We wait all year for the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and when it arrives, it’s still somehow better than you remember. The first night of the two-month journey delivered high drama, simmering bad blood and a little overtime magic.
There’s a lot to get to so let’s dive in and take a look at the action from three series involving all-American matchups.
Hurricanes hold strong versus Islanders
Most people expected a tight-checking, low-scoring affair from these clubs and they delivered just that during the first game of their set, as the Metropolitan Division-winning Hurricanes eked out a 2-1 victory on home ice.
The key difference was Carolina’s ability to make good with the man advantage. These teams played each other four times in the regular season and neither side managed a single power-play marker in any of those contests.
So when Sebastian Aho one-timed home a PPG 3:47 into the contest, you figured it was a good harbinger for the Canes.
Then, early in the second, Carolina winger Stefan Noesen drew a penalty and cashed on the ensuing power play to make it 2-0 Canes.
The common thread on both goals was big defenceman Brent Burns, who had a wonderful post-season debut for Carolina. Burns made a great cross-ice pass to find Aho for the first goal and Noesen’s tally came when he tipped a low point shot from No. 8 for Burns’ second power-play assist of the contest. After suiting up in 94 career playoff games for the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks, Burns looks right at home in his first spring with the Canes.
That said, Burns was in the box late in the third when the Islanders had a chance to pull even. But the Islanders power play that ranked 30th in the league during the regular season looked just as bad in the post-season, failing to generate any real chances versus goalie Antti Raanta. Even with Mathew Barzal — who missed the final 23 games of the season with a lower-body injury — back in the lineup, New York couldn’t do anything with the man advantage.
Aho, meanwhile, continues to establish himself as an all-time Cane. His power-play marker was his 19th career playoff goal, tying him for the most all-time with Eric Staal in Carolina/Hartford Whalers history. Aho is already the franchise leader in playoff points with 47 in just 49 second-season games.
Bruins beat Panthers without Bergeron
Boston was without the services of its longest-tenured player in Game 1 versus the Florida Panthers, but one of the new guys proved he might be a perfect playoff fit with the Black and Gold.
An illness prevented Patrice Bergeron from suiting up for the B’s, who still got a 3-1 series-opening win over the Panthers.
Tyler Bertuzzi did not find the net, but the trade deadline acquisition was in the middle of the action all night. First, he set up David Pastrnak with a beautiful backhand feed on the power play, allowing the Bruins to open the scoring less than six minutes into the contest. Bertuzzi also drew an assist on Jake DeBrusk’s goal that made it 3-1 Boston late in the second.
In the first playoff game of his NHL career, Bertuzzi was a net-front menace and proved he’s already got second-season shenanigans down pat, stealthily swiping the stick of Nick Cousins right out of the Florida forward’s hands and taking it with him to the Boston bench.
Speaking of playoff debuts, Florida goalie Alex Lyon had an interesting one. The guy who took control of the Panthers net in the season’s 11th hour made some brilliant saves, specifically on odd-man rushes where he denied Trent Frederic not once, but twice on point-blank one-timers. The other side of the coin, though, was Lyon allowing a serious softie to Brad Marchand early in the second that put Boston up by two.
Is it too early to wonder about Sergei Bobrovsky starting Game 2? Florida actually had over 60 per cent of the high-danger chances in this game, so it’s not as though the visitors were outclassed. Still, the Cats came up empty and haven’t won Game 1 of a playoff series since — believe it or not — 1997.
Wild win double-overtime thriller
The playoffs are all about guts and determination, right? Ryan Hartman had both in spades, scoring the game-winner in a 3-2 victory 12:20 into the fifth period in Dallas after injuring himself during a fourth-period penalty-kill and looking like he could barely skate in the aftermath.
Hartman was the hero, but as you’d expect in a game that lasted nearly 100 minutes, a lot of other people auditioned for the role, too.
Stars defenceman Miro Heiskanen saw 41:42 of ice. Filip Gustavsson, making his first career post-season start, made 52 saves in the Wild crease. Jake Oettinger made 45 himself in the Dallas net.
And the best stop of all might of have come from Brock Faber, the Wild defenceman who only joined the team after losing the NCAA championship with the University of Minnesota about 10 days ago.
With Gustavsson down and out, Faber extended his stick as far as it could reach and caught just enough of a Mason Marchment shot to deflect it over the net instead of into the empty cage for a Dallas game-winner in the second overtime period.
Minnesota bound together to kill off a Dallas power play just before Hartman scored. In all, the teams played 57:55 of scoreless hockey between Sam Steel tying the game 2-2 in the second frame to Hartman ending it.
For a while, it seemed like story of the night might have been the nasty turn it took with 7:58 left in the middle frame when Wild defenceman Matt Dumba slammed his shoulder into Stars winger Joe Pavelski, knocking the veteran to the ice. The Stars took immediate exception to the hit, as Max Domi tore after Dumba.
After some discussion, the officials did not issue a major penalty to Dumba despite the fact Pavelski was helped off the ice and did not return.
Afterward, Stars coach Peter DeBoer said he is not confident Pavelski will play in Game 2.
Dumba instantly became Public Enemy No. 1 at American Airlines Center and the animosity between the two teams was palatable. While Dallas had to deal with being a man down, the Stars were dishing out some punishment of their own as cameras caught defenceman Ryan Suter giving the best player on his former team, Kirill Kaprizov, a pretty serious cross-check to the ribs behind the play.
While the biggest concern is obviously for Pavelski, who sustained a concussion while playing for the San Jose Sharks in the 2019 playoffs, it’s fair to assume everybody on these two teams is a little worse for wear after Game 1.
