PHILADELPHIA - Michal Neuvirth stopped 31 shots in his first start of the playoff series, helping the Philadelphia Flyers stave off a sweep with a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
The Capitals still lead the series 3-1 headed into Game 5 Friday night in Washington.
Shayne Gostisbehere and Andrew MacDonald each scored for the Flyers. Neuvirth was sensational in the third after T.J. Oshie scored early in the period to make it 2-1.
The Capitals still have never swept a best-of-seven playoff series.
The game was marred by a scary hit that saw Flyers centre Scott Laughton leave on a stretcher. The Flyers said he was taken to Jefferson Hospital for precautionary reasons.
PANTHERS 2, ISLANDERS 1
NEW YORK - Alex Petrovic scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period and the Florida Panthers beat the New York Islanders to even their first-round playoff series at two games apiece.
Teddy Purcell also scored for Florida, and Jaromir Jagr had an assist for his 200th career playoff point. Roberto Luongo stopped 26 shots.
John Tavares had his third goal of the series for New York, and Thomas Greiss finished with 27 saves.
The Panthers got their first playoff road win since April 17, 2012, against New Jersey in Game 3 of the first round.
Game 5 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Sunrise, Florida.
STARS 3, WILD 2
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Jason Spezza scored the go-ahead goal with a deflection off his skate, Ales Hemsky and Patrick Eaves each scored on a second-period power play to give Dallas' lagging special teams a lift, and the Stars defeated the Minnesota Wild to push their series lead to 3-1.
Antti Niemi assumed the net from Kari Lehtonen, who started the first three games, and made 28 saves for the Stars. They'll host Game 5 in Dallas on Friday.
Jason Pominville and Charlie Coyle both gave the Wild the lead with second-period goals, but they weren't able to sustain the momentum from a spirited comeback in Game 3 for the entire night.
SHARKS 3, KINGS 2
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski scored power-play goals in the second period and the San Jose Sharks again moved to the brink of eliminating the Los Angeles Kings from the playoffs.
Patrick Marleau added a power-play goal in the third period and Martin Jones made 26 saves against his former team to put San Jose up 3-1 in the series heading into Game 5 on Friday night in Los Angeles.
But knocking the Kings out is never easy. The Sharks blew a 3-0 series lead to Los Angeles in the first round two years ago, becoming the fourth NHL team ever to lose a best-of-seven series after winning the first three games.
Trevor Lewis and Luke Schenn scored and Jonathan Quick made 26 saves for the Kings.
