Stanley Cup Playoffs: Penguins Erupt In Third Period, Take 2-1 Series Lead Over Blue Jackets; Wild Blank Avalanche, Avert 3-0 Deficit; Blackhawks Cut Blues Lead To 2 Games To 1; Ditto Dallas Against Anaheim

The Stanley Cup Playoffs continued on Monday with four games.

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

At Columbus, Ohio:

Brandon Sutter, Lee Stempniak, and Jussi Jokinen each scored a goal during a span of 2:13 in the third period as once again, the Pittsburgh Penguins overcame a two-goal deficit and upended the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on the road in game three of their conference quarterfinal series, which the Penguins now lead two games to one.



WESTERN CONFERENCE:

At Chicago:

Jonathan Toews scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at 4:10 of the first period while Corey Crawford saved all 34 shots in his third career postseason shutout as the Chicago Blackhawks cut their opening-round series deficit against the St. Louis Blues to two games to one following their 2-0 game-three home victory.

At St. Paul, Minnesota:

Mikael Granlund scored the only goal of the game at 5:08 of overtime as the Minnesota Wild blanked the visiting Colorado Avalanche 1-0 in game three of their conference quarterfinal series, which the Avalanche still lead two games to one. Wild goalie Darcy Kuemper, in his first playoff start, stopped all 22 Avalanche shots while his Colorado counterpart, Semyon Varlamov, played a great game, stopping 45 of 46 Minnesota shots, only to end up as the hard-luck loser.

At Dallas:

Kari Lehtonen racked up his first career playoff victory by saving all 37 shots as the Dallas Stars defeated the visiting Anaheim Ducks 3-0 in game three of their first-round series.  Jamie Benn, Valeri Nichushkin, and Ryan Garbutt each scored a goal for the Stars, who cut the Ducks' series advantage to two games to one.