Hickey, whose overtime goal on April 5 put the New York Islanders into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scored at 12:31 of OT on Sunday to give the Islanders a 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference First Round series at Barclays Center.
Alex Killorn scored with 1:43 remaining in the third period to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 1-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference First Round series at Amalie Arena on Thursday and send them on to the second round. Lightning goalie Ben Bishop made 34 saves for his fourth career shutout in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
San Jose won the best-of-7 series 4-1 and will play either the Anaheim Ducks or Nashville Predators in the Western Conference Second Round; the Ducks and Predators series is tied 2-2. The Sharks advanced past the first round for the first time since 2013; the Kings defeated the Sharks in the second round in 2013 and the first round in 2014.
The Pittsburgh Penguins kept history from repeating itself.A second-period surge gave the Penguins a 6-3, Game 5 win against the New York Rangers that ended their Eastern Conference First Round series at Consol Energy Center on Saturday.
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom scored the only goal in the Capitals' 1-0 victory of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday. The Capitals won the best-of-7 series 4-2 and will play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round. The Penguins defeated the New York Rangers in five games in their first-round series.
For 40 minutes, the Dallas Stars appeared poised to coast into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with an easy Game 6 win against the Minnesota Wild. Then the third period happened. Dallas scored three goals in the first period but had to survive a four-goal third period by Minnesota and a last-minute video review on what could have been the tying goal to earn a series-clinching 5-4 win in the Western Conference First Round at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.
