period

15:54 – pp – P. K. Subban (4)

Mark Scheifele (10) – 17:50

Second period

No scoring

Paul Stastny (6) – pp – 11:59Mark Scheifele (11) – en – 17:27

Third period

No scoring

Connor Hellebuyck 36 saves / 37 shots

Goalie stats

Pekka Rinne 5 saves / 7 shotsJuuse Saros 14 saves / 16 shots

text: Winnipeg won series 4–3

text: (P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (P3) San Jose Sharks[edit]

text: This was the first playoff series between these two teams. Vegas won three of the four games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Golden Knights defeated the Sharks in six games. In game one, Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 33 shots he faced and Vegas scored with seven different players to defeat San Jose 7–0.[75] The Sharks used double-overtime to take game two 4–3 as Logan Couture's second goal of the game ended the Golden Knights' playoff winning streak.[76] Game three also went into overtime, however, this time the Golden Knights' William Karlsson got the best of the Sharks, scoring the overtime-winner in a 4–3 victory for Vegas.[77] Martin Jones shut out the Golden Knights in game four, stopping all 34 shots he faced, giving the Sharks a 4–0 victory to even the series 2–2.[78] After the Golden Knights put up a 4–0 lead in game five, including two goals from rookie Alex Tuch, the Sharks scored three goals in the third period to come within one goal. However, Vegas halted the comeback when Jonathan Marchessault scored an empty-net goal to secure a 5–3 win.[79] In game six, Marc-Andre Fleury recorded a 28-save shut out in a 3–0 victory to send the Golden Knights to their first Conference Finals.

text:
April 26

San Jose Sharks

0–7

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

04:31 – Cody Eakin (2)04:57 – Erik Haula (2)06:02 – Jonathan Marchessault (1)11:43 – pp – Alex Tuch (2)

No scoring

Second period

03:28 – Shea Theodore (2)

No scoring

Third period

04:32 – pp – Colin Miller (1)08:09 – pp – James Neal (2)

Martin Jones 8 saves / 13 shotsAaron Dell 19 saves / 21 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 33 saves / 33 shots

text:
April 28

San Jose Sharks

4–3

2OT

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

17:59 – William Karlsson (2)

Brent Burns (2) – pp – 02:00Logan Couture (3) – 11:08Brent Burns (3) – 14:07

Second period

00:26 – William Karlsson (3)

No scoring

Third period

13:28 – Nate Schmidt (1)

Logan Couture (4) – pp – 05:13

Second overtime period

No scoring

Martin Jones 26 saves / 29 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 43 saves / 47 shots

text:
April 30

Vegas Golden Knights

4–3

OT

San Jose Sharks

SAP Center

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Colin Miller (2) – pp – 09:40Jonathan Marchessault (2) – pp – 13:09Reilly Smith (1) – 14:26

Second period

06:59 – pp – Timo Meier (2)

No scoring

Third period

07:49 – Evander Kane (4)18:03 – Tomas Hertl (4)

William Karlsson (4) – 08:17

First overtime period

No scoring

Marc-Andre Fleury 39 saves / 42 shots

Goalie stats

Martin Jones 29 saves / 33 shots

text:
May 2

Vegas Golden Knights

0–4

San Jose Sharks

SAP Center

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

15:37 – Marcus Sorensen (4)19:54 – Joonas Donskoi (2)

No scoring

Second period

05:35 – Tomas Hertl (5)

No scoring

Third period

11:43 – pp – Joe Pavelski (2)

Marc-Andre Fleury 30 saves / 34 shots

Goalie stats

Martin Jones 34 saves / 34 shots

text:
May 4

San Jose Sharks

3–5

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

19:57 – James Neal (3)

No scoring

Second period

04:52 – pp – Alex Tuch (3)08:59 – Erik Haula (3)

Kevin Labanc (1) – pp – 09:35Tomas Hertl (6) – 11:44Mikkel Boedker (1) – 15:44

Third period

08:36 – Alex Tuch (4)18:39 – en – Jonathan Marchessault (3)

