What a start to the NHL playoffs! The NHL Playoffs kicked off last night and it was one of the most exciting opening nights I can remember as there were numerous upsets, vicious battles, and even a double OT thriller.
This is why the NHL is truly one of the most exciting sports.
The NHL playoffs opened up with one of the most electric, exciting series of matches in the last few years as every single matchup was either a surprising upset, a vicious battle that went down to the wire, an OT thriller, or a combination of all three. You’d think with the lopsided seedings (ex: #1 ranked Boston vs. #8 ranked Florida; #2 Carolina vs. #7 ranked NY Islanders) this would have been the less eventful night of playoff hockey, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Every single team, regardless of how many points they acquired in the regular season and their final standings, gave their opponents the toughest matchup they’ve faced all season long. I was especially impressed with the Kings and Panthers performances as they battled the two toughest teams in hockey (Oilers and Bruins, respectively) over the last few months and pushed them to their limits.
Despite being heavy underdogs and playing at a raucous TD Garden, the Panthers were able to outshoot the Bruins 32-29, they outhit them 44-43, and had some HUGE chances presumptive Vezina winner Linus Ullmark denied time and again. In truth, they were really unlucky to lose 3-1 as if Ullmark was just a little bit off, they would have won this game by 2 or 3 goals. That’s how good they were.
But, when you’re up against the single-season points and wins record holders, you have to be able to capitalize on all of your chances as the Bruins can and will punish you ruthlessly. David Pastrňák’s 1st period PP strike (which came from a beautiful behind-the-back pass from Bertuzzi) and Brad Marchand’s 2nd period goal that squeezed through Alex Lyon (who played great aside from that goof) were both half chances the Bruins turned into goals.
Oh, and the Panthers defense must keep their shape or else the dozen or so odd man rushes the Bruins had last night (which suprisingly didn’t hurt the Panthers) will be the death of them eventually.
As for the Kings, their win was a masterclass in perseverance and belief.
Led by a lighting-hot Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (who scored 2 goals), the Oilers got off to a blistering start as they scored two goals in the opening 13 minutes of the game and held that lead until the start of the 3rd period.
I really thought the Oilers were going to blow the Kings out of the water as not only did they obviously play with so much more energy, confidence, and momentum from their 9-game winning streak to end the regular season, but the Kings also looked like deer in headlights for the opening 40 minutes.
You’d think a team with Anze Kopitar (2X SC Cup champion, 2X Selke winner, 2015/16 Lady Bing winner, and 2021/22 Messier Leadership award winner), Drew Doughty (2X SC Cup champion, 2015/16 Norris winner), Alex Edler (2011 SC Cup finalist), Philip Danault (2021 SC Cup finalist), and Viktor Arvidsson (2017 SC Cup finalist) would have gotten this young, hungry, and inexperienced Kings team to start the game faster than they did.
But, even so, the Kings fought off the Oilers pressure and exploded in the 3rd period as they scored three goals, came back from being down 3-1 midway through the 3rd, and managed to tie the game (Anze Kopitar’s goal-line tap-in) with just 16 second left on the clock.
And, in overtime, the Kings’ powerplay was ruthless as a beautiful set of one-touch passes between Kopitar and Ardvission led to Alex Iafallo scoring the game-winning goal from the slot to give the Kings an unexpected 1-0 series lead.
I still don’t know if they have enough firepower to outscore the Oilers across the 7-game series but going up 1-0 while in Edmonton is a great start.
As for the other two games, they were just as thrilling.
The Wild vs. Stars essentially boiled down to a goalie duel between Dallas’ Jake Oettinger and Minnesota’s Filip Gustavsson. Both goalies had over 45 shots thrown at them (Oettinger: 48; Gustavsson: 53), both had SV% of .935 and better (Ottinger: .938 SV%; Gustavsson: .962 SV%), and both goalies made unbelievable saves in regulation and overtime to keep their, respective, teams’ chances alive.
Normally, I’d give both of these goalies my inconsequential “Player of the Game” nod, but Ottinger has already shown us his tendency for playoff heroics (2021 GM 6 vs. the Flames), while this was Gustavsson’s playoff debut. And, like Gustavsson’s stats show, he was sensational all the way up until Ryan Hartman scored that wrap-around in double OT to give the Wild an unlikely Game 1 victory.
But, going back to Gustavsson for a second, he really was the only reason why the Wild, who were without Joel Eriksson-Ek, Mason Shaw, and Oskar Sundqvist, won this game, and is the only reason why the Stars now have lost all the momentum their dominating play gave them prior to Hartman’s goal. Obviously, the Stars aren’t out of this series yet, but losing this type of game at home has to be a real confidence crusher.
Last, and kind of least, the Carolina Hurricanes pretty much swept aside the Islanders as they stifled them 2-1.
Now, in the intro, I did say that all of these games were thrilling, exciting affairs, but I may have been hyping up this game a little. The Islanders did put up a good flurry of shots late on in the game and were extremely physical, but the higher-seeded Hurricanes were in total control for the entire game and probably will be the first team to reach the Second Round after that performance.
Anyways, even with the slight stinker of a game between the Islanders and Hurricanes, this was one of the funniest opening nights of the NHL Playoffs in at least the last five years. And I’m all here for it!
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