Jamie Benn acknowledged his Dallas Stars got what was coming to them when the Seattle Kraken dominated Game 3 for a 7-2 win in their second-round playoff series Sunday night.

"I think we got what we deserved tonight," Benn said postgame, according to The Athletic's Saad Yousuf. "We're going to move on."

Neither team scored in the first period, but the Kraken erupted for five goals in the second, four of which were unanswered in a span of just over six minutes.

Dallas outshot Seattle 26-25 in the game and 17-8 in that second period. But skilled Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen left the game in the middle frame and didn't return after taking a deflected puck to the face, while typically dependable Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger gave up all five of those second-period goals on only eight shots in the frame before Scott Wedgewood replaced him for the final 20 minutes.

The Stars went 0-for-3 on the power play, while the Kraken converted one of their two opportunities with the man advantage. Seattle commanded play in terms of expected goals, outplaying Dallas by a margin of 58.04 to 41.96 for the duration of the game, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Seven different Kraken skaters provided the goals for the victors Sunday night, helping the second-year squad take a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is scheduled for Tuesday night in Seattle.

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The Panthers pushed the Toronto Maple Leafs to the brink of elimination after Sam Reinhart scored the OT winner in Game 3 to give Florida a 3-0 series lead.

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice gushed over the way Reinhart, Florida's third-highest-paid forward, relished his third-line role alongside Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen.

"He's a high-end player that accepts what you might call a third-line role happily, develops two young players with him," Maurice said, according to Bally Sports. "No ego, never once talked about ice time this year. You like those guys to get a payoff."

Reinhart, who's up to five goals in the playoffs, believes his line is thriving due to its chemistry and attention to detail.

"We all think the game relatively similar," Reinhart said. "We've been doing a good job of taking our turn pressing forward. We're all defensive-minded at the end of the day. The more we can push forward and limit their time and space, we're going to create more for ourselves offensively, so I think we've been doing a good job alternating and taking our turn in that aspect."

Carter Verhaeghe and Anthony Duclair scored the first two goals for the Panthers in Sunday's 3-2 victory. Sergei Bobrovsky was stellar once again between the pipes, stopping 22 of 24 shots. The veteran goalie struggled during the regular season, but he owns a .938 save percentage so far in the series.

Verhaeghe offered high praise for Bobrovsky, who owns a 6-1 record in the postseason since taking over for Alex Lyon midway through Round 1.

"He's been unbelievable this whole time," Verhaeghe said. "We're not here if it's not for him. He's an unbelievable goalie. He's such a good guy, too. He comes to the rink and works hard."

The Eastern Conference's No. 8-seeded Panthers are now riding a six-game winning streak in the playoffs after erasing a 3-1 series deficit against the Presidents' Trophy-winning Boston Bruins in Round 1. They're 3-0 in overtime games this postseason, too.

Florida is just one win away from advancing to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since it went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in the franchise's third year of existence in 1996.

The Leafs, meanwhile, haven't won a game in Round 2 of the playoffs since 2004. Their star players have disappeared so far against Florida, as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander have combined for zero goals and four assists in the series.

"It's a team game," Keefe said postgame when asked about Marner's struggles. "We need everybody to find a way to break through here."

Game 4 is set for Wednesday night in Florida.

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Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Ilya Samsonov departed Game 3 of their second-round series against the Florida Panthers in the second period after teammate Luke Schenn slid into him while trying to prevent a goal.

Joseph Woll came into the contest to replace Samsonov, and Panthers forward Anthony Duclair tied the game on the power play shortly thereafter.

Samsonov turned aside all eight shots he faced before exiting. The 26-year-old Russian started all of the Leafs' previous playoff games this spring. He entered Sunday's contest with a .895 save percentage in the playoffs after posting a .919 mark during the regular season.

Woll, who'll turn 25 in July, made his second appearance of the postseason Sunday. He relieved Samsonov for the third period of a 7-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their first-round matchup. The American spent most of the campaign with the AHL's Toronto Marlies.

Matt Murray is Toronto's third goaltender.

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If a player could claim the Conn Smythe as early as the second round, Leon Draisaitl would be a worthy winner.

The Edmonton Oilers superstar continued his goal-scoring binge Saturday night with two first-period tallies to set the tone in a commanding 5-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights and help even the second-round series at 1-1.