Martin Jones 27 saves / 31 shotsAaron Dell 7 saves / 7 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 27 saves / 30 shots

text:
May 6

Vegas Golden Knights

3–0

San Jose Sharks

SAP Center

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Jonathan Marchessault (4) – 06:33Nate Schmidt (2) – 15:38

Second period

No scoring

Cody Eakin (3) – en – 18:09

Third period

No scoring

Marc-Andre Fleury 28 saves / 28 shots

Goalie stats

Martin Jones 30 saves / 32 shots

text: Vegas won series 4–2

text: Conference Finals[edit]

text: Eastern Conference Final[edit]

text: (A1) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (M1) Washington Capitals[edit]

text: This was the third playoff meeting between these teams with Tampa Bay winning both previous series. They last met in the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals, which Tampa Bay won in a four-game sweep. Also since 2011, this was the first conference final between two division champions. This is the Lightning's fifth appearance in the Conference Finals, and their third in the last four seasons.[80] Tampa Bay last went to the Conference Finals in 2016; they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. This is Washington's third Conference Finals appearance. They last made the Conference Finals in 1998; they defeated the Buffalo Sabres in six games. Tampa Bay won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Capitals defeated the Lightning in seven games. In game one, Washington scored four consecutive goals across the first two periods forcing Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper to pull goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy; the Capitals won 4–2.[81] Lars Eller and Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and two assists in Washington's 6–2 triumph in game two.[82] The Lightning struck back in game three as Victor Hedman potted a goal and two assists in Tampa's 4–2 victory.[83]Andrei Vasilevskiy made 36 saves in game four as the Lightning won the game 4–2 and thus tied the series.[84] In game five, Ryan Callahan had a goal and an assist for the Lightning as they hung on for 3–2 victory.[85] In game six, Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby made 24 saves in a 3–0 shutout victory to force a seventh game.[86] Braden Holtby stopped all 29 shots and Andre Burakovsky scored twice in game seven for Washington, advancing the Capitals to the Finals for the first time since 1998 in a 4–0 victory.

text:
May 11

Washington Capitals

4–2

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

Michal Kempny (1) – 07:28Alexander Ovechkin (9) – pp – 19:54

First period

No scoring

Jay Beagle (2) – 02:40Lars Eller (4) – pp – 06:42

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

03:45 – pp – Steven Stamkos (4)13:03 – Ondrej Palat (5)

Braden Holtby 19 saves / 21 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 21 saves / 25 shotsLouis Domingue 7 saves / 7 shots

text:
May 13

Washington Capitals

6–2

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

Tom Wilson (3) – 00:28

First period

07:08 – pp – Brayden Point (5)10:22 – pp – Steven Stamkos (5)

Devante Smith-Pelly (3) – 02:50Lars Eller (5) – 18:58Evgeny Kuznetsov (8) – pp – 19:57

Second period

No scoring

Alexander Ovechkin (10) – 03:34Brett Connolly (3) – 12:57

Third period

No scoring

Braden Holtby 33 saves / 35 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 31 saves / 37 shots

text:
May 15

Tampa Bay Lightning

4–2

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

Steven Stamkos (6) – pp – 13:53

First period

No scoring

Nikita Kucherov (7) – pp – 01:50Victor Hedman (1) – 03:37Brayden Point (6) – 16:03

Second period

10:31 – Brett Connolly (4)

No scoring

Third period

16:58 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (9)

Andrei Vasilevskiy 36 saves / 38 shots

Goalie stats

Braden Holtby 19 saves / 23 shots

text:
May 17

Tampa Bay Lightning

4–2

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

Brayden Point (7) – 05:38Steven Stamkos (7) – pp – 08:32

First period

04:28 – Dmitry Orlov (2)

No scoring

Second period

05:18 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (10)

Alex Killorn (5) – 11:57Anthony Cirelli (2) – en – 19:58

Third period

No scoring

Andrei Vasilevskiy 36 saves / 38 shots

Goalie stats

Braden Holtby 16 saves / 19 shots

text:
May 19

Washington Capitals

2–3

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

00:19 – Cedric Paquette (1)09:04 – Ondrej Palat (6)

