Originally posted on The Score
Our hockey writers are sharing observations throughout Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Check back for daily analysis. Tap to see the upcoming schedule.
There's no reason to panic after all. Following a 4-3 overtime victory Saturday, the heavily favored Golden Knights head back to Vegas tied 2-2 with the Wild in what's turned out to be a much closer matchup than expected.
The series is even despite Vegas' best player, Jack Eichel, underperforming.
Eichel hasn't been outwardly terrible, but he certainly hasn't looked himself. He's skating well, yet his timing seems off, and he's losing puck battles he usually wins. Eichel's somewhere-in-the-middle body of work over four games has produced one point - a secondary assist on the power play in Game 4. That helper marked only his second point in nine total contests in a sluggish month of April.
The Wild have outscored the Golden Knights 6-0 in Eichel's 64 five-on-five playoff minutes. Expected goals are 3.2-2.4 for Minnesota. Now, context is key: Eichel's almost exclusively facing off against an incredibly strong five-man unit in Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jonas Brodin, and Brock Faber.
Eichel was phenomenal during Vegas' Stanley Cup-winning run in 2023. He just had a regular season worthy of down-ballot Hart Trophy votes, too. We know what the two-way American center is capable of. If (when?) he gets going, this series will tilt heavily in Vegas' direction. Watch out. - John Matisz
Jake Guentzel's fingerprints were all over the Lightning's sorely needed 5-1 triumph on enemy ice. General manager Julien BriseBois' big summer addition is one of the NHL's great finishers and complementary stars. His three points against the Panthers on Saturday sparked a desperate team.
The Bolts had been outscored 9-2 in the series before Guentzel brushed a shot off Brayden Point's shinpad to tie Game 3. He presented a passing option when Nick Paul slipped behind Gustav Forsling to bury the second Lightning goal. Guentzel batted Nikita Kucherov's spinning pass into the net right before a Florida penalty expired. And he assisted the empty-netter as Matthew Tkachuk rocked him with a late hit reminiscent of the one that got Brandon Hagel suspended.
Guentzel's three-point effort was his fifth since the beginning of March. He put five shots on net in almost 24 minutes of ice time. His clearances on the penalty kill helped compensate for Hagel's absence and Anthony Cirelli's pair of minor infractions.
BriseBois made the bold call to walk away from franchise legend Steven Stamkos right before his game plunged in Nashville. The GM elbowed ahead of rival bidders by trading a third-round pick to the Hurricanes for Guentzel's exclusive negotiating rights. With Hagel out Saturday, Jon Cooper stacked his top line with Guentzel, Kucherov, and Point and watched them menace Forsling and Aaron Ekblad, who was minus-4 in his return from a PED suspension.
Guentzel told the TNT panel postgame that he's sure the league will "take a look at" Tkachuk's hit. If that leads to a suspension, Guentzel's impact on Game 3 and this fiery matchup will grow. - Nick Faris
The Senators are expected to start Linus Ullmark in net for Saturday's must-win Game 4 against the Maple Leafs despite a poor postseason thus far. Ullmark owns an abysmal .815 save percentage in the series. He hasn't posted a mark better than .857 in a single game.
This isn't helping the narrative of the lights being too bright for the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner. His career playoff save percentage is now down to .874 in 13 career appearances.
Of course, not every goal against this series has been Ullmark's fault. The Maple Leafs have done a good job of getting bodies to the net and have received some fortunate bounces. But still, the results are what they are for Ullmark, Ottawa's prized offseason acquisition. He needs to start making saves or the Senators will find themselves golfing by Monday. - Josh Wegman
Dallas took its first lead of the Stars-Avalanche series when Thomas Harley snuck a shot under Mackenzie Blackwood's glove in the second period of Game 2. Just over a minute later, a similar goal from Colorado's Jack Drury tied the score.
The Stars ultimately won in overtime and added another OT tally in Game 3. They're up 2-1 in the Central Division heavyweight bout despite leading for a grand total of 62 seconds of game time.
They've made do for a few reasons. The score's been tied for most of the series and Dallas never trailed by more than a goal in either win. Colin Blackwell and Tyler Seguin beat Blackwood in overtime with slick finishes to the top corner. Since the third period of Game 2, Jake Oettinger's shut the door with 43 saves and one goal allowed over 103:17 of game time. Harley plays gigantic minutes and has helped curb Colorado's explosive top two lines.
This oddity could be alarming. The Stars slumped into the postseason with a seven-game losing streak - the franchise's longest since 2018 - and folded late in the third period when they fell in the playoff opener. But because of the OT heroics, they're better off than teams like the Blues, who trail the Jets despite being up on the scoreboard for most of that matchup, and the Senators, who have led for 6:53 against the Maple Leafs and face elimination.
Six teams were swept from recent opening rounds after leading for fewer than 10 minutes: the 2024 Capitals, 2022 Predators, 2021 Blues, 2020 Rangers, 2019 Penguins, and 2018 Ducks.
So far, the Stars are on a similar journey to the 2021 Jets. That Winnipeg squad led for 19:52 and relied on OT wins to sweep the Oilers, then never held a lead while being swept by the Canadiens. - Nick Faris
Did anyone really think the Oilers were going to roll over and die after falling behind 2-0 against the Kings? Did we not learn anything from last year?
During their run to the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers trailed 2-1 and 3-2 in their Round 2 series against the Canucks. They overcame a 2-1 series deficit against the Stars before winning three consecutive games. And of course, Edmonton stormed back from a 3-0 hole to force Game 7 against Florida in the Cup Final. The Oilers don't quit.
