<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Stuart Skinner cannot stop a goal by Philadelphia Flyers’ Nick Seeler during the second period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Matt Slocum\/AP<\/p>\n
Ottawa Senators’ Brady Tkachuk (7) waits for a faceoff during second period NHL playoff hockey game against the Carolina Hurricanes in Ottawa, on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Justin Tang\/The Canadian Press via AP)<\/p>\n
Justin Tang\/AP<\/p>\n
Minnesota Wild center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) and Dallas Stars center Sam Steel (18) battle for the puck during the second period of Game 3 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn.<\/p>\n
Abbie Parr\/AP<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Penguins’ Stuart Skinner adjusts his mask during the second period of Game 3 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Matt Slocum\/AP<\/p>\n
Ottawa Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) looks for the save as Carolina Hurricanes’ William Carrier (28) deflects the puck during the third period of an NHL playoff hockey game in Ottawa on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press via AP)<\/p>\n
Sean Kilpatrick\/AP<\/p>\n
Only four teams in NHL history have fallen behind 0-3 in a best-of-seven playoff series and rallied to win it. Just six more won three in a row to force a Game 7.<\/p>\n
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Stuart Skinner was part of that last near-miss. He backstopped Edmonton to an-almost comeback in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final against Florida before losing in seven. Now he is Pittsburgh’s goaltender with the Penguins facing the same deficit in the first round against Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
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“You know it\u2019s possible,” Skinner said after a Game 3 loss to the Flyers pushed him and his teammates to the brink. “Statistics are fun to look at, but it doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re always right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statistics say the Penguins \u2014 and the Ottawa Senators, also down 3-0 to Carolina \u2014 have a less than 2% chance of pulling it off. The first step in avoiding a sweep comes Saturday with Game 4s in each series.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact is we\u2019ve got to win a game,\u201d Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. \u201cThat\u2019s got to be our focus. You can\u2019t grab three on Saturday. You\u2019ve got to win one.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars visit the Minnesota Wild in the next chapter of that intensely competitive series between Central Division rivals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s truly what playoff hockey is about,\u201d Minnesota coach John Hynes said. \u201cIt\u2019s a highly emotional time of year. It\u2019s a great time of year.\u201d<\/p>\n Dallas Stars at Minnesota Wild<\/p>\n When\/Where to Watch: Game 4, Saturday, 5:30 p.m. ET (TBS)<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Stars gained the upper hand on the Wild with Wyatt Johnston\u2019s deflection of Miro Heiskanen\u2019s shot more than halfway through the second overtime in Game 3, another productive power play that has been the difference so far in this series.<\/p>\n The Stars have had 17 opportunities, the most in the NHL this postseason. They have scored six times, including five in the last two games, both wins. The Wild are just 3 for 15 and 1 for 11 over the last two games, missing injured winger Mats Zuccarello since Game 1 when he took an elbow to the head from Dallas defenseman Tyler Myers.<\/p>\n \u201cGuys are staying connected to get the puck down the ice when it\u2019s contested,\u201d Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said, praising his penalty kill units. \u201cOverall, in our whole game, we\u2019ve protected the slot better, haven\u2019t given up as many slot opportunities on the PK or five on five, which bleed into each other, right? It\u2019s always an emphasis.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Wild have been adamant they\u2019re not that far off their game.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely none, no frustration,\u201d right wing Matt Boldy said. \u201cWe had our chances. We had our looks. When they come, they come.\u201d<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers<\/p>\n When\/Where to Watch: Game 4, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (TBS)<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Series: Philadelphia leads 3-0.<\/p>\n Skinner is not the only Pittsburgh player who believes a comeback is possible. Three-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson called it a great opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s do or die, and now we\u2019re going to see what we\u2019re made of,\u201d Karlsson said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity, and it\u2019s something that we\u2019re going to have to embrace and understand that being in this situation, even though we\u2019re down 3-0 is still a lot of fun and we would have paid a lot of money to stand here today back in October and say this is where we were going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n The biggest potential edge for the Penguins is the uncertain status of Flyers goalie Dan Vladar, who injured his right arm in the third period Wednesday night. Vladar finished the game, underwent treatment after and has not practiced since, with coach Rick Tocchet calling it maintenance.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cTwo days off is going to help him,\u201d Tocchet said Friday. \u201cWe’ll see how he is.\u201d<\/p>\n Vladar has been Philadelphia’s best player all season, including this series in stopping 70 of 74 shots. If he’s unable to go Saturday night, Tocchet is likely to turn to backup Samuel Ersson, who had the league’s worst save percentage during the regular season at .870 and has played just twice in the past three weeks.<\/p>\n Carolina Hurricanes at Ottawa Senators<\/p>\n When\/Where to Watch: Game 4, Saturday, 3 p.m. ET (TBS)<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Series: Carolina leads 3-0.<\/p>\n The Hurricanes have suffocated the Senators, allowing them just three goals through three games and outshooting them 105-83. Ottawa can be eliminated on home ice, but captain Brady Tkachuk said it would be a great story if he and his teammates overcome the odds and advance.<\/p>\n \u201cPretty frustrating, but we\u2019ve got to find a way,\u201d Tkachuk said. \u201cWe\u2019ve never quit all season. … Got to step up to the occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n They will have to do it without No. 1 defenseman Jake Sanderson, ruled out because of a concussion following an illegal check to the head from Carolina’s Taylor Hall that was penalized with a 2-minute minor.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Also missing Artem Zub, the Senators made the playoffs despite getting battered by injuries on their blue line.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s one thing this group has done all year, it\u2019s not give up,\u201d defenseman Thomas Chabot said. \u201cWe stick with it, and that\u2019s not going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n AP Sports Writers Dan Gelston in Philadelphia, Dave Campbell in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the Canadian Press contributed.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n AP NHL playoffs: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/stanley-cup and <\/a>https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Penguins’ Stuart Skinner cannot stop a goal by Philadelphia Flyers’ Nick Seeler during the second period of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[377],"tags":[1473,536,4509,198,642,62,3490,5,1338,1119,8814,8813,62989,3494,1467,3492,61703,10019,60588,10868,1446,5360,768,157,1110,832,19654,1531],"class_list":{"0":"post-558849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-artem-zub","9":"tag-brady-tkachuk","10":"tag-daniel-vladar","11":"tag-edmonton","12":"tag-erik-karlsson","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-glen-gulutzan","15":"tag-hockey","16":"tag-jake-sanderson","17":"tag-john-hynes","18":"tag-mats-zuccarello-aasen","19":"tag-matthew-boldy","20":"tag-nhl-playoffs-avoid-sweep","21":"tag-package-100502-member-choice-sports-option","22":"tag-philadelphia","23":"tag-product-30599-ap-sports-news-s-wire-only","24":"tag-product-40793-ap-minnesota-sports-only","25":"tag-product-40804-ap-north-carolina-sports-only","26":"tag-product-40809-ap-pennsylvania-sports-only","27":"tag-product-40815-ap-texas-sports-only","28":"tag-rick-tocchet","29":"tag-samuel-ersson","30":"tag-sidney-crosby","31":"tag-stuart-skinner","32":"tag-taylor-hall","33":"tag-thomas-chabot","34":"tag-tyler-myers","35":"tag-wyatt-johnston"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
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