NHL play-offs:

5-4 after being down 1-4! Canucks reward crazy comeback

Crazy comeback by the Vancouver Canucks(Bild: AP/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Vancouver Canucks celebrated a 5-4 home win against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday to open the NHL quarter-final series. The Canucks were already trailing 1:4 after 33 minutes.

However, a goal by Elias Lindholm shortly before the second siren brought hope back. In the final period, Vancouver turned the game around with three goals in the space of five minutes. Dakota Joshua was the match-winner with a goal and two assists.

Numerous penalties
The Florida Panthers showed a strong reaction to their 5-1 opening defeat against the Boston Bruins. Last year's finalists won the second match in front of their home crowd impressively 6:1 and equalized the score at 1:1. The home side's goal machine only started to heat up after falling behind and from the second period onwards. Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart shone with four scoring points each. The game was characterized by a number of penalties. In the final period alone, the Panthers conceded 67 penalty minutes and the Bruins as many as 79.

NHL play-off results from Wednesday (2nd round/conference semifinals, "best of seven"):

Western Conference: 
Vancouver Canucks - Edmonton Oilers 5-4 (series score: 1-0)

Eastern Conference: 
Florida Panthers - Boston Bruins 6-1 (series score: 1-1)