Second Round (A1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (A2) Tampa Bay Lightning This was the third playoff meeting for these teams; the teams had split their two previous playoff series. Their most recent meeting was in the previous year's Eastern Conference First Round, in which Montreal swept Tampa Bay out of the playoffs. Tampa Bay won all five games in the regular season series. The Lightning defeated the Canadiens in six games. In game one, Nikita Kucherov scored 2:06 into double overtime to give Tampa Bay a 2–1 win. This winning goal was controversial because the Lightning appeared to have been offside on the play, but nothing was called by the linesmen. Earlier at 2:56 of the first overtime period, Kucherov's apparent winning goal was waved off after officials ruled that he pushed Carey Price's pad into the net after the Montreal goalie made the initial save. The Lightning also won game two, 6–2, scoring four power play goals. Montreal's Brandon Prust was then fined $5,000 for his postgame derogatory public comments directed toward Referee Brad Watson, which he later apologized for the day afterward. In game three, Tyler Johnson scored with 1.1 seconds left to give Tampa Bay a 2–1 victory. The Canadiens stayed alive in game four, as Max Pacioretty recorded a shorthanded goal and two assists, as Montreal built a 5–0 second-period lead en route to a 6–2 win. Then in game five, P.A. Parenteau scored with 4:07 left in regulation to give the Canadiens a 2–1 victory. In game six, Ben Bishop stopped 18 of 19 Montreal shots, and Kucherov scored two goals, as Tampa Bay won 4–1 to take the series. (M1) New York Rangers vs. (M2) Washington Capitals This was the ninth playoff meeting for these teams, and their fifth in the last seven years; the teams have split their eight previous playoff series. Their most recent meeting was in the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, which New York won in seven games. New York won three of the four games in the regular season series. The Rangers overcame a 3–1 series deficit to eliminate the Capitals in seven games. Joel Ward scored with 1.3 seconds left to give Washington a 2–1 win in game one. The Rangers took game two, 3–2, as Chris Kreider and Dan Boyle recorded first-period goals and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 30 out of 32 shots. In game three, Braden Holtby stopped all