Draisaitl scored four goals in Edmonton's Game 1 loss, and his double dip on Saturday brings his total to 13 through eight playoff contests this spring. No player across the league has scored more than seven in this year's postseason, and no one topped 13 in all of last year's playoffs.

The 2020 MVP opened the scoring by cleaning up a rebound on the power play, then he converted a Kailer Yamamoto pass late in the opening frame.

Draisaitl's teammates are unsurprisingly in awe of his run.

"He's the best player in the world a lot of nights," captain Connor McDavid said after the win, according to Sportsnet.

"At this point, nothing surprises me (about) what he does," added blue-liner Evan Bouchard. "Put in another two tonight, 13 in eight games, it's something that doesn't happen very often, and like I said, doesn't surprise me that he's doing it."

The NHL record for goals in a single postseason is 19, set by Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975-76 and equaled by Jari Kurri with the Oilers in 1984-85. Draisaitl's 13 goals are the most by any player within their first eight playoff games of a season, besting the 11 mark shared by Newsy Lalonde (1918-19) and Michel Goulet (1984-85), according to StatsCentre.

Draisaitl also became the fifth skater in league history to score five consecutive team goals in the playoffs, and he's the first player to score 13 times in any eight-game playoff span since Kurri did so in 1985 - the year Edmonton captured its second Stanley Cup.

Draisaitl's next chance to add to his torrid playoff pace comes Monday in Game 3 as the series shifts to Edmonton.

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Evander Kane had a simple explanation for why he went after Keegan Kolesar during the Edmonton Oilers' 5-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series Saturday night.

Kane went on the defensive when a reporter mentioned the rarity of body shots in hockey fights like the ones he hit his counterpart with in the second period.

"You also don't see a lot of guys getting jumped from behind and headlocked," the Edmonton winger said postgame. "When you want to fuck around, sometimes you've got to find out, so that's what happened."

The hostilities began when Brett Howden and Brett Kulak squared off, but they continued elsewhere. Kolesar peeled Kane off a scrum with two hands from behind, and Kane later punched Kolesar repeatedly while the Vegas player was lying on the ice.

The officials handed Kane a 10-minute misconduct along with a pair of roughing minors for the incident. It was the first of two misconducts for Kane in the game. Kolesar got a roughing minor of his own but nothing further. When the dust settled, the officiating crew assessed 30 minutes in total penalties over the melee.

Golden Knights winger Mark Stone wasn't happy with how the officials handled the situation.

"It's frustrating, right? The ref's standing right there," Stone said. "We've only got four guys on the ice (and the Oilers had) five ... You never want to see a teammate getting suckered down like that, especially one who's stuck up for his teammates all year.

"I would've liked to have seen the refs maybe do a little bit better of a job to help out Keegan."

Game 3 is scheduled for Monday night in Edmonton.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs know they've dug themselves a hole by dropping the first two games of their second-round series to the Florida Panthers, but they don't appear worried just yet.

"The challenge is the challenge and it's pretty obvious of course, but the group feels good and remains confident and optimistic," the head coach said Saturday, per NHL.com's Dave McCarthy. "We're excited to get out on the road, it's a place we've developed some confidence, but it doesn't make it any easier.

"The puck will drop and the game will be hard and competitive again but we just have to stay with it as a group, minimize our mistakes, stay on the attack and keep shooting."

Many considered Toronto the favorites after the eighth-seeded Panthers advanced to Round 2, but the Leafs have been unable to capitalize on the momentum of their first series win in 19 years, losing twice on home ice in underwhelming fashion.

The Leafs never led in Game 1, then coughed up an early 2-0 lead in Game 2. Keefe called his club's parade of costly turnovers in the latest loss "baffling," but he and the players feel they can fix it.

"To my knowledge or my experience, I don't think there's ever been a team in the history of the NHL who has gone through the playoffs and had great runs without going through adversity," defenseman Luke Schenn said.

The Leafs haven't trailed 2-0 in a series since 2018 against the Boston Bruins, when they ultimately lost in seven games.

While the odds are against Toronto to reach its first conference final since 2002, a trip to Florida might be exactly what the club needs, as it went 3-0 in the Sunshine State in its first-round clash with Tampa Bay.

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The New York Rangers and Gerard Gallant have agreed to end his tenure as head coach, the club announced Saturday.

More to come.

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