Evgeny Kuznetsov (11) – 04:21

Second period

00:33 – Ryan Callahan (2)

Alexander Ovechkin (11) – 18:24

Third period

No scoring

Braden Holtby 19 saves / 22 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 28 saves / 30 shots

text:
May 21

Tampa Bay Lightning

0–3

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

No scoring

Second period

15:12 – pp – T. J. Oshie (6)

No scoring

Third period

10:02 – Devante Smith-Pelly (4)19:10 – en – T. J. Oshie (7)

Andrei Vasilevskiy 31 saves / 33 shots

Goalie stats

Braden Holtby 24 saves / 24 shots

text:
May 23

Washington Capitals

4–0

Tampa Bay Lightning

Amalie Arena

Recap

show

Alexander Ovechkin (12) – 01:02

First period

No scoring

Andre Burakovsky (1) – 08:59Andre Burakovsky (2) – 16:31

Second period

No scoring

Nicklas Backstrom (4) – en – 16:17

Third period

No scoring

Braden Holtby 29 saves / 29 shots

Goalie stats

Andrei Vasilevskiy 19 saves / 22 shots

text: Washington won series 4–3

text: Western Conference Final[edit]

text: (C2) Winnipeg Jets vs. (P1) Vegas Golden Knights[edit]

text: This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. This was the first time since 2003 where two teams were making their Conference Finals debut. The Jets advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time in their 18th season (seventh in Winnipeg) after entering the league in 1999 as the Atlanta Thrashers; they also became the first Winnipeg-based team in league history to make it past the second round. Vegas made the Conference Finals in their inaugural season becoming the first expansion team since the St. Louis Blues in 1968 to advance past the second round of the playoffs. Vegas won two of the three games in this year's regular season series.

text: The Golden Knights defeated the Jets in five games. In game one, Mark Scheifele scored a goal and recorded an assist in a 4–2 triumph over the Golden Knights.[87] Jonathan Marchessault scored twice in Vegas' bounce-back win in game two, evening the series after a 3–1 victory.[88] Marc-Andre Fleury made 33 saves for Vegas, including 15 in the third period of game three, to take a 4–2 victory.[89] Fleury made an additional 35 saves in game four with Vegas forward Reilly Smith scoring the game-winning goal 13:02 into the third period.[90] In game five, the Golden Knights held onto a 2–1 lead, after Ryan Reaves scored in the second period to break the tie, to win the game and became the first expansion team to move onto the Stanley Cup Finals since the St. Louis Blues in 1968.[91]

text:
May 12

Vegas Golden Knights

2–4

Winnipeg Jets

Bell MTS Place

Recap

show

Brayden McNabb (2) – 08:10

First period

01:05 – Dustin Byfuglien (5)06:49 – pp – Patrik Laine (4)07:35 – Joel Armia (2)

William Karlsson (5) – pp – 15:55

Second period

09:54 – pp – Mark Scheifele (12)

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

Marc-Andre Fleury 22 saves / 26 shots

Goalie stats

Connor Hellebuyck 19 saves / 21 shots

text:
May 14

Vegas Golden Knights

3–1

Winnipeg Jets

Bell MTS Place

Recap

show

Tomas Tatar (1) – 13:23Jonathan Marchessault (5) – 17:22

First period

No scoring

No scoring

Second period

No scoring

Jonathan Marchessault (6) – 08:45

Third period

07:17 – pp – Kyle Connor (3)

Marc-Andre Fleury 30 saves / 31 shots

Goalie stats

Connor Hellebuyck 25 saves / 28 shots

text:
May 16

Winnipeg Jets

2–4

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

00:35 – Jonathan Marchessault (7)

Mark Scheifele (13) – 05:28

Second period

05:40 – James Neal (4)08:13 – Alex Tuch (5)

Mark Scheifele (14) – 00:18

Third period

19:57 – en – Jonathan Marchessault (8)

Connor Hellebuyck 26 saves / 29 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 33 saves / 35 shots

text:
May 18

Winnipeg Jets

2–3

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

02:25 – pp – William Karlsson (6)

