Stanley Cup Playoffs Wednesday Preview: Penguins Face Elimination as Three Series Hit Critical Game 5s

The first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs has been chaotic, with young players breaking out, many overtimes and a rotisserie chicken being thrown onto the ice in Edmonton (sure, why not). But it's also getting nearer to the finish line, with teams being eliminated on a near-daily basis. Will this be the final game of the season for the Pittsburgh Penguins? With a Philadelphia Flyers win, that will be the case. Wednesday's schedule also includes two series that might well go the full seven games; Montreal Canadiens-Tampa Bay Lightning and Utah Mammoth-Vegas Golden Knights are both knotted at two games apiece heading into critical Game 5s. Here are previews and a best bet for Wednesday's games, scores and highlights from Tuesday's contests, and updated playoff stat leaders.

Montreal Canadiens at Tampa Bay Lightning Game 5, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2) | Series tied 2-2

In Stanley Cup playoff history, when a series has been tied 2-2 through four games, the winner of Game 5 has a 239-62 series record -- winning 79% of the time. When the Canadiens have won a Game 5 (entering the game tied 2-2), they have gone on to win the series 20 of 23 times, including 10 of the past 11 instances. The Lightning have won a Game 5 of a series tied 2-2 seven times, and have gone on to win the series five of those seven times. The Canadiens' third line of Alexandre Texier-Kirby Dach-Zack Bolduc has outscored the Lightning 5-0 when on the ice at 5-on-5 the past two games. Lane Hutson has a four-game point streak to start the postseason, and is the third Habs defenseman in history to do so, joining Larry Robinson (1978 and 1979) and Serge Savard (1977). Jakub Dobes is trying to join an exclusive club: Canadiens rookie goalies to win three playoff games in a single postseason. The others on the list are Patrick Roy (15 wins in 1986) and Carey Price (five in 2008). Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel is the first Lightning player to score six goals through the first four games of a postseason. The last players in the entire NHL to do it were Colorado's Valeri Nichushkin and Edmonton's Zach Hyman, both in 2024. Jake Guentzel now has 42 goals in 78 career playoff games. His 0.54 goals-per-playoff game rate is the highest among American-born players in Stanley Cup playoff history (minimum 50 games played). Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is climbing an impressive mountain: His 118 straight playoff starts for the Bolts is the fourth-longest starting streak for a single team in Stanley Cup playoff history, behind Martin Brodeur (194, Devils), Patrick Roy (133, Avalanche) and Henrik Lundqvist (129, Rangers).

Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers Game 6, 7:30 p.m. ET (TNT) | PHI leads 3-2

This is the second time in franchise history that the Penguins have forced a Game 6 after falling behind 3-0. The earlier instance was also against the Flyers, in the 2012 conference quarterfinals -- Pittsburgh lost in six games that year. There have been just four instances of a team pulling a "reverse sweep" -- winning four straight games after falling behind 0-3: the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, 1975 New York Islanders, 2010 Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings. Pittsburgh's Kris Letang scored the eventual game-winning goals in Games 4 and 5, becoming only the second player age 39 or older in NHL history to score game-winning goals in consecutive playoff games. Ron Francis is the other player to do so, in 2002 for the Carolina Hurricanes. Sidney Crosby now has 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 24 games when the Penguins were facing elimination. That ties Mario Lemieux for second-most points in potential elimination games in franchise history, behind Jaromir Jagr's 28. Crosby's Canadian Olympic teammate Travis Sanheim has two goals this series; prior to this postseason, he had two goals in 20 career playoff games. It's been a tale of two series for Philly goalie Dan Vladar. In the first three games, he had a 1.33 goals-against average and .946 save percentage; in the past two, those have been 3.10 and .854, respectively.

Utah Mammoth at Vegas Golden Knights Game 5, 10 p.m. ET (TNT) | Series tied 2-2

This is the first playoff run in Mammoth history, and thus Game 4 was the first playoff overtime game in the club's existence. Teams that win Game 4 on the road to tie a series 2-2 have gone on to win the series 59% of the time in Stanley Cup playoff history. Shea Theodore was the hero of the day for the Golden Knights in Game 4, scoring the game-winning goal with 51.5 seconds left in OT. It was his first career playoff OT goal, the first in Golden Knights history by a defenseman, and the third instance of a blueliner scoring the OT game winner this postseason (joining J.J. Moser and Lane Hutson). Teammate Jack Eichel had three assists in Game 4, which was his 14th career multipoint playoff game; that breaks a tie with William Karlsson for fifth most in franchise history. Utah's Nick Schmaltz had just one point in seven career playoff games before Game 4, but he added a goal and an assist to that career total. Mikhail Sergachev equaled Eichel's three assists in the game, tying a career high for most points in a playoff game.

Wednesday's best bet

The bet: Canadiens puck line +1.5 (-170)

The Canadiens have covered 29 straight games on the puck line as an underdog! I say they make it 30 in a row on Wednesday. I think you can also bet them to take a 3-2 series lead as well (+145). Coming off a loss, Montreal has won 12 of its past 13 games outright as an underdog. This is a team that's been an almost automatic bet for its backers in this situation.

-- Tyler Fulghum

Tuesday's scoreboard

Boston Bruins 2, Buffalo Sabres 1 (OT) Sabres lead 3-2

After a blowout win for Buffalo in Game 4, the Sabres had a chance to wrap the series up in front of the home crowd Tuesday night. But while they seemed to knife through the Bruins in the prior game, this contest was tightly contested all evening -- and Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman was back to his dominant former self. Rasmus Dahlin opened the scoring at 3:35 of the first period, the Sabres' first power-play goal in the month of April. Elias Lindholm evened the score at 9:24 of the second, and then the two teams traded chance after chance with no payoff. In overtime, it was a lot of near-misses and excellent saves from Swayman and Alex Lyon, but the game finally ended when David Pastrnak was sprung for a breakaway and put the biscuit past Lyon with a slick move. Game 6 is Friday in Boston.

Minnesota Wild 4, Dallas Stars 2 Wild lead 3-2

After missing Games 2-4, Wild forward Mats Zuccarello returned in this matchup, scoring the first goal of the game just 3:51 in to the proceedings. It was matched by Miro Heiskanen's power-play tally five minutes later, and the score remained knotted after one period. Matt Boldy scored his fourth goal of the playoffs with 32 seconds left in period two, and Michael McCarron put the Wild up 3-1 with his second of the postseason at 7:47 of the third. Although the Stars got one back off the stick of Jason Robertson with 3:21 remaining, Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov scored an empty-netter to seal the deal. Game 6 is Thursday, with the Wild on the precipice of winning the series on home ice.

Edmonton Oilers 4, Anaheim Ducks 1 Ducks lead 3-2

Scoring goals in bunches is not a unique scenario for the Oilers this postseason. This time, however, they were actually able to hold the lead. Vasily Podkolzin, Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl each netted a goal within the first 10:13 of the first period. Alex Killorn got one back for the Ducks in the second, but the second of the game for the Deutschland Dangler came just two minutes later, and that was more than enough. Game 6 is Thursday, back in Anaheim.