The 2025 edition of the team is far less stingy defensively. The injured Mattias Ekholm is badly missed. The goaltending is shaky once again, regardless of who's in net. But the Oilers outscored these problems in a gutsy 7-4 win over the Kings in Game 3. When the going gets tough, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (a combined five points in the victory) have proven time and time again they can elevate to another level. - Josh Wegman
As the Canadiens and Capitals' antics escalated at the end of the second period Friday night, Kyle Flemington found himself in the middle of the chaos. The linesman, No. 55 in stripes, tried his best to separate Josh Anderson and Tom Wilson as the bruisers went at it on the Capitals' bench.
It was a wild scene in an epic Game 3. It was also probably a bit surreal for Flemington, who played with Anderson in the OHL. A former tough guy himself, Flemington appeared in 30 games for the 2011-12 London Knights. The club won the OHL title with a deep roster filled with future NHLers.
Flemington, who's listed at 6-foot-7, 214 pounds on Elite Prospects, capped out at the minor pro level, spending a few years in the ECHL and England. In retirement, he originally planned on becoming a police officer and went as far as completing his police foundations diploma. He pivoted to a different kind of policing after attending an NHL-run on-ice officials showcase in 2018.
"For me, the only reason I got into officiating was to stay in the game," Flemington told theScore in 2019 for a feature on modern officials. "Get out there on the ice and compete. It turned into a pretty good opportunity here."
Also in this year's playoffs from that memorable 2011-12 Knights team: Toronto's Max Domi and Winnipeg's Vlad Namestnikov. Other players with NHL experience - some active, others not - include Bo Horvat, Andreas Athanasiou, Austin Watson, Seth Griffith, Chris Tierney, Greg McKegg, Olli Maatta, Jarred Tinordi, Scott Harrington, and Michael Houser. - John Matisz
Seven nights of playoff hockey are complete, and almost every series is entering Game 4. The exception is Lightning-Panthers, whose third contest goes Saturday afternoon.
Here's a glance at the current scoring leaderboard.
Team Player G A PTS LA Adrian Kempe 4 5 9 MIN Kirill Kaprizov 4 3 7 EDM Connor McDavid 2 5 7 LA Anze Kopitar 1 6 7 STL Cam Fowler 1 6 7 MIN Matt Boldy 4 2 6 STL Pavel Buchnevich 3 3 6 TOR Mitch Marner 1 5 6 EDM Leon Draisaitl 2 3 5 EDM Evan Bouchard 2 3 5 LA Phillip Danault 2 3 5 LA Andrei Kuzmenko 2 3 5 WPG Mark Scheifele 2 3 5Kempe's been on the ice for a whopping 18 goals in the Kings-Oilers series - nine for, having tallied a point on all of them, and nine against. That bonkers matchup has already produced 30 goals, or 10 more than Jets-Blues and Wild-Golden Knights, the next-highest scoring series.
Other stat leaders through Friday include Nathan MacKinnon (20 shots on net for Avalanche); Marcus Foligno (27 hits for Wild); Esa Lindell and Brett Pesce (12 blocks for Stars and Devils); Nico Hischier (53 faceoff wins for Devils, 59.6% success rate); Thomas Harley (31:05 average ice time for Stars); and Logan Stanley (28 penalty minutes for Jets). - Nick Faris
The mettle of backup goalies will be tested if Sam Montembeault and Logan Thompson miss more time in the feisty Canadiens-Capitals series. Montembeault seemed to clutch his hamstring before he left the Montreal net Friday. Thompson was helped off the ice with six minutes remaining after being run over by teammate Dylan Strome.
Montembeault's replacement, rookie Jakub Dobes, wandered into the fracas that led to Josh Anderson fighting Tom Wilson in the Washington bench. Dobes is considerably less experienced than Capitals backup Charlie Lindgren, an ex-Hab, and he's never started consecutive games in the NHL. But he was dominant in spurts this season, while Lindgren scuffled down the stretch with an .887 save percentage after the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Out west, Calvin Pickard wasn't exactly rock-solid in his first start against the Kings. He let in four goals on 28 shots, failed to catch snipes from Kevin Fiala and Adrian Kempe, and was beaten through the legs by Trevor Moore's lunging stab mere seconds after Edmonton had tied the score. But the Oilers' seven-goal eruption showed they just need tolerable netminding from the 33-year-old vet, who relieved Stuart Skinner in Game 2, to be competitive.
Pickard's only previous playoff starts came in last year's second round. He had a .911 save percentage, won once, and lost once against the Canucks. Returning to Skinner, who struggled mightily before that benching jolted him, helped those Oilers ward off elimination and complete their run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. - Nick Faris
Juraj Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec made Slovakian hockey history when they went first and second overall in the 2022 draft (along with the pictured Filip Mesar, who also went in the first round). It hasn't been smooth sailing in the NHL for either, but both scored huge goals to help their respective clubs avoid 3-0 series deficits Friday night.
Naturally, it was the top pick in Slafkovsky on the board first. The power forward netted the insurance goal in the Canadiens' crucial 6-3 win over Washington. It was his first tally in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but not for a lack of trying, as it came on his 14th shot of the series.
Later in the night, Nemec had his turn in the spotlight. The right-handed rearguard sliced into the Hurricanes' zone in double overtime and fired the winning goal past Frederik Andersen. Nemec is only in the lineup due to injuries on the Devils' backend, but amid a disappointing season, he reminded New Jersey fans of his elite potential in the biggest moment of the campaign. - Kyle Cushman
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Originally posted on The Score
Published: 7 months ago
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