It took barely four minutes for the Swede to feint past Ottawa defender Thomas Chabot and send a well-directed pass towards the far post, which teammate Morgan Rielly easily could put away to 1–0. It was behind Linus Ullmark in the Ottawa goal, who otherwise received praise for his match.
Toronto spiced up the first period with another goal – but after Ottawa reduced the lead and later equalized, the match went to overtime.
Well into overtime, it didn't take more than just over three minutes before Toronto's Max Domi scored the decisive goal and secured the win with 3–2.
It was Simon Benoit who saw to it all in that situation. I had a bit of luck when it slipped through. But when you're in the slot, you have to shoot. And Ullmark is a great goalie, so we'll take it, says Domi at the press conference after the match.
It now stands 2–0 in matches to Toronto in the quarterfinal series, which is played in best of seven matches.
For the Swedes in New Jersey, it didn't go as well in tonight's match. Despite point king Jesper Bratt opening with the match's first goal, opponent Carolina gained the upper hand, managed to get three pucks past New Jersey's Swedish goalie Jakob Markström, and won with 3–1.
It now stands 2–0 in matches to Carolina.
The match series are decided in best of seven matches:
Toronto–Ottawa, 2–0 in matches.
Florida–Tampa Bay, 1–0.
Washington–Montreal, 1–0.
Carolina–New Jersey, 2–0.
Winnipeg–St Louis, 2–0.
Dallas–Colorado, 1–1.
Vegas–Minnesota, 1–1.
Los Angeles–Edmonton, 1–0.
Corrected: In an earlier version, Tampa Bay had 1–0 in matches, it should be 1–0 to Florida.
