Toronto (Canada) (AFP)

Washington, winner of the Stanley Cup in 2018 and always so borrowed in attack, is now one defeat of elimination in the first round of the NHL play-offs after another loss conceded against the Islanders on Sunday.

New York this time needed extra time to overcome 2-1 a still disappointing Capitals team, now down 3-0 and on the verge of elimination. Mathew Barzal scored the winning goal at 4:28 a.m., almost in the wake of a duel lost by opposing striker Jakub Vrana against goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov in a breakaway.

For Washington, there is hardly any hope, since only 2.1% of the teams having lost their first three matches won the next four (4-190). "It's a tough situation, but it's not over yet. We're going to continue to believe in it. Los Angeles did it (in 2014). We won the Stanley Cup when we were down 2-0 against Columbus (in the 1st round in 2018). We will try everything, "promised captain Alex Ovechkin.

Still in the East, the Flyers painfully regained the advantage against the Canadians, with a victory by the shortest margin (1-0), thanks to a goal by Czech Jakub Voracek and the impermeability of young goalkeeper Carter. Hart, who repelled 23 opposing shots, admittedly helped five times by his posts. At 22 years and three days old, he became the youngest goalkeeper in club history to keep his clearances in a play-off match.

On the Edmonton side, Dallas and Calgary again offered a great show and suspense as since the start of their series. And this time the Stars equalized with 2 wins everywhere by winning 5-4 after extra time.

Joe Pavelski was the hero of the Texans, with three goals scored, the last of which was 12 seconds from the siren to snatch extra playing time. It was his Russian compatriot Alexander Radulov who gave the victory a subtle deflection.

Chicago is still alive. The Blackhawks, saved by their goaltender Corey Crawford, author of 46 saves, won (3-1) their first success in Las Vegas, to obtain a fifth game.

Finally, defending champion St. Louis went into survival mode to close the gap to 2-1 against Vancouver, a first win snatched in overtime (3-2) thanks to a goal from Brayden. Schenn.

Sunday's results:

EAST CONFERENCE

. Philadelphia bar Montreal 1 to 0

Philadelphia leads two wins to one

. New York Islanders beat Washington 2-1 (ap)

New York leads three wins to zero

WEST CONFERENCE

. St. Louis beats Vancouver 3-2 (ap)

Vancouver leads two wins to one

. Chicago beats Las Vegas 3 to 1

Las Vegas leads three wins to one

. Dallas beats Calgary 5-4 (ap)

Dallas and Calgary are tied for two wins across

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