Vegas Golden Knights Crush Colorado Avalanche in Game Three of Second Round

The Vegas Golden Knights, in an epic battle, managed to crush the Colorado Avalanche in Game Three of the second round on Monday night by a score of 5-2. The victory gives Vegas a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

One reason for their success was goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who made some key saves to preserve the victory. Fleury finished with 33 saves on 35 shots.

Another big reason for the win was the play of James Neal, who scored two goals and added an assist. Neal now has six goals and three assists in nine playoff games this year.

"It was a great team effort," Neal said after the game. "We battled hard and played well together. We have to keep it going in Game Four."

Vegas will look to take a 3-1 lead when they face off against Colorado again on Wednesday night at 9:00pm ET.

Celtics take 2-0 lead against Bucks with trio of wins

The Celtics came into Milwaukee and swept the Bucks in a 3 game series, giving them a 2-0 lead in the playoffs. Kyrie Irving had a stellar performance in game 1 with 31 points and 6 assists. In game 2, Jayson Tatum stepped up big time with 27 points and 9 rebounds, leading the Celtics to a 108-105 victory. Al Horford also had a strong performance with 14 points and 12 rebounds. In game 3, Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 26 points as the Celtics cruised to a 116-92 win. This was an impressive team effort from the Celtics, who are now one step closer to advancing to the next round of the playoffs.

Raptors dominate Wizards to take 1-0 series lead

Led by Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry, the Toronto Raptors dominated the Washington Wizards in Game 1 of their playoff series, winning 118-93.

Leonard led the way for Toronto with 31 points on 12-of-20 shooting, while Lowry added 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Serge Ibaka chipped in 20 points off the bench, and Pascal Siakam scored 15 points.

For Washington, Bradley Beal led the way with 27 points, but no other player scored more than 14 points. The Wizards shot just 38 percent from the field as a team and were outrebounded 59-35.

The Raptors will look to take a 2-0 series lead when they host the Wizards in Game 2 on Tuesday.

Rockets dismantle Jazz in playoff opener

Houston Rockets 115, Utah Jazz 102

HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets started their quest for the first championship in franchise history with a resounding victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series.

Led by 27 points from James Harden and 22 points from Chris Paul, the Rockets raced out to a 33-point halftime lead and never looked back. Houston shot 57 percent from the field and 47 percent from 3-point range while holding the Jazz to just 38 percent shooting.

"We wanted to come out and make a statement, and I think we did that," said Harden. "We're not going to take our foot off the gas pedal. We're going to keep attacking and try to get better each game."

The Jazz, who entered the series as underdogs after being swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in their opening round playoff series, made it competitive for a brief period in the second half before eventually capitulating. Donovan Mitchell led Utah with 24 points, while Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Game 2 of the series is scheduled for Wednesday night in Houston.

Penguins Cruise By Flyers in Game One

In a game that saw the return of Claude Giroux, the Flyers were dominated by the Penguins in every way possible.

The Penguins got on the board early with a Phil Kessel goal just 1:53 into the game. They would add two more goals in the first period, one from Evgeni Malkin and another from Sidney Crosby, to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.

Not much went right for the Flyers in game one. They were out-shot 34-20 and only managed to get five shots on net in the second period. The Penguins added two more goals in the second period, from Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust, to take a 5-0 lead into the third period.

The Flyers would finally get on the board late in the third period when Jakub Voracek scored his first goal of the playoffs. But it was too little too late as Pittsburgh cruised to a 5-1 victory in game one.

Game two is schedule for Wednesday night in Philadelphia.