Patrik Laine (5) – pp – 09:29

Second period

10:12 – Tomas Nosek (1)

Tyler Myers (4) – 05:34

Third period

13:02 – Reilly Smith (2)

Connor Hellebuyck 26 saves / 29 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 35 saves / 37 shots

text:
May 20

Vegas Golden Knights

2–1

Winnipeg Jets

Bell MTS Place

Recap

show

Alex Tuch (6) – 05:11

First period

17:14 – Josh Morrissey (1)

Ryan Reaves (1) – 13:21

Second period

No scoring

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

Marc-Andre Fleury 31 saves / 32 shots

Goalie stats

Connor Hellebuyck 30 saves / 32 shots

text: Vegas won series 4–1

text: Stanley Cup Finals[edit]

text: This was the first playoff meeting between these two teams. Vegas was making their Finals debut in their inaugural season, becoming the first team since the aforementioned St. Louis Blues to make the Finals in their first season. Washington made their second Finals appearance. Their only previous appearance in the Finals ended in a four-game sweep by the Detroit Red Wings in 1998. This was the first Finals since 2007 to feature two teams that had not previously won a Stanley Cup. Vegas won both games in this year's regular season series.

text:
May 28

Washington Capitals

4–6

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

Brett Connolly (5) – 14:41Nicklas Backstrom (5) – 15:23

First period

07:15 – pp – Colin Miller (3)18:19 – William Karlsson (7)

John Carlson (4) – 08:29

Second period

03:21 – Reilly Smith (3)

Tom Wilson (4) – 01:10

Third period

02:41 – Ryan Reaves (2)09:44 – Tomas Nosek (2)19:57 – en – Tomas Nosek (3)

Braden Holtby 28 saves / 33 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 24 saves / 28 shots

text:
May 30

Washington Capitals

3–2

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

Lars Eller (6) – 17:27

First period

07:58 – James Neal (5)

Alexander Ovechkin (13) – pp – 05:38Brooks Orpik (1) – 09:41

Second period

17:47 – pp – Shea Theodore (3)

No scoring

Third period

No scoring

Braden Holtby 37 saves / 39 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 26 shots

text:
June 2

Vegas Golden Knights

1–3

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

No scoring

Second period

01:10 – Alexander Ovechkin (14)12:50 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (12)

Tomas Nosek (4) – 03:29

Third period

13:53 – Devante Smith-Pelly (5)

Marc-Andre Fleury 23 saves / 26 shots

Goalie stats

Braden Holtby 21 saves / 22 shots

text:
June 4

Vegas Golden Knights

2–6

Washington Capitals

Capital One Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

09:54 – pp – T. J. Oshie (8)16:26 – Tom Wilson (5)19:39 – Devante Smith-Pelly (6)

No scoring

Second period

15:23 – pp – John Carlson (5)

James Neal (6) – 05:43Reilly Smith (4) – 12:26

Third period

13:39 – Michal Kempny (2)18:51 – pp – Brett Connolly (6)

Marc-Andre Fleury 17 saves / 23 shots

Goalie stats

Braden Holtby 28 saves / 30 shots

text:
June 7

Washington Capitals

4–3

Vegas Golden Knights

T-Mobile Arena

Recap

show

No scoring

First period

No scoring

Jakub Vrana (3) – 06:24Alexander Ovechkin (15) – pp – 10:14

Second period

09:40 – Nate Schmidt (3)12:56 – David Perron (1)19:31 – pp – Reilly Smith (5)

Devante Smith-Pelly (7) – 09:52Lars Eller (7) – 12:23

Third period

No scoring

Braden Holtby 28 saves / 31 shots

Goalie stats

Marc-Andre Fleury 29 saves / 33 shots

text: Washington won series 4–1

text: Player statistics[edit]

text: Skaters[edit]

text: These are the top ten skaters based on points.[92]

