NHL Playoffs: Capitals, Stars, Kings earn dramatic wins on same night

The NHL likes to say there's no better drama in sports than the Stanley Cup playoffs

and Monday night no one was arguing differently. Three of the four games had fantastic finishes, and it's only the first round

In Washington, D.C., the top seed Capitals and the newly crowned all-time goal-scoring leader

Alex Ovechkin had a precarious two-goal lead entering the third period against the upstart

Canadians. Sure enough, during a five-minute span midway through the final frame, Montreal

score twice to send the game into overtime. The Capitals haven't won a playoff series since

winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. Were they going to collapse in game one? Not while Ovechkin

continues his historic season. He's scored the game winner 2-26 into overtime, his first career

playoff overtime winner. Two goals and an assist on the night and the Caps have a 1-0 series lead

He's a beast. He's a machine. He's out there creating energy for our team

scoring. He does it all. He does everything for us. That's what a leader does. It's one thing to

be good all season long, but the guys that show up and hit and block shots and lead the team

that's why he's a legend. About an hour later in Dallas, the Stars had their backs against the wall

in game two of their series with Colorado. Down 3-2 in the game and 1-0 in the series

they got a massive boost in the form of a game-tying goal from Yevgeny Dodonov. That sent

the game into overtime. It nearly took the entire first OT, but the stars are back in the series

after Colin Blackwell scored the first overtime game winner of his career, putting his own rebound

past McKenzie Blackwood The fourth line center didn play in game one and was glad to contribute Monday You know I love this group and it been a hell of a year and a lot of fun So I just excited to do whatever I can to help the team win

And then get a taste of playing the playoffs is what everybody dreams for. To hopefully hoist the cup at the end of this run

The late game in Los Angeles was a wild affair. The Kings took a four-goal lead on the Edmonton Oilers

but the player they call Connor McJesus helped his team rally in the third period

He had a goal and three assists, and the Oilers scored twice in the final two minutes to tie

all with an empty net at the other end. It was all for naught, however, as they allowed Kings forward Philip Deneau

to score the game winner with 42 seconds to go. L.A. is just the fourth team in Stanley Cup history to win in regulation

despite blowing a four-goal lead. Deneau's fluttering shot gave the Kings a 1-0 series lead

A little bit scary, you know, ups and downs big time, up 4-0, and they come back

We know they have an offensive machine, but yeah, I mean, we have to learn from this and move on

But yeah, we'll take the win and yeah, move on. The league also moves on

Tuesday night is the first game in the Battle of Florida between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers

and if you thought Monday's games were great, this series is as evenly matched as can be

The two teams have met four of the last five post-seasons, but more impressively, in the last five seasons

either the Lightning or the Panthers have represented the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals

Stay tuned, a long way to go before any of that happens again, and we're almost guaranteed to have more late-game drama

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis