Leafs and Oilers advance to round 2, Jets looking to join

It was all smiles for a pair of Canadian NHL teams as they advanced to the second round of the playoffs with victories on Thursday.

The Edmonton Oilers were at home and looking to win their fourth straight match against the Los Angeles Kings, while the Toronto Maple Leafs took a third stab at getting their fourth win against the Ottawa Senators.

🧡 💙Oil Country >>>>#LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/tEmzHpIyyt

— Rogers Place (@RogersPlace) May 2, 2025

Leafs captain Auston Matthews opened the scoring for Toronto on a man advantage late in the first period to take a 1-0 lead.

With the fans still returning to their seats at the start of the second period, William Nylander fired a wrist shot to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead.

But, as the Senators have done in all series, they stuck around with the Leafs and did not give up.

Brady Tkachuk managed to tip in a shot to cut the lead in half later in the frame before David Perron evened the score near the halfway mark of the third period.

That was as close as the Senators would get as Max Pacioretty regained Toronto’s lead a couple of minutes later and Nylander added an empty net goal to take the 4-2 win.

The Maple Leafs will now face the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers, in the second round of the playoffs.

Laughts of Willy great Heart that led to some hype pic.twitter.com/yKnD1FrO8h

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 2, 2025

On the other side of the country, the Edmonton Oilers were at home against the Los Angeles Kings.

The match began with a quick goal from Quinton Byfield before Adam Henrique put the Oilers on the board and tied the game.

With the fans still cheering on Henrique’s goal, Brandt Clarke scored 33 seconds later to once again put the Kings ahead.

The first-period scoring did not stop there as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins then got on the board with a power-play goal to tie the game. Before the period could end, Zach Hyman put the Oilers ahead 3-2 with his second goal of the series.

The Oilers continued to control the game and took a 5-3 lead into the final minute of the game, when the Kings made it a one-goal game in an attempt to keep their season alive.

However, that was all they would get as Connor Brown fired a snap shot on an empty net to send the Oilers to the second round. Edmonton will now face the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Winnipeg Jets are the only other Canadian team left in the playoffs and they lead their series 3-2 against the St. Louis Blues, with game six set for Friday evening.

A win and the Jets will go on to face either the Dallas Stars or the Colorado Avalanche.