text:
Player

Team

GP

G

A

Pts

+/–

PIM

Evgeny Kuznetsov
Washington Capitals
24
12
20
32
+12
16

Alexander Ovechkin
Washington Capitals
24
15
12
27
+8
8

Nicklas Backstrom
Washington Capitals
20
5
18
23
–1
6

Reilly Smith
Vegas Golden Knights
20
5
17
22
+5
10

Jake Guentzel
Pittsburgh Penguins
12
10
11
21
+10
8

Sidney Crosby
Pittsburgh Penguins
12
9
12
21
+7
6

Jonathan Marchessault
Vegas Golden Knights
20
8
13
21
+8
10

T. J. Oshie
Washington Capitals
24
8
13
21
+5
31

Blake Wheeler
Winnipeg Jets
17
3
18
21
+2
10

Mark Scheifele
Winnipeg Jets
17
14
6
20
+6
10

text: Goaltenders[edit]

text: This is a combined table of the top five goaltenders based on goals against average and the top five goaltenders based on save percentage, with at least 420 minutes. The table is sorted by GAA, and the criteria for inclusion are bolded.[93]

text:
Player

Team

GP

W

L

SA

GA

GAA

SV%

SO

TOI

Braden Holtby
Washington Capitals
23
16
7
639
50
2.16
.922
2
 1385:45

Marc-Andre Fleury
Vegas Golden Knights
20
13
7
641
47
2.24
.927
4
 1258:35

Martin Jones
San Jose Sharks
10
6
4
304
22
2.26
.928
2
 584:40

Connor Hellebuyck
Winnipeg Jets
17
9
8
511
40
2.36
.922
2
 1015:07

Matt Murray
Pittsburgh Penguins
12
6
6
314
29
2.43
.908
2
 715:35

Andrei Vasilevskiy
Tampa Bay Lightning
17
11
6
524
43
2.58
.918
0
 999:09

text: Television[edit]

text: This was the seventh postseason under NBC Sports' current 10-year contract for American television rights to the NHL. All national coverage of games was aired on either NBCSN, the NBC broadcast network, NHL Network, USA Network, or CNBC. Due to original programming commitments involving CNBC and USA Network, two first round games on April 18 were aired by Golf Channel.[94][95][96] During the first round, excluding games exclusively broadcast on NBC, the regional rights holders of each participating U.S. team produced local telecasts of their respective games. For the second year, the first round national broadcasts were not blacked out on television in the markets of participating teams, and could co-exist with the local broadcasts (however, NBC-provided coverage was restricted in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas, where AT&T SportsNet holds the regional rights to the Penguins and the Golden Knights, respectively).[97]

text: In Canada, for the fourth postseason under Rogers Media's current 12-year contract, coverage was broadcast by Sportsnet networks and CBC Television under the Hockey Night in Canada brand, and streamed on Sportsnet Now, CBCSports.ca (for games televised by CBC), or the subscription service Rogers NHL Live.[98] The Winnipeg Jets' first round series against the Minnesota Wild was relegated to Sportsnet, due to the Maple Leafs' series being given priority, and to encourage subscription to the network since it is not carried on basic cable in Winnipeg.[99][100]

text: In a surprise move, Sportsnet did not give any on-air assignments to Bob Cole during the playoffs—an exclusion that caught the veteran commentator off-guard. Instead, Sportsnet replaced Cole with Calgary Flames announcer Rick Ball, joining Jim Hughson, Paul Romanuk and Dave Randorf on play-by-play during the first two rounds of the playoffs.[101]

text: Fuelled by viewer interest in the Golden Knights' inaugural season and playoff run, and in Canada, the deep playoff run of the Winnipeg Jets, viewership of these playoffs saw noticeable increases. NBC reported that viewership of the conference finals collectively saw a 15% increase over 2017, with an average viewership across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms ("total audience delivery")[102] of 1.841 million (23% increase year-over-year) for the Western Conference finals featuring the Golden Knights, game one of said series (televised on NBC) seen by 2.374 viewers total, and game seven of the Lightning/Capitals Eastern Conference final pulling a 2.14 overnight rating—the highest viewership for a non-overtime game seven since 2015, and the highest cable viewership of the 2018 playoffs to-date.[103] The Jets also contributed to strong viewership numbers in Canada, with Sportsnet reporting an average of 2.2 million across their second-round series.[104][105][106]